[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 177 (Wednesday, September 13, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Page 54089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-15150]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability: Final comprehensive conservation plan 
and finding of no significant impact.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) announces the 
availability of the final Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and 
Finding of No Significant Impact for Long Island National Wildlife 
Refuge (NWR) Complex. Prepared in conformance with the National 
Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, and the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the plan describes how we 
intend to manage the complex over the next 15 years.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain copies of this CCP on compact disk or in 
print by writing to Long Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, P.O. 
Box 21, 360 Smith Road, Shirley, NY 11967, or by calling 631-286-0485. 
You may also access and download a copy from the Web sites http://library.fws.gov/ccps.htm or http://longislandrefuges.fws.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deb Long, Refuge Manager, Long Island 
NWR Complex, at 631-286-0485, or by e-mail at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Wildlife Refuge System 
Administration Act, as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System 
Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 668 dd et seq.) requires CCPs for 
all refuges to provide refuge managers with 15-year strategies for 
achieving refuge purposes and furthering the mission of the National 
Wildlife Refuge System. Developing CCPs is done according to the sound 
principles of fish and wildlife science and laws, while adhering to 
Service planning and related policies. In addition to outlining broad 
management direction on conserving refuge wildlife and habitat, CCPs 
identify wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities available to the 
public, including opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife 
observation and photography, and environmental education and 
interpretation. We will review and update this CCP at least once every 
15 years.
    Long Island NWR Complex includes Amagansett, Conscience Point, 
Elizabeth A. Morton, Oyster Bay, Seatuck, Target Rock, and Wertheim 
NWRs, along with Lido Beach Wildlife Management Area and the Sayville 
Unit. The complex spans over 6,200 acres in Suffolk and Nassau Counties 
of New York State. Management focuses on migratory birds, threatened 
and endangered species, and their habitats. The Service acquired most 
of the refuges in the complex under authority of the Migratory Bird 
Conservation Act of 1929 (16 U.S.C. 715-715r) for ``use as an inviolate 
sanctuary, or for any other management purposes, for migratory birds.'' 
Three of the units were established under authority of the Transfer of 
Certain Real Property for Wildlife Conservation Purposes Act (16 U.S.C. 
667b-667d) for ``particular value in carrying out the national 
migratory bird management program.''
    We distributed a draft CCP/EA for public review and comment for 30 
days between June 19 and July 19, 2006. Its distribution was announced 
in the Federal Register on June 19, 2006 (71 FR 35283). That draft 
analyzed three alternatives for managing the complex. We also held 
three public meetings, on June 26, 27, and 28, 2006, to obtain public 
comments. We received 29 comments. Appendix I of the final CCP includes 
a summary of those comments and our responses to them.
    We selected Alternative B (the Service-proposed action) from the 
draft CCP/EA as the alternative for implementation. Our final CCP fully 
describes its details. Staff from Wertheim NWR headquarters office in 
Shirley, New York, will continue to administer all units of the 
complex. Highlights of the final CCP include:
    (1) Increasing existing programs to protect habitats and manage for 
the threatened piping plover, the endangered Sandplain gerardia, 
American eel, mud and box turtles, wintering waterfowl, and neotropical 
migratory songbirds;
    (2) Intensifying efforts to control non-native invasive species 
such as phragmites, and evaluating and implementing new management 
practices to decrease insecticide use in marsh communities;
    (3) Constructing a new headquarters and visitor facility at 
Wertheim NWR that will also serve as an office for Region 5's Long 
Island Field Office, part of the Ecological Services program;
    (4) Strengthening interpretive and environmental education programs 
throughout the refuges; and
    (5) Expanding outreach efforts, such as public relations and 
volunteer programs;
    (6) Initiating a regulated early-season (September) hunt and other 
population control measures to manage overabundant populations of 
resident Canada geese at Wertheim NWR.
    The Service will actively pursue land acquisition opportunities 
within the refuges' approved boundaries, as well as other land 
protection opportunities. However, the CCP does not propose Service 
acquisition of additional lands at this time.

    Dated: August 30, 2006.
Richard O. Bennett,
Acting Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hadley, 
Massachusetts.
 [FR Doc. E6-15150 Filed 9-12-06; 8:45 am]
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