[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 1 (Wednesday, January 3, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 142-143]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-22463]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 
Environmental Assessment for the Central Arkansas National Wildlife 
Refuge Complex

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Southeast Region, intends to gather information necessary to 
prepare a comprehensive conservation plan and environmental assessment 
pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and its 
implementing regulations. This plan and environmental assessment will 
cover Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, Big Lake National Wildlife 
Refuge, Cache River National Wildlife Refuge, and Wapanocca National 
Wildlife Refuge, the refuges that make up the Central Arkansas National 
Wildlife Refuge Complex. The refuges are in Crittendon, Jackson, 
Mississippi, Monroe, Prairie, White, and Woodruff Counties, Arkansas. 
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, as 
amended by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, 
requires the Service to develop a comprehensive conservation plan for 
each national wildlife refuge. The purpose in developing a 
comprehensive conservation plan is to provide refuge managers with a 
15-year strategy for achieving refuge purposes and contributing toward 
the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System, consistent with 
sound principles of fish and wildlife management, conservation, legal 
mandates, and Service policies. In addition to outlining broad 
management direction on conserving wildlife and their habitats, plans 
identify wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities available to the 
public, including opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife 
observation, wildlife photography, and environmental education and 
interpretation.
    The purpose of this notice is to achieve the following:
    (1) Advise other agencies and the public of our intentions, and
    (2) Obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues to 
include in the environmental document.

DATES: Please provide written comments on the scope of issues to 
include in the environmental document by March 5, 2007.

ADDRESSES: Address comments, questions, and requests for further 
information to: Judy McClendon, Natural Resource Planner, Central 
Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 26320 Highway 33 South, 
Augusta, Arkansas 72006; Telephone: 870/347-2074. Comments may be faxed 
to the complex at: 870/347-2908, or e-mailed to [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public scoping meetings are planned for 
early 2007 and will be announced in the local media in advance of the 
meetings. Announcements will inform people of opportunities for written 
input throughout the planning process. All comments received become 
part of the official public record. Requests for such comments will be 
handled in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act and other 
Service and Departmental policies and procedures.
    By Federal law, all lands within the National Wildlife Refuge 
System will be managed in accordance with an approved comprehensive 
conservation plan. Plans guide a refuge's management decisions and 
identify long-term goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving the 
purposes for which the refuge was established. During the planning 
process many elements will be considered, including wildlife and 
habitat management, public use opportunities, and cultural resource 
protection. Public input during the planning process is essential. The 
plan for the Central Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex will 
describe desired conditions for refuges within the complex and the 
long-term goals, objectives, and strategies for achieving those 
conditions.
    The four national wildlife refuges that comprise the Central 
Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge Complex were all established 
primarily to provide habitat for migrating waterfowl and other birds, 
for use as inviolate sanctuary or for any other management purposes for 
migratory birds, for the conservation of the Nation's wetlands, to 
protect and restore bottomland hardwood resources, to protect 
endangered species, and to provide the public with compatible and 
appropriate wildlife-dependent recreational opportunities. The refuges 
are located in the bottomland hardwood habitat of the Mississippi River 
Alluvial Plain and contain large tracts of bottomland hardwood forest, 
unique wetlands, and habitat for wintering migratory waterfowl and 
other wildlife. In early 2005, the ivory-billed woodpecker, long 
thought to be extinct, was rediscovered on the Cache River National 
Wildlife Refuge.

Preliminary Issues, Concerns, and Opportunities

    The following preliminary issues, concerns, and opportunities have 
been identified and will be addressed in the comprehensive conservation 
plan. Additional issues will be identified during public scoping.
    Habitat Management and Restoration: What actions shall the Service 
take to sustain and restore priority species and habitats over the next 
15 years?
    Endangered Species: How will the Cache River National Wildlife 
Refuge manage its lands with the rediscovery of the ivory-billed 
woodpecker?
    Public Use and Access: What type and level of appropriate and 
wildlife-dependent compatible recreation opportunities should be 
provided?

[[Page 143]]

    Invasive Species Control: How do invasive species affect 
functioning native systems, and what actions should be taken to reduce 
the incidence and spread of invasive species?

    Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law 
105-57.

    November 20, 2006.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.
 [FR Doc. E6-22463 Filed 12-29-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P