[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 191 (Tuesday, October 2, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60135-60137]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24272]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
[FWS-R4-R-2012-N067; FXRS12650400000S3-123-FF04R02000]
St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge, FL; Final Comprehensive
Conservation Plan and Finding of No Significant Impact for the
Environmental Assessment
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the
availability of the final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and
finding of no significant impact for the environmental assessment for
St. Johns National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Brevard County, Florida. In
the final CCP, we describe how we will manage this refuge for the next
15 years.
ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the CCP by writing to: Ms. Layne
Hamilton, c/o Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, P.O. Box
2683, Titusville, FL 32781. Alternatively, you may download the
document from our Internet Site: http://southeast.fws.gov/planning
under ``Final Documents.''
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Layne Hamilton, at 321/861-0667
(telephone).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Introduction
With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for St. Johns NWR. We
started the process through a notice in the Federal Register on
December 14, 2009 (74 FR 66147). For more about the process, see that
notice.
St. Johns NWR is a unit of and administered through the Merritt
Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex.
St. Johns NWR was established in August 1971, to provide protection
for threatened and endangered species and to enhance native diversity.
The refuge contains two units totaling approximately 6,422 acres. The
southern or Bee Line Unit occurs about a mile west of Port St. John,
Florida, while the northern or State Road 50 Unit occurs about 5 miles
to the north, roughly 5 miles west of Titusville, Florida. St. Johns
NWR is closed to public use, except for those uses permitted through
the special use permit process. St. Johns NWR contains some of the last
vestiges of inland salt pan habitat known in Florida--a habitat
dominated by cordgrass, but disconnected from tidewaters. Saltwater
upwellings, along with periodic fires and floods, maintain this unique
habitat, which exists as part of a network of preserves within the
Upper St. Johns River Basin, including natural areas managed by the
State of Florida and Brevard County.
The refuge was home to the last remaining families of the dusky
seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus nigrescens), a species that
despite Federal protection and the best efforts of a consortium of
partners was declared extinct in 1990. Today, the refuge is home to
four federally listed species, including the wood stork (Mycteria
americana), the eastern indigo snake (Drymarchon couperi), the crested
caracara (Caracara cheriway), and the American alligator (Alligator
mississippiensis). As a result of the refuge's importance to resident
and migratory birds, seven species of birds have been designated
species of management concern, including the black rail (Laterallus
jamaicensis) and the eastern meadowlark (Sturnella
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magna). The refuge is also home to a host of State-listed species and
offers refugia and prey opportunities for wading birds, including the
little blue heron (Egretta caerulea), snowy egret (Egretta thula), and
tri-colored heron (Egretta tricolor).
We announce our decision and the availability of the final CCP and
FONSI for St. Johns NWR in accordance with the National Environmental
Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1506.6(b)) requirements. We completed a
thorough analysis of impacts on the human environment, which we
included in the draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental
assessment (Draft CCP/EA).
The CCP will guide us in managing and administering St. Johns NWR
for the next 15 years. Alternative C is the foundation for the CCP.
The compatibility determinations for research, environmental
education and interpretation, wildlife observation and photography,
bicycling, commercial photography, and commercial tours and guiding are
included in the CCP.
Background
The CCP Process
The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16
U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) (Administration Act), as amended by the National
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, requires us to develop
a CCP for each national wildlife refuge. The purpose for developing a
CCP is to provide refuge managers with a 15-year plan 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 our policies. In
addition to outlining broad management direction on conserving wildlife
and their habitats, CCPs identify wildlife-dependent recreational
opportunities available to the public, including opportunities for
hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and
environmental education and interpretation. We will review and update
the CCP at least every 15 years in accordance with the Administration
Act.
Comments
We made copies of the Draft CCP/EA available for a 30-day public
review and comment period via a Federal Register notice on July 7, 2011
(76 FR 39890). We provided more than 60 copies of the Draft CCP/EA to
those individuals or organizations that requested a copy. A total of
ten individuals, organizations, and government agencies provided
comments on the Draft CCP/EA by U.S. mail or email. Comments were
received from the St. Johns River Water Management District, Brevard
County Environmentally Endangered Lands Program, Florida Fish and
Wildlife Conservation Commission, Defenders of Wildlife, Space Coast
Audubon, Modern, Inc., and local citizens.
Selected Alternative
After considering the comments we received and based on our
professional judgment, we selected Alternative C for implementation.
This alternative will focus on enhancing all native wildlife and
habitat diversity on the refuge. We will determine our role in regional
and national species conservation plans. Concerning the suite of
residing, wintering, and summering birds on the refuge, Alternative C
will represent an expansion of management. Through prescribed burning
and utilizing ecological indicators, we will promote an ecologically
based fire return interval to maintain early successional ecological
stages of all fire-maintained habitats. In addition, the hydrologic
setting will be restored to as close to pre-drainage conditions as
possible to benefit refuge wildlife. Under Alternative C, we will
expand management of wood storks and State-listed wading birds. In
conjunction with State-listed wading bird nesting surveys, we will
opportunistically remove fill and dike features from peninsulas in the
State Road 50 Unit borrow ponds, to provide additional artificial
islands. On behalf of the northern crested caracara, Alternative C will
maintain open habitat with a minimum of woody vegetation. We will also
evaluate the use of mowing, grazing, and/or other forms of vegetation
control to help maintain open prairie for crested caracara at the Bee
Line Unit, while minimizing impacts to secretive marsh birds. Through
discussions with the State, we will stay abreast of Cape Sable seaside
sparrow reintroduction.
Under Alternative C, management of hydrology, including
groundwater, surface water, and water quality, will be expanded. We
will coordinate with the St. Johns River Water Management District
(SJRWMD) to develop a better understanding of the hydrology of the
refuge. To help fill in the information gaps, and by utilizing experts,
we will develop a hydrologic study to understand the relationships of
water quality, water quantity, and timing of flows within and across
the refuge. We will increase control of invasive/feral animals and will
reduce invasive plants to a maintenance level. We will coordinate with
local cooperative invasive species management areas to develop an early
detection and alert network to help control invasive animals. We will
use permittees and partners for the feral hog control effort, but may
also use public hunts if, after evaluation, hunting is determined to be
an effective tool to control feral hog populations. Under Alternative
C, management of all vegetation communities on the refuge will expand.
We will focus habitat management on maintaining and supporting a wide
array of native wildlife using the refuge. Overall, however, in
Alternative C, the relative percentages and composition of major
habitat types on the refuge will not change; the aim will be to
increase the quality rather than quantity of the various habitat types.
Management of mammals will expand. We will strive to maintain emergent
marsh and open waters for a diversity of mammals, such as white-tailed
deer and round-tailed muskrat. We will also conduct a mammal inventory
during the 15-year life of the CCP.
With regard to climate change, we will partner with SJRWMD in
adaptive management efforts to manage habitats, ecosystems, and
wildlife affected by climate change. We will investigate opportunities
to participate in regional climate change initiatives to better
understand the role climate change may have on refuge resources, and
will adapt management based on discovery of climate change-related
impacts.
Under the preferred alternative, we will work with partners to
consolidate and secure ownership in the checkerboard area of the Bee
Line Unit to create functional management areas. We will consider fee-
title acquisitions based on a willing-seller approach, land swaps,
management agreements, and conservation easements to protect these
sites. We will work with Brevard County to vacate or abandon rights-of-
way, as well as add right-of-way access to accommodate public use.
Additionally, the preferred alternative identifies a minor expansion
proposal of less than 10 percent (625 acres) of the refuge's approved
acquisition boundary, to connect lands and develop natural-area
corridors to the State Road 50 Unit. We will increase our law
enforcement staff and coordinate with governmental partners and
landowners to increase the number of patrols to deter and prevent
destructive illegal activities. With regard to cultural, historical,
and archaeological resources, we will continue to implement Section 106
of the National Historic Preservation Act to provide protection for
these resources. In addition, we will complete and begin
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to implement a Cultural Resources Management Plan within the 15-year
period of the CCP.
One of the centerpieces of the preferred alternative includes
expanding visitor services and public use. To expand opportunities for
interpretation, we will work with partners to evaluate a range of
access alternatives for the refuge. Working with Brevard County, we
will seek to develop facilities such as a trailhead and kiosk from the
county's Fay Lake Park to our Bee Line Unit, and will consider
developing an interpretive trail and kiosk on the State Road 50 Unit.
We will explore opportunities, based on potential and varied
acquisition opportunities from willing sellers, to provide public
access to the State Road 50 Unit from the county's Fox Lake Park
Sanctuary through the Fox Lake tract. In conducting outreach, this
alternative will expand with a wildlife and habitat diversity focus and
will include messaging that targets ethical behavior. Alternative C
will expand environmental education efforts. We will work with partners
to develop curriculum-based environmental education programs related to
wildlife and climate change. We will also work with local schools to
conduct on-site environmental education. In addition, we will open the
refuge to wildlife observation and photography, and will provide
facilities to enhance the visitor experience (e.g., marked foot trails,
kiosks at trailheads, and a safe parking area). We will establish foot
traffic on existing dikes and roads and will evaluate potential
connectivity to regional trail networks. The refuge and any future
trails will remain subject to closure for administrative purposes.
Commercial photography and tours/guides will be available on a case-by-
case basis, permitted through the special use permit process. Access
for uses determined to be appropriate and compatible will be by
walking, hiking, and bicycling. Bicycling that does not support
appropriate and compatible uses, such as mountain biking and off-trail
biking, will not be considered an appropriate form of access. Staff
will work with partners to evaluate the potential for a primitive
weapons' hunt (e.g., bow and muzzle-loader) and for a youth hunt.
Species to be considered for hunts will include white-tailed deer and
feral hogs.
Administration will expand under the preferred alternative. When
the preferred alternative is fully implemented, it will provide for new
shared positions with Merritt Island NWR, including a law enforcement
officer, maintenance worker, and a ranger. A full-time biological
technician will be hired, for a total of 2.5 new positions. The
volunteer program will expand as we will utilize volunteers for
environmental education and interpretation activities and programs,
trail maintenance, outreach, wildlife surveys, expanded exotic control,
and cleanups. Facilities and equipment will be added and we will
consider developing kiosks, trails, and associated parking to provide
safe and secure access from existing county parks to refuge lands. We
will also add one or two vehicles and more equipment for exotic plant
control activities.
Authority
This notice is published under the authority of the National
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et
seq.).
Dated: June 22, 2012.
Mark J. Musaus,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2012-24272 Filed 10-1-12; 8:45 am]
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