[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 241 (Monday, December 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76169-76171]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-29832]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R5-R-2013-N097; BAC-4311-K9-S3]


Patuxent Research Refuge, Prince George's and Anne Arundel 
Counties, MD; Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Finding of No 
Significant Impact

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of the final comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and 
finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for Patuxent Research Refuge 
(Patuxent RR, refuge), located in Prince George's and Anne Arundel 
Counties, Maryland. In this final CCP, we describe how we will manage 
the refuge for the next 15 years.

ADDRESSES: You may view or obtain copies of the final CCP and FONSI by 
any of the following methods. You may request a hard copy or a CD-ROM.
    Agency Web site: Download a copy of the document at: http://www.fws.gov/northeast/planning/patuxent/ccphome.html.
    Email: Send requests to [email protected]. Include 
``Patuxent CCP'' in the subject line of your email.
    Mail: Bill Perry, Natural Resource Planner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley, MA 01035.
    Fax: Attention: Bill Perry, 413-253-8468.
    In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Call 301-497-5580 to make an 
appointment (necessary for view/pickup only) during regular business 
hours at Patuxent RR, 10901 Scarlet Tanager Loop, Laurel, MD 20708. For 
more information on locations for viewing or obtaining documents, see 
``Public Availability of Documents'' under SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Knudsen, Refuge Manager, 301-437-
5580 (phone) or Bill Perry, Planning Team Leader, 413-253-8688 (phone); 
[email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    With this notice, we finalize the CCP process for Patuxent RR. We 
started this process through a notice of intent in the Federal Register 
(76 FR 12563) on March 16, 2010. We announced the release of the draft 
CCP and environmental assessment (EA) to the public and requested 
comments in a notice of availability in the Federal Register (77 FR 
24929) on October 10, 2012.
    Patuxent RR was established in 1936 by Executive Order by President 
Franklin D. Roosevelt ``to effectuate further the purposes of the 
Migratory Bird Conservation Act'' and ``as a wildlife experiment and 
research refuge.'' The total approved acquisition boundary encompasses 
12,841 acres between Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC, an area 
with one of the highest densities of development in the United States. 
Currently, about 10,000 of Patuxent RR's 12,841 acres are forest, but 
the refuge also contains grasslands, freshwater marshes, shrub and 
early successional forest, and open water. It provides important 
habitat for a variety of migratory birds of conservation concern. The 
refuge also offers unique opportunities for environmental education and 
interpretation in an urban setting. It is home to the U.S. Geological 
Survey (USGS) Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, a leading 
international research institute for wildlife and applied environmental 
research.
    We announce our decision and the availability of the FONSI for the 
final CCP for Patuxent RR in accordance with National Environmental 
Policy Act

[[Page 76170]]

(NEPA) (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.) requirements. We completed a thorough 
analysis of impacts on the human environment, which we included in the 
draft CCP/EA.
    The CCP will guide us in managing and administering Patuxent RR for 
the next 15 years. Alternative B, as described for the refuge in the 
draft CCP/EA, and with minor modifications described below, is the 
foundation for the final CCP.

Background

    The National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966 (16 
U.S.C. 668dd-668ee) (Refuge Administration Act), as amended by the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, requires us to 
develop a CCP for each refuge. The purpose for developing a CCP is to 
provide refuge managers with a 15-year plan for achieving refuge 
purposes and contributing to the mission of the National Wildlife 
Refuge System (NWRS), 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 and photography, environmental 
education and interpretation. We will review and update the CCP at 
least every 15 years in accordance with the Refuge Administration Act.

CCP Alternatives, Including the Selected Alternative

    Our draft CCP/EA (77 FR 24929) addressed several key issues, 
including:
     Evaluating reforestation of the refuge.
     Better understanding the implications and trade-offs of 
habitat management on refuge wildlife.
     Identifying and addressing climate change concerns 
impacting the refuge.
     Providing more public use opportunities on the refuge.
     Inventorying historic resources on the refuge, providing 
public access to these resources, and highlighting the historical 
significance of the refuge.
     Expanding and strengthening partnerships.
    To address these issues and develop a plan based on the refuge's 
establishing purposes, vision, and goals, we evaluated three management 
alternatives for Patuxent RR in the draft CCP/EA. The alternatives have 
several actions in common. All alternatives include measures to control 
invasive species, monitor and abate diseases affecting wildlife and 
plant health, coordinate with USGS to house and support research 
efforts, protect cultural resources, continue existing projects managed 
by outside programs, and minimize impacts from the shooting ranges 
located on the refuge. There are also several actions that are common 
to both alternatives B and C. These include using green technology to 
update refuge buildings and grounds, constructing additional space for 
environmental education and interpretation classes, and collaborating 
with stakeholders on a redesign of the shooting ranges. There are other 
actions that differ among the alternatives. The draft CCP/EA provides a 
full description of each alternative and relates each to the issues and 
concerns that arose during the planning process. Below, we provide 
summaries of the three alternatives.

Management Alternatives

Alternative A (Current Management)
    Alternative A (current management) satisfies the NEPA requirement 
of a ``no action'' alternative, which we define as ``continuing current 
management.'' It describes our existing management priorities and 
activities, and serves as a baseline for comparing and contrasting 
alternatives B and C. It would maintain our present levels of approved 
refuge staffing and the biological and visitor programs now in place. 
We would continue to manage for and maintain a diversity of habitats, 
including forests, forested wetlands, pine-oak savannah, grasslands, 
and scrub-shrub on the refuge. The refuge would continue to provide an 
active visitor use program that supports environmental education and 
interpretation, hunting, fishing, and wildlife observation and 
photography.
Alternative B (Forest Restoration and Mixed Public Use)
    This alternative is the Service-preferred alternative. It combines 
the actions we believe would most effectively achieve the refuge's 
purposes, vision, and goals, and respond to the issues raised during 
the scoping period. It emphasizes the management of specific refuge 
habitats to support species of conservation concern in the Chesapeake 
Bay region. In particular, it emphasizes forest biodiversity and 
ecosystem function. This includes the restoration of a number of 
impoundments and grasslands to forested areas to support forest 
interior-dwelling bird species and other forest-dependent species. In 
addition, alternative B strives to promote wildlife-dependent public 
uses, while allowing for nonwildlife-dependent public uses. In 
particular, it promotes higher quality hunting and fishing programs, 
expands wildlife observation and photography opportunities, and 
initiates new interpretive and environmental education opportunities.
Alternative C (Maximize Forest Interior Restoration and Emphasize 
Wildlife-dependent Public Use Activities)
    Alternative C would focus on maximizing interior forest habitat. 
This would require active management to restore a majority of 
impoundments and grasslands into forested areas that would support 
forest interior-dwelling species, in addition to other species of 
conservation concern. Alternative C also focuses on accommodating 
wildlife-dependent public uses while minimizing nonwildlife-dependent 
uses, particularly by expanding wildlife observation and photography 
opportunities, and reducing the number of special events and 
interpretive programming.

Comments

    We solicited comments on the draft CCP/EA for Patuxent RR from 
October 10 to November 26, 2012 (77 FR 24929). During the comment 
period, we received 73 written responses. We evaluated all of the 
substantive comments we received, and include a summary of those 
comments, and our responses to them, as appendix I in the final CCP.

Selected Alternative

    After considering the comments we received on our draft CCP/EA, we 
made several minor changes to alternative B, including correcting minor 
editorial, formatting, and typographical errors. These changes are 
described in the FONSI (appendix H in the final CCP) and in our 
response to public comments (appendix I in the final CCP).
    We have selected alternative B to implement for Patuxent RR, with 
these minor changes, for several reasons. Alternative B comprises a mix 
of actions that, in our professional judgment, work best towards 
achieving the refuge's purposes, vision, and goals, NWRS policies, and 
the goals of other State and regional conservation plans. We also 
believe that alternative B most effectively addresses key issues raised 
during the planning process. The basis of our decision is detailed in 
the FONSI (appendix H in the final CCP).

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Public Availability of Documents

    You can view or obtain the final CCP, including the FONSI, as 
indicated under ADDRESSES.

    Dated: September 30, 2013.
Wendi Weber,
Regional Director, Northeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2013-29832 Filed 12-13-13; 8:45 a.m.]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P