[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 154 (Monday, August 11, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46874-46875]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-18456]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-NER-FIIS-15729; PX.XDESCPP02001]


White-Tailed Deer Management Plan, Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement, Fire Island National Seashore, New York

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

[[Page 46875]]


ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service (NPS) announces the 
availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the 
White-tailed Deer Management Plan (Plan), Fire Island National 
Seashore, New York. The focus of this plan is to guide and direct deer 
management strategies that support preservation of the cultural 
landscape, the protection and natural restoration of native vegetation, 
and the minimization of human-deer interactions. These strategies 
include population control of white-tailed deer (lethal and non-lethal) 
and fencing.

DATES: The National Park Service will accept comments on the DEIS 
through October 10, 2014, 60 days after the publication in the Federal 
Register. You may check the Web site of Fire Island National Seashore, 
www.nps.gov/fiis, for dates, times, and places of public meetings to be 
conducted by the National Park Service during the 60-day public comment 
period, or by calling project contacts below.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by the following methods:
    You may mail comments to: Fire Island National Seashore, 120 Laurel 
Street, Patchogue, NY 11772-3596.
    The preferred method of comment is via the internet at http://parkplanning.nps.gov. The document will be available for public review 
and comment online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/fiis, and can be 
viewed at the following locations: Patchogue-Medford Library, 54-60 
East Main Street, Patchogue, NY 11772-3596.
    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--might be made publicly available at any time. While you 
can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Project Manager Morgan Elmer at (303) 
969-2317.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fire Island National Seashore (the 
Seashore), a unit of the National Park System, is located along the 
south shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York. The Seashore 
encompasses 19,579 acres of upland, tidal, and submerged lands along a 
26-mile stretch of the 32-mile barrier island--part of a much larger 
system of barrier islands and bluffs stretching from New York City to 
the very eastern end of Long Island at Montauk Point. An extensive 
dunes system, centuries-old maritime forests, and solitary beaches are 
easily accessed on Fire Island. Also on Fire Island, within the 
boundary of the Seashore, are nearly 1,400 acres of federally 
designated wilderness and the Fire Island Lighthouse. Nearby on Long 
Island, also part of the Seashore is the William Floyd Estate, the home 
of one of New York's signers of the Declaration of Independence.
    The purpose of this plan is to guide and direct the actions of the 
NPS in the management of white-tailed deer in Fire Island National 
Seashore, including the William Floyd Estate on Long Island. The 
Seashore sustains a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) 
population that has expanded since the late 1960s to the extent that 
impacts from high densities of deer have impacted and continue to 
impact the Seashore's ecosystem. As a result, the Seashore is preparing 
this White-tailed Deer Management Plan and Environmental Impact 
Statement (plan/EIS). The plan/EIS has been prepared in cooperation 
with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS-
DEC) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant 
Health Inspection Services (APHIS).
    The NPS has developed the DEIS under section 102(2)(C) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and consistent with National 
Park Service law, regulations, and policies. The DEIS describes and 
analyzes a No Action alternative (Alternative A) and three action 
alternatives (Alternatives B, C, and D) to guide management actions and 
strategies for managing white-tailed deer. The alternatives include 
lethal and non-lethal actions to manage and reduce the impacts of 
white-tailed deer.
    There are three action alternatives for the management of white-
tailed deer.
    Alternative B of the plan provides a nonlethal deer reduction 
option to implement nonsurgical reproductive control of female deer 
(does) when an acceptable reproductive control agent is available that 
meets NPS established criteria. Large fence exclosures would also 
protect the Sunken Forest--a globally rare forest type (holly maritime 
forest) to allow natural restoration of the forest and culturally 
significant vegetation at the William Floyd Estate.
    Alternative C of the Plan provides a lethal deer reduction option 
with sharpshooting, controlled public hunt, and limited capture and 
euthanasia to reduce deer populations to the target density and 
maintain that level. Similar to alternative B, a large fence exclosure 
would protect the Sunken Forest.
    Alternative D of the Plan provides a combined lethal and nonlethal 
deer reduction option with sharpshooting, a controlled public hunt and 
limited capture and euthanasia to reduce deer populations to the target 
deer density. Once the target density has been reached, and an 
acceptable reproductive control agent is available that meets NPS 
established criteria, the use of nonsurgical reproductive control of 
does would be implemented to maintain deer density at the target level. 
If an acceptable agent is not available, then population maintenance 
would occur using lethal methods. Similar to alternative B, large fence 
exclosures would protect the Sunken Forest and culturally significant 
vegetation at the William Floyd Estate.
    The DEIS evaluates potential environmental consequences of 
implementing these alternatives. Impact topics include the natural, 
cultural, and socioeconomic environments.

    Dated: June 18, 2014.
Michael A. Caldwell,
Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2014-18456 Filed 8-8-14; 8:45 am]
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