[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 14 (Tuesday, January 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8203-8205]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01543]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R2-R-2016-N168; FXRS12650200000-178-FF02R04000]


Little Sandy National Wildlife Refuge, Wood County, Texas; Draft 
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of a draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan (dCCP) and the 
draft Environmental Assessment (dEA) for Little Sandy National Wildlife 
Refuge (NWR), located approximately 80 miles east of Dallas, Texas, for 
public review and comment. The dCCP/dEA describes our proposal for 
managing the refuge for the next 15 years.

DATES: To ensure consideration, please send your written comments by 
February 23, 2017. We will announce any potential upcoming public 
meetings in local news media.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments or requests for copies or more 
information by any of the following methods. You may request hard 
copies or a CD-ROM of the documents. Please contact David Weaver, 
Refuge Manager, or Joseph Lujan, Natural Resource Planner.
    Email: [email protected]. Include ``Little Sandy NWR draft CCP 
and draft EA'' in the subject line of the message.
    Fax: Attn: Joseph Lujan, 505-248-6803.
    U.S. Mail: Joseph Lujan, Natural Resource Planner, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, NWRS, Division of Planning, P.O. Box 1306 Room 4335, 
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87103.
    In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: In-Person Drop-off: You may 
drop off comments during regular business hours of 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 
at 500 Gold Avenue SW; 4th Floor, Room 4335; Albuquerque, New Mexico 
87102. Little Sandy NWR, CCP Project, P.O. Box 340, Broken Bow, 
Oklahoma 74728

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Weaver, Refuge Manager, Little 
Sandy NWR, CCP Project, P.O. Box 340, Broken Bow, Oklahoma 74728; 
phone: 580-584-6211.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    With this notice, we continue the Comprehensive Conservation 
Planning (CCP) process for the Little Sandy NWR. We started this 
process through a notice in the Federal Register (72 FR 46095; August 
16, 2007).
    The primary purpose of Little Sandy NWR is to protect a remnant of 
the bottomland hardwood forest ecosystem along the Sabine River in East 
Texas. The Little Sandy NWR was established in December 1986 as a 
permanent non-development easement with the Little Sandy Hunting and 
Fishing Club (LSHFC). It is managed as a unit of the National Wildlife 
Refuge System (NWRS) out of the Little River NWR Complex headquarters 
in Broken Bow Oklahoma.

Background

The CCP Process

    The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement 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 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 NWRS, consistent with sound principles of fish and 
wildlife management, conservation, legal mandates, and FWS 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 
wildlife observation and photography, and environmental education and 
interpretation. We will review and update the CCP at least every 15 
years in accordance with the Refuge Administration Act.

Public Outreach

    Formal scoping began when we published a notice of intent to 
prepare a CCP and EA in the Federal Register on August 16, 2007, and 
formally invited the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) to 
participate in the development of the document. TPWD has provided 
constant input and the Service has continued to involve them throughout 
the planning process. Information sheets were sent to the public, and 
news releases were sent to a variety of media outlets. A public open 
house meeting was held on September 9, 2009, at Jarvis Christian 
College in Hawkins, Texas. Additional written comments were received 
prior to the open house. A variety of stakeholders contributed feedback 
at the open house meeting and via written

[[Page 8204]]

comments and we used the feedback in development of the dCCP.

CCP Alternatives We Are Considering

    The public raised multiple issues during the public scoping process 
that initiated this dCCP. Our dCCP addresses them in detail. A full 
description of each alternative is in the dEA. To address these issues, 
we developed and evaluated the following alternatives, summarized 
below.

                       Comparison of Alternatives
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Alternative A:        Alternative B:
      Issues and topics        Current management      Proposed action
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          I. Habitat Management
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Climate Change.....  The Service has       The Refuge would
                               limited activities    establish a
                               at Little Sandy       baseline dataset
                               NWR; as such, the     for Refuge
                               Refuge attempts to    resources. To do
                               limit carbon          so, the Refuge
                               footprints by         would use
                               consolidating trips   technologies
                               from Caddo Lake       including
                               NWR; what few trips   historical imagery
                               are made to the       and tabular data,
                               Refuge are offset     existing maps and
                               by the conservation   records, LiDAR,
                               of the bottomland     contemporary ortho-
                               hardwood habitat      rectified imagery,
                               found on the          ground-truthing and
                               Refuge. There are     on-screen
                               no Service            digitizing. This
                               facilities present    baseline dataset
                               on the Refuge;        would enable the
                               therefore, there is   Refuge to develop a
                               no effort to          decision-based
                               utilize green         research and
                               products commonly     monitoring program
                               associated with       to track potential
                               such facilities.      impacts from
                                                     climate change on
                                                     the Refuge. There
                                                     would be no Service
                                                     development of
                                                     facilities on the
                                                     Refuge.
 Land Acquisition...  The Service would     The Refuge will
                               work within the 10    participate in a
                               percent rule which    partnership driven
                               allows Refuge         Land Protection
                               expansion to occur    Planning process
                               up to 10 percent of   that would guide
                               the total Refuge      land acquisition
                               establishment acres   efforts and provide
                               within the Refuge     the opportunity to
                               or up to 1 mile of    acquire any
                               the existing Refuge   adjacent lands from
                               boundary. This        willing sellers.
                               includes fee          Both bottomland and
                               acquisition and       upland tracts would
                               conservation          be considered in
                               easements from        the plan.
                               willing sellers or
                               donors.
 Flora Inventory....  An initial habitat    Same as Alternative
                               assessment of the     A plus the
                               refuge was            development of a
                               completed by refuge   comprehensive
                               staff when Little     species list for
                               Sandy was brought     the Refuge would be
                               into the Refuge       beneficial for
                               System, and an        determining
                               additional            ecological
                               ecological            integrity and
                               community             habitat diversity
                               characterization      as well as
                               survey was            providing a
                               conducted by the      baseline dataset
                               U.S. Geological       from which any
                               Survey's National     changes to habitat
                               Wetland Research      as a result of
                               Center. Current       climate change and
                               inventory             management
                               activities are        activities can be
                               limited to            tracked.
                               identification and
                               confirmation of
                               invasive flora
                               species when Little
                               Sandy Hunting and
                               Fishing Club
                               (LSHFC) members
                               report them.
 Prescribed Burning.  There is currently    The completion and
                               no prescribed fire    implementation of a
                               plan or program on    step-down fire
                               Little Sandy NWR. A   management plan
                               Fire program would    would be focused on
                               mimic natural fire    mimicking natural
                               ecology and be        fire ecology on the
                               beneficial to         upland portions of
                               upland habitat.       the Refuge,
                                                     controlling
                                                     invasive flora
                                                     species, reducing
                                                     fuel loads from
                                                     wildfires and
                                                     promote pine
                                                     savanna habitat.
 Invasive Species     Limited management    Same as Alternative
 Management (Flora).           activities are        A plus increased
                               present in the form   efforts to locate,
                               of chemical (Garlon   map, treat, and
                               3A and Garlon4)       monitor these, as
                               treatments when       well as other
                               identified by LSHFC   invasive species,
                               members..             which may be
                              In 2011 and 2012,      present on the
                               limited funding was   Refuge. In
                               available to treat    addition, some
                               Chinese tallow and    stumps may be cut
                               privet.               and sprayed to
                                                     minimize spread of
                                                     invasive species.
                                                     This can be
                                                     conducted in
                                                     conjunction with
                                                     the Flora Inventory
                                                     as described above.
                                                     Prescribed burning
                                                     can also be used to
                                                     treat with the
                                                     production of a
                                                     fire management
                                                     plan.
 Water Body           Brumley and Overton   Same as Alternative
 Management.                   Lake levels managed   A.
                               by LSHFC for
                               recreation and
                               hunting purposes;
                               the Refuge serves
                               in an advisory
                               function only.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                         II. Wildlife Management
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Fauna Inventory....  Annual aerial         Same as Alternative
                               waterfowl surveys     A, plus expand
                               were conducted        current wildlife
                               between October and   monitoring on the
                               March, from 2008-     Refuge and
                               2011, on a monthly    coordinate with the
                               basis by the Region   Division of
                               2 pilot and a         Biological
                               Refuge staff          Sciences. This
                               member. Aerial        alternative would
                               surveys were halted   also provide an
                               in 2011 when the      opportunity to
                               Region no longer      utilize LiDAR to
                               had a airplane. In    monitor changes in
                               addition, annual      habitat throughout
                               bird point counts     the Refuge. The
                               are conducted with    alternative
                               assistance from       includes; expansion
                               Region 2 migratory    of bird point
                               bird biologist,       counts and
                               Texas Parks and       monitoring to meet
                               Wildlife biologist    Service standards,
                               and Refuge staff      continuation of on
                               each spring in May    the ground
                               and June.             waterfowl surveys
                                                     and the collection
                                                     of biological data
                                                     from fauna
                                                     harvested by the
                                                     LSHFC.

[[Page 8205]]

 
 Nuisance and         The LSHFC staff       Under this
 Invasive Species Management   identifies and        alternative, the
 (Fauna).                      removes beaver dams   Refuge will develop
                               throughout the year   step down
                               from culverts and     management plans
                               small drains to       focused on nuisance
                               promote drainage      and invasive
                               and maintain          species management.
                               trails. Hunt club     Step Down Plans
                               members may take      would be initiated
                               hogs during other     for an Invasive
                               hunting activities,   Species Management
                               but these             Plan, a Feral Hog
                               circumstances are     and Beaver
                               opportunistic and     Management Plan.
                               relatively rare;      Step Down
                               there have been       Management Plans
                               coordinated           may initiate
                               trapping efforts      management
                               between the Service   practices for
                               and LSHFC since       nuisance species
                               2013.                 (beaver, nutria),
                                                     such as dam removal
                                                     and trapping,
                                                     reducing the
                                                     negative impacts to
                                                     existing
                                                     infrastructure.
                                                     Additionally, the
                                                     Refuge will utilize
                                                     their own staff or
                                                     contract services
                                                     to conduct hunting
                                                     and trapping of
                                                     feral hogs.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
           III. Staff Requirements Under the Two Alternatives
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              Zero (0) Full-Time    2.5 FTE.
                               Equivalent (FTE)
                               Staff
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 IV. Budgets Under the Two Alternatives
------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Refuge Base          $0..................  $612,476.00.
 Operational Budget.
 Annual Maintenance.  $0..................  $0.
 Fire Operations....  $0..................  $0.
 Tallow/Forest        $18,884.00..........  $18,884.00.
 Inventory.
    Total Budget............  $18,884.00..........  $631,360.00.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Public Availability of Documents

    In addition to using any methods in ADDRESSES, you can view or 
obtain documents at the following locations:
     Little River NWR, P.O. Box 340, Broken Bow, Oklahoma 
74728, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through 
Friday.
     Our Web site: https://www.fws.gov/southwest/refuges/texas/little_sandy/CCP.
     The following public libraries:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Library                     Address          Phone number
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allen Memorial Public Library....  121 East Blackbourn      903-769-2241
                                    Street, Hawkins,
                                    Texas 75765.
Tyler Public Library.............  201 South College        903-593-7323
                                    Avenue, Tyler,
                                    Texas 75702.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Submitting Comments/Issues for Comment

    We consider comments substantive if they:
     Question, with reasonable basis, the accuracy of the 
information in the document;
     Question, with reasonable basis, the adequacy of the dEA;
     Present reasonable alternatives other than those presented 
in the dEA; and/or
     Provide new or additional information relevant to the dEA.

Next Steps

    After this comment period ends, we will analyze the comments and 
then address them in the form of a final CCP and The National 
Environmental Policy Act decision document.

Public Availability of Comments

    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--may 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.

    Dated: January 11, 2017.
 Benjamin Tuggle,
Regional Director, Southwest Region, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
[FR Doc. 2017-01543 Filed 1-23-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4333-15-P