[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 116 (Friday, June 16, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34955-34957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-5460]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation
Plan and Environmental Assessment for Grand Cote National Wildlife
Refuge in Avoyelles Parish, LA
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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service announces that a Draft
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment (Draft
CCP/EA) for Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge is available for public
review and comment. This Draft CCP/EA was prepared pursuant to the
National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act, as amended, and the
National Environmental Policy Act. The Draft CCP/EA describes the
Service's proposal for management of the refuge for 15 years.
DATES: Written comments must be received at the postal or electronic
addresses listed below no later than July 31, 2006.
ADDRESSES: To provide written comments or to obtain a copy of the Draft
CCP/EA, please write to Tina Chouinard, National Resource Planner,
Central Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 401 Island Road,
[[Page 34956]]
Marksville, Louisiana 71351; Telephone: 318/253-4238. Comments may also
be submitted via electronic mail to [email protected]. The Draft
CCP/EA will also be available for viewing and downloading online at
http://southeast.fws.gov/planning/.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Wildlife Refuge System
Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the National Wildlife Refuge
System Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 668dd-668ee), requires the
Service to develop a plan for each 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.
Background: Grand Cote National Wildlife Refuge is in west-central
Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, about 5 miles west of the city of
Marksville and 20 miles southeast of the city of Alexandria. The refuge
is part of the Central Louisiana National Wildlife Refuge Complex,
which also includes Lake Ophelia and Cat Island National Wildlife
Refuges and several fee and easement Farm Service Agency sites. The
refuge lies within a physiographic region known as the Mississippi
Alluvial Valley. This valley was at one time a 25-million-acre forested
wetland complex that extended along both sides of the Mississippi River
from Illinois to Louisiana. Although the refuge was part of this very
productive bottomland hardwood ecosystem, most of the forest on and
around the refuge was cleared in the late 1960s for agricultural
production. Since this land was cleared, most of what is now the refuge
had been under intensive rice production, so there is an extensive
system of man-made levees, irrigation ditches, and water control
structures. Due to this infrastructure, the refuge is capable of
providing critical shallow-water habitat for migratory waterfowl and
shorebirds.
The refuge was established in 1989 to provide wintering habitat for
mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal, and wood ducks and production
habitat for wood ducks to meet the goals of the North American
Waterfowl Management Plan. The refuge is also being managed to provide
habitat for threatened and endangered species, a natural diversity of
plants and animals, and opportunities for compatible wildlife-dependent
recreation.
Significant issues addressed in the draft comprehensive
conservation plan and environmental assessment include: waterfowl
management, agriculture, cooperative farming, land acquisition, forest
fragmentation, visitor services, cultural resources, and refuge access.
The Service developed three alternatives for management of the refuge
and chose Alternative 2 as the Service's proposed alternative.
Alternative 1 represents no change from current management of the
refuge. Under this alternative, 6,075 acres would be protected,
maintained, restored, and enhanced for resident wildlife, waterfowl,
and threatened and endangered species. Refuge management programs would
continue to be developed and implemented with little baseline
biological information. All management actions would be directed toward
achieving the refuge's primary purposes (e.g., preserving wintering
habitat for mallards, pintails, blue-winged teal, and wood duck;
providing production habitat for wood ducks; and helping to meet the
habitat conservation goals of the North American Waterfowl Management
Plan), while contributing to other national, regional, and state goals.
Cooperative farming would continue to be used to manage and maintain
approximately 2,400 acres of cropland and moist-soil habitats. The
current level of wildlife-dependent recreation activities (e.g.,
hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and
environmental education and interpretation) would be maintained.
Alternative 2, the proposed alternative, is considered to be the
most effective management action for meeting the purposes of the refuge
by adding more staff, equipment, and facilities in order to manage and
restore wetland and moist-soil habitats and hydrology in support of
migratory and resident waterfowl and other wildlife, especially white-
tailed deer and woodcock. The proposed alternative seeks to conduct
extensive wildlife population monitoring/surveying in order to assess
population status, trends, wildlife habitat associations, and
population responses to habitat management. Active habitat management
would be implemented through water level manipulations, moist-soil and
cropland management, minimal reforestation, and forest management
designed to provide a diverse complex of habitats that meets the
foraging, resting, and breeding requirements for a variety of species.
Cooperative farming and refuge staff would be used to manage and
maintain approximately 1,940 acres of existing cropland and moist-soil
habitats. Under this alternative, the refuge would continue to seek
acquisition of inholdings from all willing sellers within the present
acquisition boundary, including 2,500-3,000 acres in the Chatlain Lake
area to help better meet waterfowl objectives. The six priority
wildlife-dependent public uses would continue to be supported and in
some cases they would be expanded throughout the refuge under the
proposed alternative. This alternative would also strengthen the close
working relationship in existence between the Service, the local
community, conservation organizations, the Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries, and other state and federal agencies.
Alternative 3 would maximize bottomland hardwood forest restoration
in support of the area's endemic habitat by adding more staff,
equipment, and facilities. Under this alternative, 6,075 acres of
refuge lands would be protected, maintained, restored, and enhanced for
resident wildlife, waterfowl, neotropical migratory birds, and
threatened and endangered species. Some wildlife and plant censuses and
inventory activities would be initiated to obtain the biological
information needed to implement management programs on the refuge,
especially for forest-dependent species. Most management actions would
be directed toward creating and managing the bottomland hardwood forest
habitat for neotropical migratory birds and other forest-dependent
wildlife, while supporting the refuge's primary purposes. Cooperative
farming would be eliminated. Agriculture acreage would be reduced to
500 acres; all farming would be conducted by refuge staff. The refuge
would maintain 400 acres of moist-soil habitat. Under this alternative,
the refuge would continue to seek acquisition of inholdings from
willing sellers within the present acquisition boundary; however, the
Service would eliminate the Chatlain Lake area from the current
acquisition boundary. The six priority wildlife-dependent recreation
opportunities would be provided.
After the review and comment period for the Draft CCP/EA, all
comments will be analyzed and considered by the Service. All comments
received from individuals on the Draft CCP/EA become part of the
official public
[[Page 34957]]
record. Requests for such comments will be handled in accordance with
the Freedom of Information Act and other Service and Departmental
policies and procedures.
Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, Public Law
105-57.
Dated: March 21, 2006.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 06-5460 Filed 6-15-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M