[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 129 (Friday, July 6, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 37037-37039]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-13084]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Guam National Wildlife Refuge, Dededo, Guam
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a comprehensive conservation plan;
announcement of public meeting and open house; and request for
comments.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service, we) intends to prepare a Comprehensive Conservation
Plan (CCP) and associated environmental compliance document for the
Guam National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). The Refuge includes the
Ritidian Unit in northern Guam and two overlay units, the Andersen Air
Force Base Unit in northern Guam and the Navy Unit. The Navy Unit
includes portions of the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station
(NCTS) and Public Works Center (PWC) in northern Guam, and portions of
the Naval Station and Ordnance Annex areas in central and southern
Guam. We are furnishing this notice to advise the public and other
agencies of our intentions, and to obtain public comments, suggestions,
and information on the scope of issues to be considered during the CCP
planning process. The Refuge will hold a public open house to provide
information about the CCP and the planning process, and to obtain
public comments (see SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION for details).
[[Page 37038]]
DATES: Please provide written comments on the scope of the CCP by
August 31, 2007. To begin the CCP planning process, a public meeting
will be held on July 14, 2007, which is also the first day of an open
house that will run through July 22, 2007, see SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION for details.
ADDRESSES: Address comments, questions, and requests for information to
Chris Bandy, Project Leader, Guam National Wildlife Refuge, P.O. Box
8134, MOU-3, Dededo, GU 96929. Comments may be faxed to the Refuge at
(671) 355-5098; or e-mailed to [email protected]. Include
``Guam NWR CCP'' in the subject line of the message. Additional
information about the CCP planning process is available on the Internet
at: http://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chris Bandy, Project Leader, Guam
National Wildlife Refuge, phone (671) 355-5096.
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 all
lands within the National Wildlife Refuge System to be managed in
accordance with an approved CCP. A CCP guides a refuge's management
decisions, and identifies long-range goals, objectives, and strategies
for achieving the purposes for which the refuge was established. During
the CCP planning process many elements will be considered, including
wildlife and habitat protection and management, and public use
opportunities. Public input during the planning process is essential.
The CCP for the Guam Refuge will describe the purposes and desired
conditions for the Refuge units, and the long-term conservation goals,
objectives, and strategies for fulfilling the purposes and achieving
those conditions. As part of the planning process, the Service will
prepare an environmental compliance document in accordance with the
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C.
4371 et seq.)
Public Availability of Comments
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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.
Background
Guam National Wildlife Refuge is located on the island of Guam, the
southernmost island in the Mariana Islands Archipelago in the western
Pacific Ocean. Guam is a U.S. Territory located between 13[deg]15' and
13[deg]14' N latitude, and between 144[deg]30' and 144[deg]57' E
longitude. The Refuge is comprised of three units: the Ritidian Unit,
in northern Guam; the Andersen Air Force Base Unit, in northern Guam;
and the Navy Unit, with areas in northern, central, and southern Guam.
The Ritidian Unit, in northern Guam, is approximately 772 acres
including approximately 370 acres of terrestrial land and 401 acres of
marine waters. The Unit includes a densely vegetated coastal plain
bounded on one side by sheer limestone cliffs jutting to approximately
200 feet above sea level. Native vegetation on the Ritidian Unit
includes high-quality coastal strand, backstrand, and limestone forest
natural communities; a sandy beach; and nearshore marine habitats to
the depth of 30 meters (approximately 100 feet). The clear waters of
the Ritidian Unit feature sandy areas, platform reefs, and coral
habitats that support a diversity of fish, marine invertebrates, and
algae and provide foraging areas for endangered hawksbill and green sea
turtles.
The terrestrial lands on the Ritidian Unit are designated critical
habitat for the endangered Mariana crow, the endangered Guam
Micronesian kingfisher, and the threatened Mariana fruit bat.
Threatened green sea turtles nest on the Unit's beach.
Management programs at the Ritidian Unit focus on preserving and
restoring essential wildlife habitat, and protection and recovery of
endangered and threatened species. Protecting habitat for endangered
species also conserves a rich diversity of other plant and animals
species. The Ritidian Unit supports a diversity of tropical trees,
shrubs, vines, ferns, cycads, grasses, and other species that in turn
provide habitat for native birds, the Mariana fruit bat, tree snails,
coconut crabs, land crabs, skinks, geckos, and a myriad of native
insects.
The Ritidian Unit is the only Refuge site on northern Guam open to
the public. Visitors have access to it seven days a week from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:00 p.m., except for Federal holidays. A variety of visitor
programs are offered in the open areas, including certain types of
fishing, wildlife observation and photography, natural and cultural
resources interpretation, and environmental education. A recently
opened nature center provides visitors with additional information
about the wildlife values of the Unit. The public enjoys opportunities
to picnic, swim, snorkel, SCUBA dive, and hike in open portions of the
Ritidian Unit. Collection of traditionally important plant parts for
medicine or food is allowed in a designated area with a Special Use
Permit.
The 10,219-acre Air Force Unit at Andersen Air Force Base in
northern Guam is contiguous with the Ritidian Unit and includes high-
quality native limestone forest, coastal strand, and backstrand natural
communities and beaches. The Air Force Unit supports some of the last
remaining endangered Mariana crows, threatened Mariana fruit bats, and
endangered Serianthes nelsoni trees in the wild, and supports a
diversity of other native wildlife and plant species.
The Navy Unit includes approximately 12,237 acres of native
habitats in north, central, and south Guam. High-quality habitats on
the Navy Unit include limestone forest, backstrand, coastal strand, and
beaches in northern and central Guam; and ravine forests, limestone
forests, mangroves, and wetlands in southern and central Guam. These
areas provide habitat for a diversity of tropical plants and wildlife,
including threatened Mariana fruit bats, endangered Mariana swiftlets,
endangered Mariana Moorhen, threatened green turtles, and a rich
diversity of other plants, skinks, lizards, land snails, and land
crabs. Several freshwater rivers and springs are located on Navy lands
and support aquatic fauna.
Both the Air Force and Navy work cooperatively with the Service,
the Guam Division of Aquatic and Wildlife Resources, and other
conservation partners to implement proactive measures to protect and
enhance wildlife and habitat, while operating the military bases for
their primary use.
Natural resources and management programs on the Air Force and Navy
Units are described in their respective Integrated Natural Resources
Management Plans (INRMPs) for Navy and Air Force lands on Guam. Both
INRMPs are currently being updated and will be incorporated into the
CCP for the Guam Refuge. The Service is a close cooperator in the
INRMPs' planning processes and will continue to have input on proposed
natural resource management priorities and programs on the overlay
Refuge units. The CCP will incorporate the revised or draft INRMPs by
reference, extracting those programs that the Service will be most
closely involved with in the foreseeable future.
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Preliminary Issues, Concerns, and Opportunities
A brief summary of the preliminary issues, concerns, and
opportunities that have been identified follows. The issues fall into
five general categories: (1) Natural resources management on the
Ritidian Unit; (2) management of visitor services on the Ritidian Unit;
(3) management of cultural resources on the Ritidian Unit; (4)
facilities, operations, and maintenance on the Ritidian Unit; and (5)
natural resources management priorities on the Air Force and Navy
Units. Additional issues may be identified during public scoping.
The CCP will focus on management at the Ritidian Unit. During the
CCP planning process, the Service will analyze methods for protecting
the unique and important natural and cultural resources of the
terrestrial and marine portions of the Ritidian Unit in the long term,
while continuing to provide quality opportunities for wildlife-
dependent public uses.
The Ritidian Unit includes important cultural and historic
resources that reflect human occupation and use of the area during pre-
western contact periods, the early post-contact period, and on through
to the modern era. Service archaeologists, working in coordination with
the Guam Historic Preservation Office, have developed a draft Cultural
Resources Management Plan (CRMP) for the Ritidian Unit that will be
distributed for public review with the CCP. Ensuring adequate
protection and management of unique cultural resources at Ritidian, and
their study and interpretation, are topics that will be covered in the
final CRMP.
Public Meeting and Open House
The Refuge will hold a public meeting that will include a brief
presentation and information and handouts about the Refuge and CCP
planning process. The meeting will be held on Saturday, July 14, 2007,
from 10 a.m. to 12 noon at the Guam National Wildlife Refuge
Headquarters' Nature Center located on the Ritidian Unit, at the end of
Route 3A, in northern Guam. An informal open house will continue in the
Nature Center from July 15 through July 22, 2007. A specific area will
be set up for the public to obtain information on the CCP planning
process and provide written comments. The Nature Center is open from
8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily (except Federal holidays). Additional
opportunities for public input will be announced throughout the CCP
planning process.
Dated: June 29, 2007.
David J. Wesley,
Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.
[FR Doc. E7-13084 Filed 7-5-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-P