Notice of Availability of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge in Carteret County, NC, 7794-7796 [06-1347]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 14, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7794-7796]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-1347]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Notice of Availability of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Cedar Island National 
Wildlife Refuge in Carteret County, NC

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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[[Page 7795]]

SUMMARY: This notice announces that a Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Cedar Island National 
Wildlife Refuge are available for review and comment. The National 
Wildlife System Administration Act of 1966, as amended by the National 
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997, requires the Service to 
develop a comprehensive conservation plan for each national wildlife 
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.

DATES: Individuals wishing to comment on the Draft Comprehensive 
Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for Cedar Island 
National Wildlife Refuge should do so no later than March 16, 2006. 
Public comments were requested, considered, and incorporated throughout 
the planning process in numerous ways. Public outreach has included 
scoping meetings, a review of the biological program, an ecosystem 
planning newsletter, and Federal Register notices.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the Draft Comprehensive Conservation 
Plan and Environmental Assessment should be addressed to Bruce Freske, 
Refuge Manager, Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, 38 Mattamuskeet 
Road, Swan Quarter, North Carolina 27885; Telephone: 252/926-4021; Fax: 
252/926-1743. Comments on the draft may be submitted to the above 
address or via electronic mail to: bruce_freske@fws.gov. Our practice 
is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, 
available for public review during regular business hours. Individual 
respondents may request that we withhold their home addresses from the 
record, which we will honor to the extent allowed by law.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service analyzed three alternatives for 
managing the refuge and chose Alternative 2 as the preferred 
alternative.
    Proposed goals for the refuge include:
    Wildlife, Fish, and Plant Populations. Conserve, protect, and 
maintain healthy and viable populations of migratory birds, wildlife, 
fish, and plants, including Federal and State threatened, endangered, 
and trust species.
    Habitat. Protect and enhance diverse habitats, rare plant 
assemblages, and nursery areas associated with the Pamlico-Core Sounds 
and the mid-Atlantic coastal plain.
    Public use. Develop programs and facilities to increase public use 
opportunities, including hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, 
wildlife photography, and environmental education and interpretation.
    Resource Protection. Protect refuge resources by limiting impacts 
of human development and activity on and around Cedar Island National 
Wildlife Refuge.
    Administration. Provide adequate funding and staffing to accomplish 
refuge goals and objectives.
    Also available for review are compatibility determinations for 
recreational hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife 
photography, and environmental education and interpretation.

Alternatives

    Alternative 1 proposes to maintain the status quo. The staff would 
manage marshes and pine forests with prescribed burns conducted by 
employees from other refugees according to the Fire Management Plan. 
The refuge would employ a single maintenance worker stationed on the 
refuge to maintain the buildings and grounds, clean up dumpsites, and 
pick up litter. Staff from other refuges would survey waterfowl from 
the air on a routine basis. The refuge would conduct no other surveys 
of wildlife or habitats. The refuge would allow all six priority public 
use activities: waterfowl hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, 
wildlife photography, and environmental education and interpretation. 
The staff would not conduct environmental education and interpretation 
programs, but would allow others to conduct programs on the refuge. The 
Service would manage the refuge from Mattamuskeet National Wildlife 
Refuge.
    Alternative 2, the preferred alternative, proposes minimum program 
increases. The refuge would document the presence of priority wildlife 
species, but would not monitor habitat. Staff would survey waterfowl 
from the air on a routine basis. The refuge would continue to allow the 
six priority public use activities, but would have the capacity to 
increase the number of opportunities. The staff would conduct 
environmental education programs once a month. An interpretive and 
observation trail with a brochure and a photo blind would be 
established. The staff would also control dominant pest plants and 
animals. There would be four staff members stationed at the Cedar 
Island National Wildlife Refuge.
    Alternative 3 proposes moderate program increases. The refuge would 
document the presence of priority wildlife species and mammals and 
monitor fire-dependent habitats. The staff would monitor vegetation in 
the marshes and pine forests before and after prescribed burns 
conducted by staff from other refuges according to the Fire Management 
Plan. Staff from the refuge would survey waterfowl from the air and the 
ground on a routine basis. The refuge would continue to allow the six 
priority public use activities, but would have the capacity to increase 
the number of opportunities. The staff would conduct environmental 
education and interpretation programs once a month. An interpretive 
trail with brochure and photo blind would be established. The staff 
would also monitor pest plants and animals and control them according 
to an integrated Pest Management Plan. There would be eight staff 
members stationed at the Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge.

Actions Common to All Alternatives

    All three alternatives share the following concepts and techniques 
for achieving the goals of the refuge:
     Cooperating with local, State, and Federal agencies, and 
non-governmental organizations to administer refuge programs;
     Utilizing volunteers to execute the public use, 
biological, and maintenance programs on the refuge;
     Monitoring populations of waterfowl, shorebirds, and 
wading birds, and vegetation in the refuge impoundments;
     Maintaining vegetation in the marsh with prescribed fire; 
and
     Encouraging scientific research on the refuge.
    Cedar Island National Wildlife Refuge, in east-central North 
Carolina, consists of 14,480 acres in fee simple ownership. On the 
refuge, 11,000 acres are brackish marsh, 1,500 acres are longleaf pine 
savanna, 150 acres are brackish shrub, 125 acres are pond pine 
woodland, 100 acres are bay forests, 100 acres are low pocosin, and 50 
acres are cypress-gum swamp. These habitats support a variety of 
wildlife species, including waterfowl, shorebirds, wading

[[Page 7796]]

birds, marsh birds, and neotropical migratory songbirds.
    The refuge hosts more than thirty thousand visitors annually who 
participate in hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife 
photography, and environmental education and interpretation.

    Authority: This notice is published under the authority of the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement act of 1997, Public Law 
105-57.

    Dated: September 7, 2005.
Cynthia K. Dohner,
Acting Regional Director.

    Editorial Note: This document was received at the Office of the 
Federal Register on February 9, 2006.

[FR Doc. 06-1347 Filed 2-13-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M