Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge, Poquoson, VA; Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment, 3800-3802 [2017-00314]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 8 (Thursday, January 12, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3800-3802]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-00314]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R5-R-2016-N134; BAC-4333-99]


Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge, Poquoson, VA; 
Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 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 (CCP) and 
environmental assessment (EA) for Plum Tree Island National Wildlife 
Refuge (NWR) for public review and comment. Plum Tree Island NWR is 
located in Poquoson, Virginia, and is administered by staff at Eastern 
Virginia Rivers NWR Complex based in Warsaw, Virginia. The draft CCP 
and EA describes two alternatives for managing Plum Tree Island NWR for 
the next 15 years. Alternative B is identified as the Service-preferred 
alternative. Also available for public review and comment are the draft 
compatibility determinations, which are included as appendix B in the 
draft CCP and EA.

DATES: To ensure consideration of your written comments, please send 
them by March 13, 2017. We will also hold public meetings. We will 
announce those meetings and other opportunities for public input in 
local news media, via our project mailing list, and on the refuge 
planning Web site: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Plum_Tree_Island/what_we_do/conservation.html.

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.
    Email: EasternVirginiaRiversNWRC@fws.gov. Please include ``Plum 
Tree Island CCP'' in the subject line of the message.
    U.S. Mail: Meghan Powell, Natural Resource Planner, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, P.O. Box 1030, Warsaw, VA 22572.
    Fax: Attention: Meghan Powell, 804-333-3396.
    In-Person Drop-off, Viewing, or Pickup: Call Meghan Powell at 804-
313-7729, or Andy Hofmann, Refuge Manager, at 804-333-1470, extension 
112, during regular business hours to make an appointment to view the 
document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meghan Powell, Natural Resource

[[Page 3801]]

Planner, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; mailing address: 336 Wilna 
Road, Warsaw, VA 22572; 804-313-7729 (phone); 804-333-3396 (fax); 
EasternVirginiaRiversNWRC@fws.gov (email) (please put ``Plum Tree 
Island NWR'' in the subject line).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Introduction

    With this notice, we continue the CCP process for Plum Tree Island 
NWR. We published our original notice of intent to prepare a CCP in the 
Federal Register on January 10, 2012 (77 FR 1500).
    The 3,502-acre Plum Tree Island NWR is located in the City of 
Poquoson, Virginia. The refuge is approximately 7 miles north of 
Hampton, Virginia. It was established in 1972 primarily to conserve and 
protect migratory birds. It is one of many important migratory bird 
stopover sites along the Atlantic Flyway and provides protected 
breeding habitat for Federal- and State-listed threatened and 
endangered species, as well as many neotropical migrant bird species. 
The refuge is comprised of a variety of wildlife habitats, including 
salt marsh, maritime shrubland and dune, sandy beaches and mudflats, 
and estuarine habitats.
    Prior to refuge establishment in 1972, the U.S. Air Force used 
approximately 3,276 acres of the present-day refuge as a bombing and 
gunnery range. Known as the Plum Tree Island Range, it was actively 
used from 1917 until June 1971. The nature and extent of unexploded 
ordnance and munitions constituents occurring within and adjacent to 
the refuge have been characterized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 
(USACE) Formerly Used Defense Site Program. A remedial action plan to 
address human health and ecological risks of the Plum Tree Island Range 
is currently being developed by the USACE.
    The only public use that is currently allowed on the refuge is a 
30-day waterfowl hunt on the refuge's 211-acre Cow Island tract, which 
lies outside the former gunnery and bombing range.

Background

    The National Wildlife Refuge System 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 
National Wildlife Refuge System, consistent with sound principles of 
fish and wildlife management conservation, legal mandates, and our 
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 hunting, fishing, 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

    In September 2012, we distributed a planning newsletter to over 410 
parties on our project mailing list. The newsletter informed people 
about the planning process and asked recipients to contact us about 
issues or concerns they would like us to address. We also posted the 
newsletter on our Web site for people to access electronically. In 
addition, we notified the general public of our planning project, and 
our interest in hearing about issues and concerns, by publishing news 
releases in local newspapers. We also held an evening public scoping 
meeting on September 13, 2012, in Poquoson, Virginia, and an afternoon 
public scoping meeting on September 14, 2012, in Poquoson, Virginia. 
The purpose of the two meetings was to share information on the 
planning process and to solicit management issues and concerns. 
Throughout the process, refuge staff has conducted additional outreach 
via participation in community meetings, events, and other public 
forums. We have considered and evaluated all of the comments we 
received and addressed them in various ways in the alternatives 
presented in the draft CCP and EA.

CCP Alternatives We Are Considering

    Several issues were raised by us, other governmental partners, and 
the public during the public scoping process. To address these issues, 
we developed and evaluated two management alternatives in the draft CCP 
and EA. A full description of each alternative is in the draft CCP and 
EA. Both alternatives include measures to continue to share staff 
across the Eastern Virginia Rivers NWR Complex, control invasive 
species, protect cultural resources, distribute refuge revenue sharing 
payments, support research on the refuge, and participate in 
conservation and education partnerships.
    There are other actions that differ among the alternatives. The 
draft CCP and EA provides a full description of both alternatives and 
relates each to the issues and concerns that arose during the planning 
process. Below, we provide summaries for the two alternatives.

Alternative A (Current Management)

    This alternative is the ``no action'' alternative required by the 
National Environmental Policy Act. Alternative A defines our current 
management activities, including those planned, funded, or underway, 
and serves as the baseline against which to compare alternative B. 
Under alternative A, we would continue to protect the refuge's wildlife 
habitats by allowing natural processes to occur unimpeded. Our refuge 
management efforts would continue to focus on minimizing human-caused 
disturbance of refuge habitats and wildlife, conducting annual 
northeastern beach tiger beetle surveys (a federally threatened 
species), performing visual surveys of shoreline changes, and 
administering the waterfowl hunt while on the refuge. While off the 
refuge, our staff would continue to focus on interagency coordination 
to assess and evaluate hazards posed by the former bombing range. 
Refuge staff has also participated in community programs and events to 
promote understanding and appreciation for the purpose of the refuge 
and the mission of the Service. The refuge's limited waterfowl hunt on 
Cow Island would continue to be the only public use permitted on the 
refuge.

Alternative B (Increased Ecosystem Monitoring, Partnerships, and Public 
Use; Service-Preferred Alternative)

    Alternative B is the Service-preferred alternative. It combines the 
actions we believe would best achieve the refuge's purposes, vision, 
and goals and respond to public issues. Under alternative B, we would 
continue to protect the refuge's wildlife habitats by allowing natural 
processes to occur unimpeded. Our refuge management efforts would 
continue to focus on minimizing human-caused disturbance of refuge 
habitats and wildlife, while working with a greater diversity of 
partners to conduct biological research, inventory, and monitoring 
efforts. We are primarily interested in learning more about the 
presence and sustainability of priority wildlife species through 
inventories and the monitoring of climate change impacts and changes in 
habitat conditions over the life of the plan. Collecting this 
information would serve as the basis for future refuge management 
actions in the next CCP.
    Under alternative B, we would evaluate opportunities to enhance and 
expand the waterfowl hunt program on Cow Island, with an emphasis on 
increasing adult and youth

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participation. Alternative B would also expand wildlife-dependent 
recreation on Cow Island by opening one designated location to 
recreational and commercial wildlife observation, photography, 
environmental education, and interpretation of natural and cultural 
resources. Access by canoe and kayak would complement the City of 
Poquoson's Blueway Trail surrounding the refuge. In partnership with 
other government agencies and adjacent landowners, we would investigate 
the potential to establish viewing platforms on the mainland 
overlooking the refuge.

Next Steps

    After this comment period ends, we will analyze the comments and 
address them in the form of a final CCP and, if appropriate, finding of 
no significant impact.

Public Availability of Documents

    In addition to any methods in ADDRESSES, you can view or obtain 
documents from the agency Web site at: https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Plum_Tree_Island/what_we_do/conservation.html.

Submitting Comments

    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 EA.
     Present reasonable alternatives other than those presented 
in the EA.
     Provide new or additional information relevant to the EA.

Public Availability of Comments

    Before including your address, phone number, email address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comments, 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: November 3, 2016.
Deborah Rocque,
Acting Regional Director, Northeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2017-00314 Filed 1-11-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P