San Luis and Merced National Wildlife Refuges and Grasslands Wildlife Management Area, CA; Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan/Environmental Assessment, 62387-62389 [2023-19485]

Agencies

• Fish and Wildlife Service
• DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 174 (Monday, September 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 62387-62389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-19485]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R8-NWRS-2023-N050; FXRS12610800000-234-FF08R04000]


San Luis and Merced National Wildlife Refuges and Grasslands 
Wildlife Management Area, CA; Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan/
Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of a draft comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) and draft 
environmental assessment (EA) for San Luis and Merced National Wildlife 
Refuges and the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area (collectively, the 
refuges) for review and comment. The draft CCP/EA, prepared under the 
National Wildlife Refuge Improvement Act of 1997, and in accordance 
with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, describes how the 
Service proposes to manage the refuges for the next 15 years. Draft 
compatibility determinations for multiple existing and

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proposed uses, a revised hunt plan, and a visitor services plan are 
also available for review and public comment. We invite comment from 
the public and local, State, Tribal, and Federal agencies.

DATES: To ensure consideration, we must receive your written comments 
by October 26, 2023.

ADDRESSES: Accessing Documents: You may obtain electronic copies of the 
draft CCP/EA, the revised hunt plan, the visitor services plan, and the 
draft compatibility determinations on San Luis Refuge's website, at 
https://www.fws.gov/refuge/san-luis/what-we-do. Hard copies of the 
draft CCP/EA may be viewed in person during regular business hours, 8 
a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, at San Luis NWR Complex 
Headquarters, 7376 S Wolfsen Road, Los Banos, CA 93635.
    Submitting Comments: Please submit comments by only one of the 
following methods.
     Email: Address comments to [email protected]. 
Include ``San Luis CCP'' in the subject line of the message.
     In-Person Drop off: You may drop off comments during 
regular business hours at San Luis NWR Complex Headquarters (address 
above).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John Kurtz, Conservation Planner, via 
email at [email protected], or Chris Harper, San Luis NWRC Project 
Leader, via email at [email protected], or by phone at (209) 826-
3508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The National Wildlife Refuge System 
Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 668dd-668ee), which amended the 
National Wildlife Refuge System Administration Act of 1966, requires 
the Service to develop a CCP for each national wildlife refuge. The 
purpose in 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 Improvement Act.

Introduction

    With this notice, we continue the CCP process for San Luis National 
Wildlife Refuge, Merced National Wildlife Refuge, and Grasslands 
Wildlife Management Area (collectively, ``the refuges''), which we 
began by publishing a notice of intent in the Federal Register on 
September 8, 2008 (73 FR 52063). We hosted three public scoping 
meetings, two in Los Banos on September 24, 2008, and one in Merced, on 
September 25, 2008. In addition to the Federal Register notice of 
intent, our outreach included two planning updates, two initial public 
scoping meetings, and a CCP web page. The scoping comment period ended 
on October 23, 2008. Over 100 comments were received at the meetings, 
via email, and by postal mail. For more about the initial process and 
the history of the Refuge, see the September 8, 2008, notice.

Background

    The San Luis and Merced National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) and 
Grasslands Wildlife Management Area (WMA) are in Merced County, 
California, adjacent to the communities of Los Banos and Merced. They 
are situated within the San Joaquin River watershed in the San Joaquin 
Valley. Along with San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge, they 
make up the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge Complex; however, San 
Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is covered under a separate CCP 
(2006).
    Collectively, San Luis, Merced, and Grasslands contain one of the 
largest remaining contiguous freshwater wetlands remaining in 
California, which provides important winter habitat for millions of 
migratory birds, as well as assemblages of other native wetland- and 
grassland-dependent wildlife.
    The Merced NWR was established in 1951 and consists of 10,262 acres 
(ac). The San Luis NWR was established in 1967 and consists of 26,878 
ac. The Grasslands WMA was established in 1979 and contains more than 
190 privately owned parcels under Service conservation easements, 
totaling approximately 90,000 ac, within an approved acquisition 
boundary of 230,000 ac. All three areas are part of the Grasslands 
Ecological Area, which is a 160,000-ac mosaic of Central Valley floor 
habitats located primarily within Merced County between I-5 and I-99 in 
the northern San Joaquin Valley, west of a line between Modesto and 
Fresno.

Additional Information

    The draft CCP/EA, revised hunt plan, visitor services plan and 
draft compatibility determinations can be found at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/san-luis/what-we-do. The draft CCP includes detailed information 
about the planning process, history of the refuges, management issues, 
ecological context, and management opportunities.

National Environmental Policy Act Compliance

    The draft EA was prepared in accordance with the National 
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA; 43 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). The draft EA 
identifies and evaluates three alternatives for managing the refuges 
for the next 15 years. The alternative that appears to best meet the 
refuges' purposes is identified as the proposed action. The proposed 
action is identified based on the analysis presented in the draft CCP/
EA, which may be modified following the completion of the public 
comment period, based on comments received from other agencies, Tribal 
governments, nongovernmental organizations, or individuals.
    Under Alternative A (no action alternative), the current management 
actions, including habitat management, wildlife management, wildlife-
oriented recreation opportunities, and environmental education, would 
be continued on Merced and San Luis NWRs. Habitat and wildlife 
management activities would include habitat management, with a focus on 
wetlands for migratory bird use, habitat restoration projects, vernal 
pool management, grassland management, invasive plant management, 
wildlife and habitat surveys, and ungulate management. We would 
continue to offer a wide variety of wildlife-oriented recreation 
opportunities to the public, including several auto-tour routes; 
numerous nature trails, and a large recreational waterfowl hunt 
program, as well as environmental education activities for schools. 
Existing restoration and management plans would continue to be 
implemented. For the remaining available acquisition authority in the 
Grasslands WMA, the Service would seek to acquire additional wildlife 
conservation easements from willing sellers within the approved 
acquisition boundary.
    Alternative B, which has a wetland wildlife focus, also includes 
those actions in Alternative A. In addition to those activities 
occurring in Alternative A, we would seek 28,000 ac-feet of additional 
water to manage existing and additional wetlands on San Luis and Merced 
NWRs. The Service would also restore 600 ac of seasonal wetlands and 
increase the value of these habitats to migratory birds. Under 
Alternative B,

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we would also restore 100 ac of riparian woodlands and 1,700 ac of 
vernal pool habitat on the Snobird unit of the Merced NWR.
    Under Alternative C (proposed action), the Service would manage 
with a biodiversity focus that would include both wetland and upland 
habitats for wildlife. We would manage wetland-dependent wildlife and 
wetland habitats on San Luis and Merced NWRs essentially the same as 
under Alternative B, except moist soil wetlands (the most common 
wetland habitat at the Complex) would continue to be managed under an 
8-year disturbance cycle. Grassland management activities would 
increase at the San Luis and Merced NWRs, to focus on providing nesting 
habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife and suitable grazing/
foraging habitat for migratory birds, including geese, cranes and 
curlew, and on restoring native plants and natural processes to 
grasslands. Inventory, monitoring, and research programs of natural 
resources would be expanded. We would shift some of the wildlife 
easement acquisition authority to fee-title acquisition authority 
within the Grasslands Wildlife Management Area acquisition boundary to 
allow greater flexibility for conserving important wildlife habitat 
(i.e., wetlands, vernal pools). We would expand wildlife observation 
opportunities by adding an additional riparian focused nature trail, a 
children's interactive nature exploration area, and an additional 
boardwalk section. We would also host visitor workshops on wildlife 
identification/observation and photography. Interpretation and 
environmental education opportunities would also be improved and 
expanded.

Public Meetings

    The locations, dates, and times of public meetings will be listed 
in a public communications release distributed to the project mailing 
list and posted on the refuge website at https://www.fws.gov/refuge/san-luis.

Review and Comment

    At the end of the review and comment period for the draft CCP/EA, 
comments will be analyzed by the Service and addressed in the final 
CCP/EA. 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 view, we cannot guarantee that we will be able 
to do so.

Kaylee Allen,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Southwest Region, Sacramento, 
California.
[FR Doc. 2023-19485 Filed 9-8-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P