81 FR 4060 - Theodore Roosevelt and Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuges, Mississippi Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Environmental Assessment

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 15 (January 25, 2016)

We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of the final Comprehensive Conservation plan (CCP) and finding of no significant impact for the environmental assessment for Theodore Roosevelt and Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs), Washington and Sharkey Counties, Mississippi. In the final CCP, we describe how we will manage the two refuges for the next 15 years.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 15 (Monday, January 25, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4060-4061]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01414]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

[FWS-R4-R-2015-N236]; [FXRS12610400000S3-167-FF04R02000]


Theodore Roosevelt and Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuges, 
Mississippi Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Finding of No 
Significant Impact for the Environmental Assessment

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 
availability of the final Comprehensive Conservation plan (CCP) and 
finding of no significant impact for the environmental assessment for 
Theodore Roosevelt and Holt Collier National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs), 
Washington and Sharkey Counties, Mississippi. In the final CCP, we 
describe how we will manage the two refuges for the next 15 years.

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of the CCP by downloading the document 
from our Internet Site at http://southeast.fws.gov/planning under 
``Final Documents.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Rich, Project Leader, at (662) 
836-3004 (phone) or [email protected] (email).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction

    With this notice, we complete the CCP process for Theodore 
Roosevelt and Holt Collier NWRs. We started the process through a 
notice in the Federal Register (78 FR 45953) on July 30, 2013. For more 
about the process, see that notice.
    The Theodore Roosevelt NWR Complex (Complex) is comprised of seven 
refuges: Hillside (est. 1975), Holt Collier (est. 2004), Mathews Brake 
(est. 1980), Morgan Brake (est. 1977), Panther Swamp (est. 1978), 
Theodore Roosevelt (est. 2004), and Yazoo National Wildlife Refuge 
(est. 1936).
    The Complex was originally known as the Yazoo National Wildlife 
Refuge Complex and then briefly named the Central Mississippi National 
Wildlife Refuge Complex. On January 23, 2004, section 145 of Public Law 
108-199, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, was signed into 
law by then President George W. Bush. The Act renamed the Complex as 
the Theodore Roosevelt National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It designated 
the geographically separate Bogue Phalia Unit of Yazoo NWR as Holt 
Collier NWR. The refuge consists of 2,233 acres with an approved 
acquisition boundary of 18,000 acres. The Service lists its purpose as 
being designated under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act (16 
U.S.C. 664): It ``shall be administered . . . for the conservation, 
maintenance, and management of wildlife, resources thereof, and its 
habitat thereon.''
    The Act also directed the Secretary of the Interior to establish 
the 6,600-acre Theodore Roosevelt NWR. No additional land was purchased 
for the two new refuges, but rather they were assembled from disjunct 
Farm Service Agency (FSA, formerly known as Farmers Home 
Administration) lands already in Service possession. To date 1,674 
acres have been acquired in the Theodore Roosevelt NWR. The Service 
lists both new refuges as being established ``for conservation 
purposes.''
    The habitat consists mainly of converted agricultural lands now 
reforested to trees more indicative of the native bottomland hardwood 
forest. Farmlands and open water also occur. The refuge is not open to 
the public. There are no public facilities located on either refuge.

Background

The CCP Process

    The National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) System Improvement Act of 1997 
(Improvement Act) requires us to develop a CCP for each national 
wildlife refuge. CCPs are developed to provide refuge managers with a 
15-year plan for achieving refuges' purposes and contributing toward 
the mission of the NWR System, consistent with sound principles of fish 
and wildlife management, conservation, legal mandates, and our 
policies. CCPs describe a broad management direction for conserving 
wildlife and their habitats. They propose wildlife-dependent 
recreational opportunities to be made available to the public. These 
include opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, 
wildlife photography, and environmental education and interpretation. 
We will review the CCP annually and revise it as needed in accordance 
with the Improvement Act.

Comments

    We made the Draft CCP and Environmental Assessment available online 
for a 30-day public review and comment period via a Federal Register 
notice (80 FR 13420) on March 13, 2015. A total of seven comments were

[[Page 4061]]

received by mail, email or verbally at the April 2, 2015, public 
meeting in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Comments supporting the plan and 
preferred alternative were received from the Mississippi Department of 
Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, Safari Club International, and 
Mississippi Wildlife.

CCP Alternatives, Including Our Preferred Alternative

    We developed three alternatives for managing the refuge 
(Alternatives A, B, and C), with Alternative B, Minimally Developed 
Refuges, selected for implementation. As these are newer refuges 
authorized by Congress in 2004, the focus of this plan is to develop 
them. Therefore, our efforts over the next 15 years will be focused on 
land acquisition to build-out the refuges to their approved acquisition 
boundaries. Passive habitat protection and the addition of new resource 
lands beneficial to wildlife will help preserve habitat in perpetuity 
and to lessen fragmentation. This plan has the objective of providing 
sanctuary to migratory species as a group, not just priority waterfowl 
species. White-tailed deer management would continue through the Holt 
Collier NWR hunt program and eventually at Theodore Roosevelt NWR. 
Integrated damage control of invasive and nuisance species would lessen 
the negative effects on the refuges' habitats.
    Another primary focus of the plan is to create a visitor services 
program to enhance environmental education and outreach efforts 
substantially and to reach larger numbers of residents, students, 
educators, and visitors. It places priority on wildlife-dependent uses, 
such as hunting, fishing and wildlife observation. Priority public 
uses, such as hunting, are allowed at Holt Collier NWR. At a time when 
sufficient land is amassed and resources are available to allow for 
ample public use opportunities, Theodore Roosevelt NWR would be opened 
to hunting. Public use would be phased into both refuges. Compatibility 
determinations are updated for the priority public uses and for 
research and monitoring. For both refuges, some commercial uses would 
be allowed under a Commercial Special Use Permit, including commercial 
photography, firewood gathering, timber harvest for forest management, 
and trapping.
    The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004 authorized construction 
of a Visitor Center to provide visitor services and to promote the 
Delta area's natural resources and cultural heritage. Funding was 
appropriated in 2009, in the amount of $2.6 million for the building of 
the Theodore Roosevelt NWR Visitor Center. On February 11, 2015, a 
total of 6.58 acres (originally proposed as approximately 5 acres) 
located off of Highway 61 in Sharkey County, Mississippi) was donated 
to the Service to construct a Visitor Center. A major focus of this 
plan and Service efforts will be to build and staff the Visitor Center. 
Since the location is secured for the Visitor Center, regular Service 
procedures will be followed for building design and construction. 
Staffing is proposed to run the Visitor Center, to provide 
environmental and interpretive programs, and to coordinate volunteers. 
Positions include a Park Ranger, Wildlife Refuge Manager and a 
Maintenance Worker.
    This CCP assumes a modest growth of refuge resources over its 15-
year implementation period, with three new positions as new funding is 
available. Current partnerships would be maintained and new ones would 
be sought. Daily operation of the refuges will be guided by this CCP 
and through the implementation of nine projects and six step-down 
management plans as detailed in the CCP.

Authority

    This notice is published under the authority of the National 
Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 668dd et 
seq.).

     Dated: November 10, 2015.
Brett E. Hunter,
Deputy Chief, National Wildlife Refuge System, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2016-01414 Filed 1-22-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4333-15-P