`         `**News**

[ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ]{.underline}

[FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 15, 2007]{.underline}

[For further information: Libby Herland, Project Leader]{.underline}

[Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex]{.underline}

[73 Weir Hill Road, Sudbury MA 01776]{.underline}

[(978) 443-4661 x11; libby_herland@fws.gov]{.underline}

[Refuge Evaluates Environmental Impacts of Hunt Programs,]{.underline}

[Invites Public Comment]{.underline}

In response to a national lawsuit, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
has evaluated the long-term and cumulative environmental impacts
resulting from hunt programs at three of the national wildlife refuges
that comprise the Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge
Complex. Three environmental assessments have been prepared and are
available for public review and comment. The hunt programs that are
evaluated in the assessments are:

-   [woodcock, white-tailed deer, turkey, gray squirrel, Eastern
    cottontail rabbit, and ruffed grouse at Assabet River
    NWR]{.underline}

-   [waterfowl and white-tailed deer hunting at Great Meadows
    NWR]{.underline}

-   [waterfowl, woodcock, white-tailed deer, turkey, gray squirrel,
    Eastern cottontail rabbit, and ruffed grouse at Oxbow NWR
    ]{.underline}

[These programs were proposed in April 2003 in the draft Comprehensive
Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessments for these refuges. The
final comprehensive plans containing revised hunt programs were approved
in January 2005. A hunt program was initiated at the Assabet River NWR
and Great Meadows NWR in the fall of 2005, and the Oxbow NWR hunt
program was expanded in the fall of 2005. ]{.underline}

[The public may comment on the draft revised environmental assessments
through April 16, 2007. Draft environmental assessments for Great
Meadows NWR, Assabet River NWR, and Oxbow NWR are available for review
at the headquarters of the Eastern Massachusetts NWR Complex, located at
73 Weir Hill Road in Sudbury. Office hours are 8:00 am -- 4:00 pm,
weekdays. ]{.underline}

[The environmental assessments are also available on-line at the
following websites: ]{.underline}

[Public meetings will be held on Wednesday, April 11 at the Eastern
Massachusetts NWR Complex headquarters from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm and 6:00
pm to 8 pm.]{.underline}

[The Fund for Animals, a national animal rights organization, sued the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2003 alleging that the agency did not
fully meet the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act
(NEPA) when it opened national wildlife refuges to hunting between 1997
and 2003. The lawsuit affects migratory bird, upland game and big game
hunt programs at 74 national wildlife refuges throughout the U.S. U.S.
Circuit Court Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ruled in favor of the plaintiffs
in August. The court did not stop national wildlife refuge hunt programs
and the Service is working to fulfill NEPA requirements for the hunts at
issue by May 31, 2007. During this time we are also addressing any
similar deficiencies regarding the opening of hunts for 30 refuges
opened to hunting since the lawsuit was filed and for seven 2006-2007
proposed refuge openings. ]{.underline}

[The draft revised environmental assessments for the hunt programs at
Assabet River, Great Meadows, and Oxbow National Wildlife Refuges
includes the Service's analyses of the overall impacts of the hunts on
resident wildlife, migratory species, threatened and endangered species,
refuge facilities and visitor services, cultural resources, ecosystems,
and neighboring lands. The Service also considered the cumulative
impacts of past, present, and future hunts on wildlife species, refuge
resources, and other wildlife-dependent refuge activities. Where
appropriate, we assessed the cumulative environmental impacts at the
local, regional, and migratory flyway levels. ]{.underline}

[The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency
responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American
people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge
System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of
small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69
national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resources offices and 81 ecological
services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws,
administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird
populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and
restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign and Native
American tribal governments with their conservation efforts. It also
oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of
millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to
state fish and wildlife agencies.]{.underline}

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