62284 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 205 / Monday, October 25, 2004 / Notices 

SON name and address, zip code, and 

File Date. 

V. Period of the Match 

The computer matching program will 

be conducted according to agreements 

between HUD and the SSA, IRS, OPM, 

and SWICA. The computer matching 

agreements for the planned matches will 

terminate either when the purpose of 

the computer matching program is 

accomplished, or 18 months from the 

date the agreement is signed, whichever 

comes first. 

The agreements may be extended for 

one 12-month period, with the mutual 

agreement of all involved parties, if the 

following conditions are met: 

(1) Within 3 months of the expiration 

date, all Data Integrity Boards review 

the agreement, find that the program 

will be conducted without change, and 

find a continued favorable examination 

of benefit/cost results; and 

(2) All parties certify that the program 

has been conducted in compliance with 

the agreement. The agreement may be 

terminated, prior to accomplishment of 

the computer matching purpose or 18 

months from the date the agreement is 

signed (whichever comes first), by the 

mutual agreement of all involved parties 

within 30 days of written notice.

Dated: October 6, 2004. 

Carolyn Cockrell, 

Acting Chief Technology Officer.

[FR Doc. E4–2806 Filed 10–22–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4210–27–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Draft Revised Comprehensive 

Conservation Plan for Kodiak National 

Wildlife Refuge, Alaska

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service) announces that the 

Revised Draft Comprehensive 

Conservation Plan (Draft Conservation 

Plan) and Environmental Impact 

Statement for the Kodiak National 

Wildlife Refuge is available for review 

and comment. The Draft Conservation 

Plan was prepared pursuant to the 

Alaska National Interest Lands 

Conservation Act of 1980 (ANILCA; 16 

U.S.C. 140hh–3233, 43 U.S.C. 1602–

1784), the National Wildlife Refuge 

System Administration Act of 1966 

(Refuge Administration Act) as 

amended by the National Wildlife 

Refuge System Improvement Act of 

1997 (Refuge Improvement Act) (16 

U.S.C. 668dd–668ee), and the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 as 

amended (42 U.S.C. 4321–4347). Four 

alternatives for management of the 

Kodiak Refuge over the next 15 years, 

including continuing current 

management, are considered in the Draft 

Conservation Plan.

DATES: Comments on the Draft 

Conservation Plan must be received on 

or before January 24, 2005. 

Public Meetings: Meetings will be 

held in Anchorage, the City of Kodiak, 

and in other local communities near the 

Refuge, as requested. Dates, times, and 

locations of these meetings will be 

announced at a later date and advertised 

in these communities, as appropriate.

ADDRESSES: To provide written 

comments or to request a paper copy or 

a compact diskette of the Draft 

Conservation Plan, contact Mikel Haase, 

Planning Team Leader, U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, 1011 East Tudor Road, 

MS 231, Anchorage, Alaska, 99503–

6199; telephone: (907) 786–3402; fax: 

(907) 786–3965. You may also access or 

download a copy of the Draft 

Conservation Plan at the following Web 

site: http://alaska.fws.gov/planning.

Comments may be e-mailed to: 

fw_kodiak_planning@fws.gov.

Copies of the Draft Conservation Plan 

may be viewed at the Kodiak Refuge 

Office, 1390 Bushkin River Road, 

Kodiak, Alaska; local libraries, and the 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Regional 

Office in Anchorage, Alaska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mikel Haase at the above address or by 

phone at (907) 786–3402.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Alaska National Interest Lands 

Conservation Act requires development 

of a conservation plan for all national 

wildlife refuges in Alaska. The Draft 

Conservation Plan for the Kodiak Refuge 

was developed consistent with Section 

304(g) of ANILCA and the National 

Wildlife Refuge System Administration 

Act as amended by the National 

Wildlife Refuge System Improvement 

Act. Conservation plans provide refuge 

managers with a 15-year management 

strategy for achieving refuge purposes 

and contributing toward the mission of 

the National Wildlife Refuge System, 

consistent with sound principles of fish, 

wildlife, and habitat management and 

conservation; legal mandates; and 

Service policies. Plans define long-term 

goals and objectives toward which 

refuge management activities are 

directed and identify which uses may be 

compatible with the purposes of the 

refuge. They identify wildlifedependent recreation opportunities 

available to the public, including 

hunting, fishing, wildlife observation 

and photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation. 

Conservation plans are updated in 

accordance with planning direction in 

Section 304(g) of ANILCA and with the 

National Environmental Policy Act. 

Background: On August 19, 1941, 

President Franklin D. Roosevelt 

established the Kodiak National 

Wildlife Refuge by Executive Order 

8857 ‘‘for the purpose of protecting the 

natural feeding and breeding ranges of 

the brown bears and other wildlife on 

Uganik and Kodiak Islands.’’ The Alaska 

Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 

allowed the conveyance of about 

310,000 acres of Refuge land to Native 

village corporations. 

On December 2, 1980, ANILCA added 

about 50,000 acres on Afognak and Ban 

islands to the Kodiak Refuge and stated 

that the Kodiak Refuge purposes 

include: To conserve fish and wildlife 

populations and habitats in their natural 

diversity; to fulfill international treaty 

obligations of the United States with 

respect to fish and wildlife and their 

habitats; to provide the opportunity to 

continued subsistence use by local 

residents; and to ensure water quality 

and necessary water quantity within the 

Refuge. 

Since 1994, the Service has purchase 

fee title to nearly 174,000 acres, and 

conservation or nondevelopment 

easements have been acquired on more 

than 100,000 acres within the Refuge 

boundaries. Today, Refuge boundaries 

encompass nearly 1.8 million acres, of 

which nearly 1.64 million acres (92 

percent) are under Service jurisdiction. 

The original Kodiak conservation plan 

was completed in 1987. The plan was 

prepared following direction in Section 

304(g) of ANILCA. The 1997 Refuge 

Improvement Act includes additional 

direction for conservation planning 

throughout the Refuge System. This 

direction has been incorporated into 

national planning policy for the Refuge 

System, including refuges in Alaska. 

This draft revision of the Kodiak 

conservation plan meets the 

requirements of both ANILCA and the 

Refuge Improvement Act. 

Issues raised during scoping and 

addressed in this draft conservation 

plan are (1) how to manage public use, 

given limited access and projected 

growth in demand, to continue 

providing opportunities for appropriate 

and quality use while preventing 

significant impacts to Refuge resources; 

and (2) what types of bear-viewing 

opportunities should be available on the 

Refuge and how should these 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 205 / Monday, October 25, 2004 / Notices 62285

opportunities be managed while 

protecting bears and their habitats. 

This draft conservation plan identifies 

and evaluates four alternatives for 

managing the Kodiak Refuge for the next 

15 years. These alternatives follow the 

same general management direction but 

provide different ways of addressing the 

issues.

Alternative A: Current Management: 

Management of the Refuge would 

continue to follow the 1987 

conservation plan and record of 

decision as modified by subsequent 

step-down plans, including fisheries 

and public use management plans. 

Private and commercial uses of the 

refuge would continue at current levels. 

Refuge management would continue to 

reflect existing laws, executive orders, 

regulations, and policies governing 

Service administration and operation of 

the National Wildlife Refuge System. 

Regulations would be adopted to 

seasonally limit all public use 

(commercial users are restricted by 

stipulations placed on their special use 

permits) of nine bear-concentration 

areas; to close two bear-denning areas to 

snowmachine use; and to restrict 

camping near public use cabins and 

administrative facilities. Seven existing 

public use cabins would be maintained, 

two additional cabins would be 

constructed, and cabins on newly 

acquired lands would be managed for 

public use, if located on appropriate 

sites. Impacts at heavily used camping 

areas would be managed by restricting 

use through regulations. The seasonal 

closure to all users at O’Malley River 

would continue with no formal bearviewing program. Refuge lands would 

continue to be managed under Moderate 

(44,627 acres) and Minimal (1,578,700 

acres) management categories, with 

Special River Management as an option 

for rivers receiving higher levels of 

public use. 

Alternative B: Much of the general 

management direction in Alternative A 

would continue, although some specific 

directions and actions occurring under 

current management would be altered or 

not pursued under this alternative. 

Clearer goals and objectives for 

increasing our knowledge of wildlife 

and habitat needs and relationships 

would be established. Public use 

monitoring would facilitate wildlifedependent recreation, subsistence, and 

other traditional uses. None of the 

regulations proposed in Alternative A 

would be promulgated; voluntary 

guidelines for public use of bearconcentration areas would be 

developed. These guidelines would 

replace use restrictions on special use 

permits issued to commercial users. The 

number of public use cabins would be 

allowed to expand as demand increases, 

either by constructing new cabins or by 

managing cabins on newly acquired 

lands for public use. Food storage 

containers, latrines, temporary electric 

fences, and other minor improvements 

could be provided if needed at popular 

camping areas to reduce impacts. The 

O’Malley River closure would be 

modified to allow a guide operating 

under a refuge special use permit to 

operate a formal bear-viewing program. 

The permit would be awarded 

competitively. Refuge lands would 

continue to be managed in Moderate 

and Minimal management categories as 

in Alternative A. The Special River 

Management category would be 

eliminated. 

Alternative C: Much of the general 

management direction in Alternative A 

would continue, although some specific 

directions and actions occurring under 

current management would be altered or 

not pursued in this alternative. As with 

Alternative B, clearer goals and 

objectives for increasing our knowledge 

of wildlife and habitat needs and 

relationships would be established. 

Public use monitoring would facilitate 

wildlife-dependent recreation, 

subsistence, and other traditional uses. 

Voluntary guidelines for public use of 

bear-concentration areas would be 

developed. These guidelines would 

replace use restrictions on special use 

permits issued to commercial users. 

Seasonal closure or day-use-only 

restrictions could be proposed for some 

bear-concentration areas, based on, ongoing evaluation of the effectiveness of 

voluntary use guidelines in these areas. 

Two bear-denning area would be phased 

out over time. Impacts at heavily used 

camping areas would be managed by 

restricting use through regulations. 

Regulations would be adopted to restrict 

camping near public use cabins and 

administrative facilities. The O’Malley 

River closure would be modified to 

allow the Service, in cooperation with 

the Alaska Department of Fish and 

Game, to operate a formal bear-viewing 

program. Bear-viewing permits would 

be awarded to individuals by lottery. 

The Moderate Management category 

would be reduced by 11,192 acres; the 

acreage in Minimal Management would 

increase by an equivalent amount. The 

Special River Management category 

would be eliminated.

Alternative D: Preferred Alternative: 

Much of the general management 

direction in Alternative A would 

continue, although some specific 

directions and actions occurring under 

current management would be altered or 

not pursued in this alternative. As in 

Alternatives B and C, clearer goals and 

objectives for increasing our knowledge 

of wildlife and habitat needs and 

relationships would be established. 

Public use monitoring would facilitate 

wildlife-dependent recreation, 

subsistence, and other traditional uses. 

Voluntary guidelines for public use of 

bear-concentration areas would be 

developed. These guidelines would 

replace use restrictions on special use 

permits issued to commercial users. 

Day-use-only restrictions could be 

proposed for some bear-concentration 

areas based on, on-going evaluation of 

the effectiveness of voluntary use 

guidelines in these areas. One beardenning area would be closed to 

snowmachine use by regulation. Seven 

public use cabins would be maintained, 

two additional cabins would be 

constructed, and cabins on newly 

acquired land would be managed for 

public use, if located on appropriate 

sites. Regulations would be adopted to 

restrict camping near public use cabins 

and administrative facilities. Foodstorage containers, latrines, temporary 

electric fences, and other minor 

improvements could be provided if 

needed at popular camping areas to 

reduce impacts. The O’Malley River 

closure would be modified to allow a 

formal bear-viewing program combining 

agency-supervised use (allocated to the 

public by lottery) with guided use 

(offered to the public by qualified 

guides selected through a competitive 

process and operating under a Refuge 

special use permit). The Moderate 

Management category would be reduced 

by 30,946 acres; the acreage in Minimal 

Management would increase by an 

equivalent amount. The Special River 

Management category would be 

eliminated.

Dated: October 13, 2004. 

Rowan W. Gould, 

Regional Director, Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Anchorage, Alaska.

[FR Doc. 04–23832 Filed 10–22–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management 

[CO–800–1120–PG–241A] 

Notice of Public Comment Deadline 

Extension; Correction

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, 

Interior; Forest Service, Agriculture.

ACTION: Notice; correction.

SUMMARY: The Bureau of Land 

Management and Forest Service 

published a notice of public comment