7286 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 32 / Thursday, February 18, 2010 / Notices 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of our estimate of the 

burden (hours and cost) of the collection 

of information, including the validity of 

the methodology and assumptions used; 

(c) ways we could enhance the quality, 

utility and clarity of the information to 

be collected; and (d) ways we could 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

the information on the respondents, 

such as through the use of automated 

collection techniques or other forms of 

information technology. 

Please note that an agency may not 

sponsor or conduct, and an individual 

need not respond to, a collection of 

information unless it has a valid OMB 

Control Number. This information 

collection expires April 30, 2010. 

It is our policy to make all comments 

available to the public for review at the 

location listed in the ADDRESSES section 

during the hours of 9 a.m.–5 p.m., 

Eastern Time, Monday through Friday 

except for legal holidays. Before 

including your address, phone number, 

e-mail address or other personally 

identifiable information, be advised that 

your entire comment—including your 

personally identifiable information— 

may be made public at any time. While 

you may request that we withhold your 

personally identifiable information, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

III. Data 

OMB Control Number: 1076–0100. 

Title: Acquisition of Trust Land, 25 

CFR 151. 

Brief Description of Collection: 

Submission of this information allows 

BIA to review applications for the 

acquisition of land into trust status by 

the United States on behalf of 

individual Indians and Indian tribes, 

pursuant to 25 CFR 151. The 

information also allows the Secretary to 

comply with the National 

Environmental Policy Act and to 

determine if title to the subject property 

is marketable and unencumbered. No 

specific form is used, but respondents 

supply information and data in 

accordance with 25 CFR 151, so that 

BIA may make an evaluation and 

determination on the application. 

Response is required to obtain a 

benefit. 

Type of Review: Extension without 

change of a currently approved 

collection. 

Respondents: Individual Indians and 

Indian tribes seeking acquisition of land 

into trust status. 

Number of Respondents: 1,000. 

Total Number of Responses: 1,000. 

Frequency of Response: Once per each 

tract of land to be acquired. 

Estimated Time per Response: Ranges 

from 60 to 110 hours. 

Estimated Total Annual Burden: 

67,800 hours. 

Dated: February 3, 2010. 

Alvin Foster, 

Acting Chief Information Officer—Indian 

Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 2010–3144 Filed 2–17–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–W7–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R5–R–2009–N203; BAC–4311–K9–S3] 

Rappahannock River Valley National 

Wildlife Refuge, Caroline, Essex, King 

George, Lancaster, Middlesex, 

Richmond, and Westmoreland 

Counties, VA 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of final 

comprehensive conservation plan and 

finding of no significant impact for 

environmental assessment. 

SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (Service), announce the 

availability of our final comprehensive 

conservation plan (CCP) and finding of 

no significant impact (FONSI) for the 

environmental assessment (EA) for 

Rappahannock River Valley National 

Wildlife Refuge (NWR). In this final 

CCP, we describe how we will manage 

this refuge for the next 15 years. 

ADDRESSES: You may view or obtain 

copies of the final CCP and FONSI by 

any of the following methods. You may 

request a hard copy or CD–ROM. 

Agency Web Site: Download a copy of 

the document(s) at http://www.fws.gov/ 

northeast/planning/Rappahannock/ 

ccphome.html. 

Electronic mail: 

northeastplanning@fws.gov. Include 

‘‘Rappahannock final CCP’’ in the 

subject line of the message. 

U.S. Postal Service: Joseph McCauley, 

Refuge Manager, Rappahannock River 

NWR Complex, 336 Wilna Road, 

Warsaw, VA 22572–1030. 

In-Person Viewing or Pickup: Call 

804–333–1470 to make an appointment 

during regular business hours at refuge 

headquarters in Warsaw, VA. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Joseph McCauley, Refuge Manager, 

Rappahannock River Valley NWR, 336 

Wilna Road, Warsaw, VA 22572–1030; 

804–333–1470 (phone); 

joseph_mccauley@fws.gov (electronic 

mail). 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction 

With this notice, we finalize the CCP 

process for Rappahannock River Valley 

NWR. We started this plan’s 

development through a notice in the 

Federal Register (70 FR 65931) on 

November 1, 2005. We released the draft 

CCP/EA to the public, announcing and 

requesting comments in a notice of 

availability in the Federal Register (74 

FR 36500) on July 23, 2009. 

Rappahannock River Valley NWR, 

consisting of more than 7,700 acres, was 

established in 1996 to conserve and 

protect fish and wildlife resources, 

including endangered and threatened 

species, and wetlands. Refuge habitats 

include freshwater tidal marsh, forested 

swamp, upland deciduous forest, mixed 

pine forest, and managed grassland. One 

federally listed species, the threatened 

sensitive joint-vetch (Aeschynomene 

virginica), is found on the refuge. The 

State of Virginia’s largest wintering 

population of bald eagles is located 

within the refuge boundary. Neotropical 

migratory songbirds, shorebirds, raptors, 

and marsh birds also rely on the 

Rappahannock River corridor during 

their spring and fall migrations. With 

help from partners and volunteers, we 

are restoring native grasslands and 

riparian forests along the river and its 

tributary streams to provide additional 

habitat for these important species. 

Although wildlife and habitat 

conservation is the refuge’s first priority, 

the public can observe and photograph 

wildlife, fish, hunt, or participate in 

environmental education and 

interpretation on several units of the 

refuge. The refuge contains three sites 

on the Virginia Birding and Wildlife 

Trail. The Wilna Unit, located in 

Richmond County, offers accessible 

fishing, excellent wildlife observation 

opportunities, and accessible nature 

trails. Other units of the refuge are open 

for visits by reservation. 

We announce our decision and the 

availability of the FONSI for the final 

CCP for Rappahannock River Valley 

NWR in accordance with National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 

CFR 1506.6(b)) requirements. We 

completed a thorough analysis of 

impacts on the human environment, 

which we included in the draft CCP/EA. 

The CCP will guide us in managing 

and administering Rappahannock River 

Valley NWR for the next 15 years. 

Alternative B, as we described in the 

draft CCP/EA, is the foundation for the 

final CCP. 

Background 

The National Wildlife Refuge System 

Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 32 / Thursday, February 18, 2010 / Notices 7287 

668dd–668ee) (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 

(NWRS), 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 wildlifedependent 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 Administration 

Act. 

CCP Alternatives, Including Selected 

Alternative 

Our draft CCP/EA (74 FR 36500) 

addressed several key issues, including 

the amount of grasslands to manage, 

other priority habitat types to conserve, 

land protection and conservation 

priorities, improving the visibility of the 

Service and refuge, providing desired 

facilities and activities, and ways to 

improve opportunities for public use 

while ensuring the restoration and 

protection of priority resources. 

To address these issues and develop 

a plan based on the purposes for 

establishing the refuge, and the vision 

and goals we identified, three 

alternatives were evaluated in the EA. 

The alternatives have some actions in 

common, such as protecting and 

monitoring federally listed species and 

the regionally significant bald eagle 

population, controlling invasive plants 

and wildlife diseases, encouraging 

research that benefits our resource 

decisions, protecting cultural resources, 

continuing to acquire land from willing 

sellers within our approved refuge 

boundary, and distributing refuge 

revenue-sharing payments to counties. 

Other actions distinguish the 

alternatives. Alternative A, or the ‘‘No 

Action Alternative,’’ is defined by our 

current management activities. It serves 

as the baseline against which to 

compare the other two alternatives. Our 

habitat management and visitor services 

programs would not change under this 

alternative. We would continue to use 

the same tools and techniques, and not 

expand existing facilities. 

Alternative B, the ‘‘Service-Preferred 

Alternative,’’ reflects a management 

emphasis on enhancing habitat 

diversity. Priorities under this 

alternative are protecting and restoring 

riparian and wetlands habitat, slightly 

expanding our grasslands management 

program on up to 1,200 acres, and 

improving the habitat quality in planted 

pine stands. Our public-use programs 

would improve and expand as a result 

of engaging partners to help us 

implement them. New trails would be 

constructed, fishing access would 

increase, and we would evaluate new 

opportunities for hunting waterfowl and 

wild turkey. A new refuge headquarters 

and visitor contact facility would also 

be constructed on refuge lands. 

Alternative C resembles Alternative B 

in its proposal for facilities and publicuse programs, but differs in its upland 

habitat management. Under Alternative 

C, we would allow the existing 700 

acres of grasslands and old fields to 

revert to shrub and forest. Tree 

plantings, applying herbicides, and 

cutting or brush-hogging (mowing) 

would occur as necessary to achieve the 

desired results. Riparian and wetlands 

protection and restoration would be 

similar to Alternative B. 

Comments 

We solicited comments on the draft 

CCP/EA for Rappahannock River Valley 

NWR from July 23, 2009, to August 24, 

2009 (74 FR 36500). We received 

comments from 47 individuals, 

organizations, and State and Federal 

agencies on our draft plan via electronic 

mail, phone, and letters. All comments 

we received were evaluated. A summary 

of those comments and our responses to 

them is included as Appendix G in the 

CCP. 

Selected Alternative 

After considering the comments we 

received on our draft CCP/EA, we have 

selected Alternative B for 

implementation for several reasons. 

Alternative B comprises the mix of 

actions that, in our professional 

judgment, works best towards achieving 

refuge purposes, our vision and goals, 

and the goals of other State and regional 

conservation plans. We also believe it 

most effectively addresses the key issues 

raised during the planning process. The 

basis of our decision is detailed in 

Appendix H of the CCP. 

Public Availability of Documents 

You can view or obtain documents as 

indicated under ADDRESSES. 

Dated: December 30, 2009. 

Dawn Comish, 

Acting Regional Director, Northeast Region, 

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Hadley, MA 

01035. 

[FR Doc. 2010–3051 Filed 2–17–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R5–R–2009–N183; BAC–4311–K9–S3] 

John Hay National Wildlife Refuge, 

Merrimack County, NH 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability: Draft 

comprehensive conservation plan and 

environmental assessment; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service) announces the 

availability of the draft comprehensive 

conservation plan (CCP) and draft 

environmental assessment (EA) for John 

Hay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) for 

a 30-day public review and comment 

period. In this draft CCP/EA, we 

describe three alternatives, including 

our Service-preferred Alternative B, for 

managing this refuge for the next 15 

years. Also available for public review 

and comment are the draft compatibility 

determinations, which are included as 

Appendix B in the draft CCP/EA. 

DATES: To ensure our consideration of 

your written comments, please send 

them by March 22, 2010. We will also 

hold at least one public meeting in 

Newbury, New Hampshire, during the 

30-day review period to receive 

comments and provide information on 

the draft plan. We will announce and 

post details about the public meeting in 

local news media via our project 

mailing list, and on our regional 

planning Web site, http://www.fws.gov/ 

northeast/planning/johnhay/ 

ccphome.html. 

ADDRESSES: Send your comments or 

requests for more information by one of 

the following methods. 

Electronic mail: 

northeastplanning@fws.gov. Include 

‘‘John Hay NWR CCP/EA’’ in the subject 

line of the message. 

U.S. Postal Service: Eastern 

Massachusetts NWR Complex, 73 Weir 

Hill Road, Sudbury, MA 01776. 

In-person drop-off, viewing, or 

pickup: Call 978–443–4661 to make an 

appointment during regular business 

hours at the above address. 

Facsimile: Attn: Carl Melberg, 978– 

443–2898. 

WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with NOTICES