Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 10, 2010 / Notices 11195 

South, Range 22 East, of the New 

Mexico Principal Meridian, accepted 

January 15, 2010, for Group 1096 NM. 

If a protest against a survey, as shown 

on any of the above plats is received 

prior to the date of official filing, the 

filing will be stayed pending 

consideration of the protest. A plat will 

not be officially filed until the day after 

all protests have been dismissed and 

become final or appeals from the 

dismissal affirmed. 

A person or party who wishes to 

protest against any of these surveys 

must file a written protest with the New 

Mexico State Director, Bureau of Land 

Management, stating that they wish to 

protest. 

A statement of reasons for a protest 

may be filed with the notice of protest 

to the State Director, or the statement of 

reasons must be filed with the State 

Director within thirty (30) days after the 

protest is filed. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

These plats will be available for 

inspection in the New Mexico State 

Office, Bureau of Land Management, 

P.O. Box 27115, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 

87502–0115. Copies may be obtained 

from this office upon payment. Contact 

Marcella Montoya at 505–954–2097, or 

Marcella_Montoya@nm.blm.gov, for 

assistance. 

Stephen W. Beyerlein, 

Acting, Chief, Branch of Cadastral Survey/ 

GeoSciences. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5161 Filed 3–9–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–FB–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

[FWS–R4–R–2009–N251; 40136–1265–0000– 

S3] 

Central Arkansas National Wildlife 

Refuge Complex, Arkansas 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability: final 

comprehensive conservation plan and 

finding of no significant impact. 

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 for the 

Central Arkansas National Wildlife 

Refuge (NWR) Complex, consisting of 

Bald Knob, Big Lake, Cache River, and 

Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuges. 

In the final CCP, we describe how we 

will manage the Central Arkansas NWR 

Complex over the next 15 years. 

ADDRESSES: You may obtain a copy of 

the CCP by writing to: Mr. William R. 

Smith, Planning Team Leader, Central 

Arkansas National Wildlife Refuge 

Complex, 26320 Highway 33 South, 

Augusta, AR 72006. You may also 

access and download the document 

from the Service’s Internet Web site: 

http://southeast.fws.gov/planning/ 

under ‘‘Final Documents.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. 

William R. Smith; telephone: 870/347– 

2074; fax: 870/347–2908; e-mail: 

william_r_smith@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Introduction 

With this notice, we finalize the CCP 

process for the Central Arkansas NWR 

Complex. We started this process 

through a notice in the Federal Register 

on January 3, 2007 (72 FR 142). For 

more about the process, please see that 

notice. 

The Central Arkansas NWR Complex 

is comprised of Bald Knob, Big Lake, 

Cache River, and Wapanocca National 

Wildlife Refuges. These four refuges are 

in eastern and central Arkansas and 

together encompass approximately 

99,100 acres. 

Significant issues identified in the 

CCP include management of the 

following: (1) Waterfowl, other 

migratory birds, and other native 

wildlife species; (2) bottomland 

hardwood reforestation; (3) moist-soil 

impoundments and croplands; (4) water 

quality; (5) invasive species; (6) land 

acquisition; and (7) visitor services (e.g., 

hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, 

wildlife photography, environmental 

education and interpretation, access, 

and facilities). 

Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge 

Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge 

(NWR), near the town of Bald Knob in 

White County, Arkansas, was 

established in 1993 to protect and 

provide feeding and resting areas for 

migrating waterfowl, and now totals 

16,100 acres of forested wetlands, moistsoil impoundments, and croplands. The 

refuge hosts one of the largest 

populations of wintering pintails in the 

State and is a crucial staging area for 

pintails migrating to the coastal areas of 

Louisiana and eastern Texas. The refuge 

has been named as an ‘‘Important 

Birding Area’’ by the Audubon Arkansas 

Board of Directors. 

Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge 

Big Lake National Wildlife Refuge 

(NWR), near the town of Manila in 

Mississippi County, Arkansas, was 

established in 1915 by executive order 

of President Woodrow Wilson, to serve 

as a reserve and breeding ground for 

native birds. The refuge encompasses 

11,038 acres of lake and swamp 

habitats, including the 2,144-acre Big 

Lake Wilderness. Big Lake NWR 

provides important migratory bird 

habitat and is designated as a ‘‘National 

Natural Landmark Area.’’ The American 

Bird Conservancy also has listed the 

refuge as a ‘‘Globally Important Bird 

Area.’’ 

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge 

Cache River National Wildlife Refuge 

(NWR), near the towns of Augusta and 

Brinkley, Arkansas, was established in 

1986 to provide critical wintering 

habitat for waterfowl and other 

migratory and resident wildlife species. 

Cache River NWR presently 

encompasses 66,350 acres of an 

approved land acquisition boundary of 

185,574 acres within Jackson, Monroe, 

Prairie, and Woodruff Counties. Cache 

River NWR features some of the largest 

remaining tracts of bottomland 

hardwood forests within the Mississippi 

Alluvial Valley, and is designated as a 

‘‘Wetland of International Importance.’’ 

Cache River NWR is noted as part of the 

most important wintering habitats for 

mallards in North America. 

Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge 

Wapanocca National Wildlife Refuge 

(NWR) is 20 miles northwest of 

Memphis, Tennessee, and near the town 

of Turrell, in Crittenden County, 

Arkansas. It was established in 1961 to 

provide a wintering area for migratory 

waterfowl, and presently encompasses 

5,620 acres of agricultural land, 

grassland, bottomland hardwood forest, 

and flooded cypress/willow swamp. 

The refuge is important as a nesting area 

for resident wood ducks and provides 

significant habitat along the Mississippi 

River that is heavily used by migrating 

and wintering waterfowl. The American 

Bird Conservancy has listed the refuge 

as a ‘‘Continentally Important Bird 

Area.’’ 

Alternatives, Including the Preferred 

Alternative 

A planning team comprised of Service 

personnel, State agency representatives, 

non-governmental organizations, and 

others developed three alternatives for 

managing the refuges over the next 15 

years and chose Alternative C as the 

preferred alternative. A description of 

the three alternatives follows. 

Alternative A—Maintain Current 

Management (No Action Alternative) 

Under Alternative A, the ‘‘No Action’’ 

alternative, management would not 


erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with NOTICES
11196 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 46 / Wednesday, March 10, 2010 / Notices 

change from the current actions and 

direction. We would continue to restore, 

protect, and manage bottomland 

hardwood forests, wetlands, cropland 

units, moist-soil units, open water areas, 

grassland/scrub-shrub areas, and the Big 

Lake Wilderness. We would continue to 

focus management activities on 

afforestation and reforestation, 

restoration of wetlands, invasive plants 

and nuisance animals, cooperative 

farming, inventorying and monitoring, 

and priority public uses (e.g., hunting, 

fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife 

photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation). We 

would acquire land from willing sellers, 

but only within the approved 

acquisition boundaries. 

Alternative B—Minimal Management 

Alternative 

Under Alternative B, the ‘‘Minimal 

Management’’ alternative, we would 

undertake minimal wildlife, habitat, and 

infrastructure management. In this ‘‘let 

nature take its course’’ alternative, there 

would be no more active reforestation 

efforts, no moist-soil impoundments 

and croplands, and no more road, 

beaver dam, or invasive species 

management and maintenance 

programs. Natural succession would be 

allowed to proceed unchecked, 

providing for development of early stage 

or successional forest habitat on 

abandoned lands, and no silvicultural 

treatments in existing forest stands 

would be conducted. All refuges would 

implement a custodial or passive 

stewardship approach to management 

and would monitor natural succession 

and wildlife populations over time. 

Quality and quantity of habitats for 

wildlife would be expected to decline, 

along with wildlife use of these habitats. 

There would likely be reduced 

associated public use, because roadways 

and facilities would not be maintained 

and the quality of visitor services would 

diminish. There would be no change in 

the acreage or amount of waterfowl 

sanctuaries. We would acquire land 

from willing sellers, but only within the 

approved acquisition boundaries. 

Alternative C—Enhanced Habitat 

Management and Public Use Programs 

(Preferred Alternative) 

By implementing Alternative C, the 

‘‘Preferred’’ alternative, we will actively 

expand and improve habitat 

management and public use programs. 

We will intensify and enhance forest, 

moist-soil, scrub-shrub, grassland, and 

aquatic management programs in order 

to increase benefits for waterfowl, 

shorebirds, water birds, other migratory 

birds, and other species of native 

wildlife. Hydrologic, wetland, and forest 

restoration projects will also be 

expanded. Invasive plant and animal 

control projects will be increased. A full 

range of programs involving 

inventorying, monitoring, and 

researching will be developed and 

implemented to enable adaptive 

management. Habitat conservation and 

restoration will continue and expand 

through land acquired from willing 

sellers, but boundary expansions will 

also be pursued. Environmental 

education and interpretive programs 

will be improved as part of a 

comprehensive visitor services program. 

Opportunities for hunting, fishing, and 

wildlife observation will be expanded, 

and law enforcement coverage will be 

increased for more effective protection 

of resources and visitors. Additional 

staff will be recruited, additional 

equipment will be acquired, and 

improved facilities will be installed to 

enable implementation of these projects 

and programs. 

Background 

The National Wildlife Refuge System 

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

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, 

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, wildlife 

photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation. We will 

review and update the CCP at least 

every 15 years in accordance with the 

Administration Act. 

Comments 

We solicited comments on the Draft 

Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 

Environmental Assessment (Draft CCP/ 

EA) for the Central Arkansas NWR 

Complex for 30 days, as announced in 

the Federal Register on August 27, 2009 

(74 FR 43716). A total of 24 individuals, 

representing landowners, citizens, 

conservation organizations, and State 

and Federal government agencies, 

attended 5 public meetings to discuss 

the Draft CCP/EA and 14 respondents 

provided comments. We reviewed all 

comments and have included them with 

our responses in the CCP. 

Selected Alternative 

We selected Alternative C, the 

planning team’s preferred alternative, as 

the most reasonable alternative to 

implement the CCP. Under Alternative 

C, habitat and public use management 

will be enhanced and expanded overall, 

providing additional or increased 

benefits to refuge resources and visitor 

services and greater fulfillment of refuge 

purposes. With the implementation of 

Alternative C, the capacity and 

capability of the refuges to better 

manage the habitat and wildlife 

resources and to provide visitor services 

will greatly increase compared to 

Alternatives A or B. The additions to 

staffing and improvements to facilities 

under Alternative C will enhance 

effective refuge administration and 

visitor services. 

Authority: This notice is published under 

the authority of the National Wildlife Refuge 

System Improvement Act of 1997, Public 

Law 105–57. 

Dated: December 15, 2009. 

Patrick Leonard, 

Acting Regional Director. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5071 Filed 3–9–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE 

Antitrust Division 

Notice Pursuant to the National 

Cooperative Research and Production 

Act of 1993—ASTM International 

Notice is hereby given that, on 

February 16, 2010, pursuant to Section 

6(a) of the National Cooperative 

Research and Production Act of 1993, 

15 U.S.C. 4301 et seq. (‘‘the Act’’), ASTM 

International (‘‘ASTM’’) has filed written 

notifications simultaneously with the 

Attorney General and the Federal Trade 

Commission disclosing additions or 

changes to its standards development 

activities. The notifications were filed 

for the purpose of extending the Act’s 

provisions limiting the recovery of 

antitrust plaintiffs to actual damages 

under specified circumstances. 

Specifically, ASTM has provided an 

updated list of current, ongoing ASTM 

standards activities originating between 

May, 2009, and September, 2009, 

designated as Work Items. A complete 

listing of ASTM Work Items, along with 

a brief description of each, is available 

at http://www.astm.org. 


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