Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 16, 2007 / Notices 27587 

A comprehensive conservation 

planning process will be conducted that 

will provide opportunities for Tribal, 

State, and local governments; agencies; 

organizations; and the public to 

participate in issue scoping and public 

comment. The Service invites anyone 

interested to respond to the following 

questions: 

1. What problems or issues do you 

want to see addressed in the 

comprehensive conservation plan? 

2. What improvements would you 

recommend for the Bond Swamp 

National Wildlife Refuge? 

The above questions have been 

provided for your optional use. You are 

not required to provide any information. 

The Planning Team developed these 

questions to gather information about 

individual issues and ideas concerning 

the refuge. The Planning Team will use 

comments it receives as part of the 

planning process; however, it will not 

reference individual comments or 

directly respond to them. 

Open house style meeting(s) will be 

held throughout the scoping phase of 

the comprehensive conservation plan 

development process. Special mailings, 

newspaper articles, and other media 

announcements will be used to inform 

the public and state and local 

government agencies of the 

opportunities for input throughout the 

planning process. 

The environmental review of this 

project will be conducted in accordance 

with the requirements of the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as 

amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.); NEPA 

Regulations (40 CFR parts 1500–1508); 

and other appropriate Federal laws and 

regulations. All comments received 

become part of the official public 

record. Requests for such comments will 

be handled in accordance with the 

Freedom of Information Act and Service 

and Departmental policies and 

procedures. 

Bond Swamp National Wildlife 

Refuge was established in 1989 to 

protect, maintain, and enhance the 

forested wetland ecosystem of the 

Ocmulgee River floodplain. The refuge 

consists of 6,500 acres situated along the 

fall line separating the Piedmont and 

Coastal Plains. 

The refuge has a diversity of 

vegetation communities, including 

mixed hardwood-pine, bottomland 

hardwoods, tupelo gum swamp forests, 

creeks, tributaries, beaver swamps, and 

oxbow lakes. The refuge is rich in 

wildlife diversity, including whitetailed deer, wood ducks, black bears, 

alligators, wild turkey, a nesting pair of 

bald eagles, and excellent wintering 

habitat for waterfowl. Extensive 

bottomland hardwoods provide critical 

habitat for neotropical songbirds of 

concern, such as Swainson’s warbler, 

wood thrush, prothonotary warbler, and 

yellow-billed cuckoo. The combination 

of warm weather and wet areas at Bond 

Swamp Refuge provides ideal 

conditions for a variety of reptile and 

amphibian species. 

Authority: This notice is published under 

the authority of the National Wildlife Refuge 

System Improvement Act of 1997, Public 

Law 105–57. 

Dated: February 8, 2007. 

Cynthia K. Dohner, 

Acting Regional Director. 

Editorial Note: This document was 

received in the Office of the Federal Register 

on May 11, 2007. 

[FR Doc. E7–9404 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, 

Jackson, Jennings and Monroe 

Counties, IN, Tamarac National Wildlife 

Refuge, Becker County, MN, Tamarac 

Wetland Management District, 

Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Hubbard 

and Koochiching Counties, MN, and 

Big Muddy National Wildlife Refuge 

Authorized Within the Twenty Counties 

That Lie Along the Missouri River From 

Kansas City to St. Louis, MO 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a 

comprehensive conservation plan and 

environmental assessment; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service (Service) intends to gather 

information necessary to prepare a 

comprehensive conservation plan (CCP) 

and associated environmental 

documents for the Muscatatuck, 

Tamarac, and Big Muddy National 

Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) and Tamarac 

Wetland Management District (WMD). 

We furnish this notice in compliance 

with our CCP policy to advise other 

agencies and the public of our 

intentions, and to obtain suggestions 

and information on the scope of issues 

to be considered in the planning 

process. 

In addition, the Service is inviting 

comments on archeological, historic, 

and traditional cultural sites in 

accordance with the National Historic 

Preservation Act. 

Special mailings, newspaper articles, 

internet postings, and other media 

announcements will inform people of 

the opportunities for written comments. 

ADDRESSES: Comments or requests for 

more information can be sent to the 

appropriate refuge at the following 

addresses: 

1. Attention: Refuge Manager, 

Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, 

12985 East U.S. Hwy 50, Seymour, IN 

47274. 

2. Attention: Refuge Manager, 

Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge or 

Tamarac Wetland District, 35704 

County Road 26, Rochert, MN 56578. 

3. Attention: Refuge Manager, Big 

Muddy National Wildlife Refuge, 4200 

New Haven Road, Columbia, MO 65201. 

You may also find information on the 

CCP planning process and submit 

comments electronically on the 

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

midwest/planning or you may e-mail 

comments to r3planning@fws.gov. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Marc Webber, Muscatatuck NWR, 812–

522–4352; Barbara Boyle, Tamarac NWR 

and WMD, 218–847–2641; or Tom Bell, 

Big Muddy NWR, 573–876–1826. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With this 

notice, we initiate the CCP for the 

Muscatatuck NWR with headquarters in 

Seymour, IN; the CCP for the Tamarac 

NWR and Tamarac WMD with 

headquarters in Rochert, MN; and the 

CCP for the Big Muddy NWR with 

headquarters in Columbia, MO. 

Background 

The CCP Process 

The National Wildlife Refuge System 

Administration Act of 1966, as amended 

by the National Wildlife Refuge System 

Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 

668dd-668ee), requires the Service to 

develop a comprehensive conservation 

plan for each national wildlife refuge. 

Land parcels managed by the Service 

within a Wetland Management District 

are also units of the National Wildlife 

Refuge System. The purpose in 

developing a comprehensive 

conservation plan is to provide refuge 

managers with a 15-year strategy 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 Service policies. In 

addition to outlining broad management 

direction on conserving wildlife and 

their habitats, plans identify wildlifedependent recreational opportunities 

available to the public, including 

opportunities for hunting, fishing, 

wildlife observation, wildlife 

photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation. 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES
27588 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 16, 2007 / Notices 

Each unit of the National Wildlife 

Refuge System, including each of these 

NWRs, is established with specific 

purposes. The Service uses these 

purposes to develop and prioritize 

management goals and objectives within 

the National Wildlife Refuge System 

mission, and to guide which public uses 

will occur on these Refuges. The 

planning process is a way for us and the 

public to evaluate management goals 

and objectives for the best possible 

conservation efforts of this important 

wildlife habitat, while providing for 

wildlife-dependent recreation 

opportunities that are compatible with 

the Refuges’ establishing purposes and 

the mission of the National Wildlife 

Refuge System. 

The Service will conduct a 

comprehensive conservation planning 

process that will provide opportunity 

for Tribal, State, and local governments; 

agencies; organizations; and the public 

to participate in issue scoping and 

public comment for the future 

management of the Muscatatuck NWR, 

Tamarac NWR and WMD, and Big 

Muddy NWR. We invite anyone 

interested to respond to the following 

two questions: 

1. What issues do you want to see 

addressed in the CCP? 

2. What improvements would you 

recommend for the refuges? 

Responding to these two questions is 

optional; you are not required to 

provide information to us. Our Planning 

Team developed the questions to gather 

information about individual issues and 

ideas concerning these Refuges. 

Comments we receive will be used as 

part of the planning process; however, 

we will not reference individual 

comments in our reports or directly 

respond to them. 

We will also give the public an 

opportunity to provide input at open 

houses. You can obtain a schedule of 

the open house events by contacting the 

Refuge Managers listed in the 

ADDRESSES section of this notice. 

The environmental review of these 

projects will be conducted in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4321 et 

seq.); NEPA Regulations (40 CFR parts 

1500–1508); other appropriate Federal 

laws and regulations; and our policies 

and procedures for compliance with 

those regulations. 

Public Availability of Comments 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 

personal identifying information in your 

comment, you should be aware that 

your entire comment—including your 

personal identifying information—may 

be made publicly available at any time. 

While you can ask us in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

Dated: March 26, 2007. 

Robyn Thorson, 

Regional Director, Robyn Thorson, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, Fort Snelling, 

Minnesota. 

[FR Doc. E7–9384 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife 

Refuge, Boquero ́n, PR 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a 

comprehensive conservation plan and 

environmental assessment; request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: We, the Fish and Wildlife 

Service, intend to gather information 

necessary to prepare a comprehensive 

conservation plan and associated 

environmental documents for the 

Laguna Cartagena National Wildlife 

Refuge. We furnish this notice in 

compliance with our comprehensive 

conservation planning policy to advise 

other agencies and the public of our 

intentions, and to obtain suggestions 

and information on the scope of issues 

to be considered in the planning 

process. 

DATES: To ensure consideration, we 

must receive your written comments by 

June 15, 2007. 

ADDRESSES: Send your comments or 

requests for more information to Ms. 

Susan Silander, Refuge Manager, 

Caribbean Islands National Wildlife 

Refuge Complex, P.O. Box 510, 

Boquero ́n, PR 00622; Telephone: 787/ 

851–7258; or electronically to: 

susan_silander@fws.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: With this 

notice, we initiate the comprehensive 

conservation plan for Laguna Cartagena 

National Wildlife Refuge with 

headquarters in Boquero ́n, Puerto Rico. 

The National Wildlife Refuge System 

Administration Act of 1966, as amended 

by the National Wildlife Refuge System 

Improvement Act of 1997 (16 U.S.C. 

668dd–668ee), requires the Service to 

develop a comprehensive conservation 

plan for each national wildlife refuge. 

The purpose in developing a 

comprehensive conservation plan is to 

provide refuge managers with a 15-year 

strategy 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 Service policies. In 

addition to outlining broad management 

direction on conserving wildlife and 

their habitats, plans identify wildlifedependent recreational opportunities 

available to the public, including 

opportunities for hunting, fishing, 

wildlife observation, wildlife 

photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation. 

We establish each unit of the National 

Wildlife Refuge System with specific 

purposes. We use these purposes to 

develop and prioritize management 

goals and objectives within the National 

Wildlife Refuge System mission, and to 

guide which public uses will occur on 

this refuge. The planning process is a 

way for us and the public to evaluate 

management goals and objectives for the 

best possible conservation efforts of this 

important wildlife habitat, while 

providing for wildlife-dependent 

recreation opportunities that are 

compatible with the refuge’s 

establishing purposes and the mission 

of the National Wildlife Refuge System. 

We will conduct a comprehensive 

conservation planning process that will 

provide opportunity for Tribal, State, 

and local governments; agencies; 

organizations; and the public to 

participate in issue scoping and public 

comment. We request input for issues, 

concerns, ideas, and suggestions for the 

management of the Laguna Cartagena 

National Wildlife Refuge in Boquero ́n, 

Puerto Rico. We invite anyone 

interested to respond to the following 

two questions: 

1. What problems or issues do you 

want to see addressed in the 

comprehensive conservation plan? 

2. What improvements would you 

recommend for the Laguna Cartagena 

National Wildlife Refuge? 

We have provided the above 

questions for your optional use; you are 

not required to provide information to 

us. Our Planning Team developed these 

questions to gather information about 

individual issues and ideas concerning 

this refuge. Our Planning Team will use 

comments it receives as part of the 

planning process; however, we will not 

reference individual comments in our 

reports or directly respond to them. 

We will also give the public an 

opportunity to provide input at an open 

house and public scoping meetings 

during 2007, to identity issues to be 

addressed in the plan. These events will 


cprice-sewell on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES