[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 134 (Tuesday, July 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Page 38062]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-18670]



[[Page 38061]]

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Part IV





Department of the Interior





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Fish and Wildlife Service



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Notice of Intent To Prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 
Environmental Assessment for Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National 
Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach, County, Florida, and Hobe Sound National 
Wildlife Refuge in Martin County, Florida; Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 134 / Tuesday, July 14, 1998 / 
Notices

[[Page 38062]]



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service


Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan 
and Environmental Assessment for Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee 
National Wildlife Refuge in Palm Beach, County, Florida, and Hobe Sound 
National Wildlife Refuge in Martin County, Florida, and notice of 
meeting to seek public participation.

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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Southeast Region, intends to gather information necessary to 
prepare a Comprehensive Conservation Plan and an Environmental 
Assessment for Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, 
Florida, and Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, Florida. The Service 
is furnishing this notice in compliance with Service comprehensive 
conservation planning policy, the National Environmental Policy Act, 
and implementing regulations to achieve the following:
    (1) Advise other agencies and the public of our intentions, and
    (2) obtain suggestions and information on the scope of issues, 
opportunities, and concerns for inclusion in the environmental 
assessment.

DATES: A public meeting concerning Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee 
National Wildlife Refuge will be held at 7 p.m. on August 17, 1998, at 
the Boynton Beach Civic Center, located at 128 East Ocean Avenue, 
Boynton Beach, Florida. A public meeting concerning Hobe Sound National 
Wildlife Refuge will be held at 7 p.m. on August 18, 1998, at the Hobe 
Sound Civic Center, located at 8980 Southeast Olympus Avenue, Hobe 
Sound, Florida.

ADDRESSES: Address comments and requests for more information to: 
Refuge Manager, Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife 
Refuge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 10216 Lee Road, Boynton Beach, 
Florida 33437-4796.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National 
Wildlife Refuge, located 15 miles southwest of West Palm Beach, 
Florida, consists of 221 square miles of the remaining northern 
Everglades. The refuge is one of three large freshwater storage areas 
surrounded by levees and canals. These storage areas, built by the U.S. 
Army Corps of Engineers, were later placed under the jurisdiction of 
the South Florida Water Management District. The primary objective of 
the refuge, established through an agreement between the Service and 
the South Florida Water Management District, is to maintain suitable 
habitat for a variety of wildlife native to the northern Everglades. 
Sawgrass marshes, wet prairies, sloughs, and free islands compose more 
than 90 percent of the area's unique wetlands. The refuge also provides 
critical habitat for the snail kite, American alligator, and 
neotropical birds as well as numerous other threatened and endangered 
species.
    Hobe Sound National Wildlife Refuge, located 25 miles north of West 
Palm Beach, Florida, consists of a 735-acre island tract and a 232-acre 
mainland tract. The island tract consists of mangrove swamps and 
coastal sand dunes, and the mainland tract consists of sand pine-scrub 
oak forests. The sand dunes provide critical nesting habitat for 
loggerhead turtles. The refuge is also important to numerous endangered 
and threatened species such as the eastern indigo snake, the Florida 
scrub jay, and the gopher tortoise.

    Dated: July 8, 1998.
Judy L. Jones,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 98-18670 Filed 7-13-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M