38062 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 134 /Tuesday, July 14, 1998 / Notices

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.

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]

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