66844 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 212 / Thursday, November 3, 2005 / Notices 

The 5-year review is an assessment of 

the best scientific and commercial data 

available at the time of the review that 

has become available since the species’

original listing or its most recent status 

or 5-year review. 

On July 7, 2005, we announced in a 

Federal Register notice (70 FR 39327) 

that we are commencing a 5-year review 

of the 31 species listed in Table 1 of this 

notice. The public comment period for 

the July 7, 2005, notice ended 

September 6, 2005. 

The 5-year reviews for these species 

will assess: (a) Whether new 

information suggests that the species’

populations are increasing, declining, or 

stable; (b) whether existing threats are 

increasing, the same, reduced, or 

eliminated; (c) if there are any new 

threats; and (d) if new information or 

analysis calls into question any of the 

conclusions in the original listing 

determinations as to the species’ status. 

The review will also apply this new 

information to consideration of the 

appropriate application of the Policy 

Regarding the Recognition of Distinct 

Vertebrate Population Segments (61 FR 

4722) to the listed entity, if applicable. 

If there is no new information 

concerning the species in Table 1, no 

changes will be made to their 

classifications. However, if we find that 

there is new information indicating a 

change in classification is warranted for 

any of these species, we may propose a 

new rule that could either: (a) Reclassify 

the species from endangered to 

threatened; (b) reclassify the species 

from threatened to endangered or (c) 

remove the species from the List. 

Public Solicitation of New Information 

We are publishing this second request 

for any new information relating to the 

current status of the species listed in 

Table 1 that has become available since 

their original listings. In particular, we 

are seeking information such as: 

A. Species biology including, but not 

limited to, population trends, 

distribution, abundance, demographics, 

and genetics; 

B. Habitat conditions including, but 

not limited to, amount, distribution, and 

suitability; 

C. Conservation measures that have 

been implemented that benefit the 

species; 

D. Threat status and trends; and 

E. Other new information, data, or 

corrections including, but not limited 

to, taxonomic or nomenclatural changes, 

or improved analytical methods. 

Information submitted should be 

supported by documentation such as 

maps, bibliographic references, methods 

used to gather and analyze the data, 

and/or copies of any pertinent 

publications, reports, or letters by 

knowledgeable sources. Information 

submitted between the close of the first 

comment period on September 6, 2005, 

and today’s date shall be considered in 

the reviews, along with information 

submitted within the timeframes 

established by the July 7, 2005, notice 

and this notice. 

Authority: This document is published under 

the authority of the Endangered Species Act 

of 1973, as amended (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

Dated: October 27, 2005. 

Paul Henson, 

Acting Manager, California/Nevada 

Operations Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 

Service. 

[FR Doc. 05–21912 Filed 11–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

Lake Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

AGENCY: Notice of availability of the 

Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan 

for Lake Ophelia National Wildlife 

Refuge in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana. 

SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service 

announces that a Final Comprehensive 

Conservation Plan for Lake Ophelia 

National Wildlife Refuge is available for 

distribution. The plan was prepared 

pursuant to the National Wildlife Refuge 

System Improvement Act of 1997, and 

in accordance with the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, and 

describes how the refuge will be 

managed for the next 15 years. The 

compatibility determinations for 

hunting, fishing, wildlife observation 

and photography, environmental 

education and interpretation, all-terrain 

vehicle use, trapping of selected 

furbearers, cooperative farming, forest 

management, and resource research 

studies, are also available within the 

plan. 

ADDRESSES: A copy of the plan may be 

obtained by writing to the Lake Ophelia 

National Wildlife Refuge, 401 Island 

Road, Marksville, Louisiana 71351. The 

plan may also be accessed and 

downloaded from the Service’s Web site 

http://southeast.fwa.gov/planning/. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Lake 

Ophelia National Wildlife Refuge is 

located in north Avoyelles Parish, 

Louisiana, about 15 miles northeast of 

the city of Marksville and 30 miles 

southeast of the city of Alexandria. The 

refuge covers a total of 17,525 acres 

within the 38,000-acre acquisition 

boundary and lies approximately 8 

miles northwest of where the Red River 

empties into the Atchafalaya River. This 

region is part of the Mississippi Alluvial 

Valley. The refuge consists of a complex 

of forested wetlands, shrub wetland 

habitats, recently reforested areas, 

agricultural lands, moist-soil areas, open 

waters, and dirt access roads and trails. 

Annually, more than 10,000 visitors 

participate in refuge activities. 

The availability of the Draft 

Comprehensive Conservation Plan and 

Environmental Assessment for a 45-day 

public review and comment period was 

announced in the Federal Register on 

April 5, 2005, volume 70, number 64. 

The plan and environmental assessment 

identified and evaluated four 

alternatives for managing the refuge 

over the next 15 years. Alternative 1, the 

‘‘no action’’ alternative, would have 

continued current management of the 

refuge and all lands within the 

approved 38,000-acre acquisition 

boundary would be purchased. Under 

Alternative 2, the ‘‘preferred 

alternative,’’ 38,000 acres of refuge 

lands would be protected, maintained, 

and enhanced by adding more staff, 

equipment, and facilities in order to 

restore and manage the refuge’s forest, 

wetland, and moist-soil habitats, and 

hydrology in support of wildlife, 

especially waterfowl, neotropical 

migratory birds, and Louisiana black 

bears. Alternative 3 would add more 

staff, equipment, and facilities in order 

to maximize bottomland hardwood 

forest restoration in support of 

migratory birds and other wildlife. 

Under this alternative, 17,525 acres of 

refuge lands would be protected, 

maintained, restored, and enhanced for 

resident wildlife, waterfowl, neotropical 

migratory birds, and threatened and 

endangered species. Additionally, the 

acquisition boundary would be 

expanded (77,000 acres) to create 

forested linkages with the State of 

Louisiana’s Spring Bayou and Grassy 

Lake wildlife management areas. 

Alternative 4 would add more staff, 

equipment, and facilities in order to 

restore the refuge’s wetland hydrology 

in support of migratory birds, 

particularly waterfowl and shorebirds. 

Based on the environmental 

assessment and the comments received, 

the Service adopted Alternative 2 as its 

preferred alternative. This alternative 

was considered to be the most effective 

for meeting the purposes of the refuge 

by conserving wetlands and reducing 

forest fragmentation by identifying 

lands of conservation priority and 

working with partners to contribute to 

the 100,000-acre forest block objective 

Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 212 / Thursday, November 3, 2005 / Notices 66845 

for the Red River/Three Rivers Source 

Population Objective Area. Alternative 2 

best achieves national, ecosystem, and 

refuge-specific goals and objectives and 

positively addresses significant issues 

and concerns expressed by the public. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tina 

Chouinard, Natural Resource Planner, 

Central Louisiana National Wildlife 

Refuge Complex, telephone: (318) 253–

4238; fax: (318) 253–7139; e-mail: 

tina_chouinard@fws.gov; or by writing 

to the Natural Resource Planner at the 

address in the ADDRESSES section. 

Authority: This notice is published under 

the authority of the National Wildlife Refuge 

System Improvement Act of 1997, Public 

Law 105–57. 

Dated: July 18, 2005. 

Cynthia K. Dohner, 

Acting Regional Director. 

[FR Doc. 05–21907 Filed 11–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–M 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

Fish and Wildlife Service 

St. Catherine Creek National Wildlife 

Refuge 

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, 

Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of availability of the 

Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan 

and Environmental Assessment for St. 

Catherine Creek National Wildlife 

Refuge in Adams and Wilkinson 

Counties, Mississippi. 

SUMMARY: This notice announces that a 

Draft Comprehensive conservation Plan 

and environmental Assessment for St. 

Catherine Creek National Wildlife 

Refuge is available for review and 

comment. The National Wildlife Refuge 

System Administration Act of 1966, as 

amended by the National Wildlife 

Refuge System Improvement Act of 

1997, 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, the plan identifies 

wildlife-dependent recreational 

opportunities available to the public, 

including opportunities for hunting, 

fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife 

photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation. 

DATES: A meeting will be held to present 

the plan to the public. Mailings, 

newspaper articles, and posters will be 

the avenues to inform the public of the 

date and time for the meeting. 

Individuals wishing to comment on the 

Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan 

and Environmental Assessment for St. 

Catherine Creek National Wildlife 

Refuge should do so within 45 days 

following the date of this notice. 

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of the 

Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan 

and Environmental Assessment should 

be addressed to St. Catherine Creek 

National Wildlife Refuge, 76 Pintail 

Lane, Natchez, Mississippi 39120; 

Telephone 601/442–6696. The plan and 

environmental assessment may also be 

accessed and downloaded from the 

Service’s Internet Web site http:// 

southeast.fws.gov/planning/. Comments 

on the draft plan may be submitted to 

the above address or via electronic mail 

to mike_dawson@fws.gov. Please 

include your name and return address 

in your Internet message. Our practice is 

to make comments, including names 

and home addresses of respondents, 

available for public review during 

regular business hours. Individual 

respondents may request that we 

withhold their home addresses from the 

record, which we will honor to the 

extent allowable by law. Anonymous 

comments will not be considered. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Significant issues addressed in the draft 

plan include: Threatened and 

endangered species; waterfowl 

management; neotropical migratory 

birds; bottomland hardwood restoration; 

agriculture; visitor services (hunting, 

fishing, wildlife observation, wildlife 

photography, and environmental 

education and interpretation); funding 

and staffing; cultural resources; and 

land acquisition. 

The Service developed four 

alternatives for managing the refuge and 

chose Alternative D as the preferred 

alternative. 

Alternatives 

The Draft Comprehensive 

Conservation Plan and Environmental 

Assessment evaluates the four 

alternatives for managing the refuge 

over the next 15 years. These 

alternatives are briefly described as 

follows: 

Alternative A. Existing refuge 

management and public outreach 

practices would be favored under this 

alternative. All refuge management 

actions would be directed towards 

achieving the primary purposes 

including (1) preserving wintering 

waterfowl habitat (e.g., croplands, 

moist-soil management units, green-tree 

reservoirs, and permanent water); (2) 

providing production habitat for wood 

ducks; and (3) meeting the habitat 

conservation goals of the North 

American Waterfowl Management Plan, 

all the while contributing to other 

national, regional, and state goals to 

protect and restore habitat for 

shorebirds, wading birds, neotropical 

breeding birds, woodcock, and 

threatened and endangered species. 

Refuge management programs would 

continue to be developed and 

implemented with little baseline 

biological information. Active habitat 

management would continue to be 

implemented through water level 

manipulations, moist-soil and cropland 

management, and forest management 

designed to provide a diverse complex 

of habitats that meet the foraging, 

resting, and breeding requirements for a 

variety of species. A summary of the 

current acreages by habitat type can be 

found in Table 2, Chapter II, of the Draft 

Comprehensive Conservation Plan. 

Refuge staff would continue to manage 

existing bottomland hardwood and 

upland hardwood forested and 

reforested areas, open water and 

impoundments, croplands, and moistsoil units. 

Land would be acquired from willing 

sellers within the current acquisition 

boundary. The refuge would continue to 

emphasize land exchanges of isolated 

refuge tracts for inholdings within the 

acquisition boundary. 

Hunting and fishing would continue 

to be the major focuses of the refuge 

public use program, with no expansion 

of current opportunities. Current 

restrictions or prohibitions would 

remain. While no new trails would be 

developed, refuge staff would continue 

to maintain existing trails. 

Environmental education, wildlife 

observation, and wildlife photography 

would be accommodated on a case-bycase basis. Plans would continue to 

request funding for the construction of 

a refuge headquarters office/visitor 

contact area on the Sibley Unit and for 

the rehabilitation of existing facilities. 

Alternative B. Under this alternative, 

the emphasis would be on improving 

refuge resources for wildlife, while still 

maintaining those public use 

opportunities that presently exist. 

Primary management efforts would 

focus on restoring and enhancing 

habitats and associated plant 

communities for the benefit of migratory 

birds, threatened and endangered 

species, and other federal trust species.