[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 21 (Wednesday, January 31, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3456-3457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-1872]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Fish and Wildlife Service
Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
the Acquisition of Lands for the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Habitat
Preservation Area as a Unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System in
Western Minnesota and Northwestern Iowa
AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of intent.
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SUMMARY: This notice advises the public that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (Service) intends to gather information necessary to prepare an
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the acquisition of lands for
the Northern Tallgrass Prairie Habitat Preservation Area in Minnesota
and Iowa. Public meetings will be held with dates, times, and locations
published through the local media in advance.
This notice is being furnished as required by the National
Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Regulations (40 CFR 1501.7) to obtain
suggestions and information on the scope of issues to be addressed in
the EIS from other agencies, organizations and the general public.
Comments and participation in this scoping process are hereby
requested.
DATES: Written comments should be received by March 18, 1996. Public
meetings will be held at widely scattered locations throughout the area
of consideration in Minnesota and Iowa. Meeting dates are to be
determined for February and March 1996 and will be announced through
the media.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Howard A. Lipke, Project Manager,
Northern Tallgrass Prairie Project, c/o Hamden Slough National Wildlife
Refuge, Route 1 Box 32, Audubon, MN 56511; Telephone 218/439-6319.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Service proposes to permanently protect
77,000 acres, more or less, of native prairie lands and buffer lands at
widespread locations in western Minnesota and northwestern Iowa for
management as a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The
project area encompasses 48 counties of Minnesota and 37 counties of
Iowa from the Canadian border to near Des Moines, Iowa. Land would be
acquired from willing sellers through fee title, easement, lease, or
other property management rights transfer arrangements. The project
would involve less than one percent of the presettlement prairie
uplands with associated wetlands within this 150 mile wide by 520 mile
long area even if the entire remaining prairie acreage were to be
acquired.
Purpose of Action
The purpose of the proposed action is to help achieve resource
responsibilities, as stated in the Service's mission statement, through
conserving, protecting and enhancing Minnesota and Iowa tallgrass
prairie lands for the benefit of fish, wildlife, and their habitats and
to provide for compatible public use.
Need for Action
The action is proposed to meet Service stewardship mandates and
trust responsibilities for threatened and endangered species, migratory
birds and interjurisdictional fish. A fourth trust responsibility,
Service-owned lands, would be enhanced as project lands complement and
buffer existing refuge and Waterfowl Production Area lands. Conversion
to cropland and grazing land, drainage, and other development has
resulted in the loss of more than 99 percent of the 25 million acres of
original tallgrass prairie. Today, only 320,000 acres remain in
Minnesota and Iowa, much of it in a degraded condition. Consequently,
native fish, wildlife and vegetative resources dependent upon the
prairie and associated wetlands have declined dramatically. Acquisition
of land or other property rights along with habitat restoration would
benefit a diversity of fish and wildlife resources, including native
lake and river fishes; mammals; birds such as waterfowl, shorebirds,
and passerine birds; and would help in the recovery of Federally-listed
threatened and endangered species.
Related Actions of Other Agencies
Acquisition of lands and interests therein under existing Service
authorities would complement other prairie land acquisition being done
within this northern region of the tallgrass prairie by the Minnesota
Department of Natural Resources, Iowa Department of Natural Resources,
Iowa County Conservation Boards, and The Nature Conservancy. Dependent
upon respective agency and organization missions and goals, each effort
is made to conserve remnants of the native prairie to save a part of
the natural and cultural heritage of this once vast prairie area. Some
efforts conserve, restore and enhance prairie wildlife and plant
communities for compatible public enjoyment and educational uses.
Alternatives
Alternatives for the Service to pursue protecting and enhancing the
Tallgrass Prairie ecosystem to benefit fish and wildlife and their
habitats include: (1) Acquiring appropriate ownership interest to
prairie lands and managing those lands as Northern Tallgrass Prairie
Habitat Preservation Area--a unit of the National Wildlife Refuge
System, (2) non-acquisition methods, such as private lands initiatives
or providing public information to landowners, (3) non-acquisition by
the Service, promoting other agency and organization acquisition, and
(4) no action.
These alternatives, along with others identified during the scoping
process, may or may not be examined in detail in the EIS.
Issue
The following would likely be issues under the Service's proposed
action: (1) Land use: Cultivated cropland uses would mostly cease.
Grazing and haying agricultural uses would be restricted. Gravel mining
would not occur. Prairie with associated riparian and wetland habitat,
and areas available for outdoor recreation, would increase. Acquired
lands would no longer be available to others for purchase. New or
expanded transportation, drainage and utility systems across project
land could be authorized through Service issuance of right-of-way
permits. (2) Fish and wildlife: Prairie-dependent wildlife need
important plants and plant communities preserved as unique habitats,
assuring their continued existence. Numbers and diversity of fish and
wildlife including Federally-listed threatened and endangered species
would increase. Likelihood of the need to list threatened and
endangered species from State and Federal candidate lists would be
reduced. (3) Economics: Economic returns from cultivated cropland use
would cease. Economic returns from haying and grazing would be reduced.
There could be a shift of local business opportunities toward visitor
services. Economic returns from outdoor recreation would likely
increase. (4) Water and wetlands: Agricultural drainage across project
lands could continue under previously established, recorded or
prescriptive rights. Natural wetlands and riparian areas associated
with prairie would remain. Water quality (surface and underground
supplies), as a leading environmental issue, could be
[[Page 3457]]
improved. Wellhead protection for city/town domestic water supplies
could be protected, even enhanced. (5) Tax revenues: Service fee title
lands would be removed from county tax rolls resulting in tax revenue
losses--could be offset by payments through the Refuge Revenue Sharing
Act, and tax shortfall and offset provisions. Prairie tax credit or
exemption could place added burden upon local governments. (6)
Recreation: Opportunity would exist to balance consumptive and non-
consumptive recreational uses--increased recreation would occur.
Historical and cultural sites and values would be important prairie
values to protect. (7) Other: Approach to acquisition relative to use
of condemnation, concern that landowners would not receive just-
compensation, and widespread fee purchase and government ownership
could be perceived as a loss of local control. Concern of project size
and cost to the taxpayer in relation to other priorities. Impact upon
other programs and uncertainty as to how the project is to be
integrated with other program efforts and lands currently protected.
Other Information
The environmental review of this proposal will be conducted in
accordance with the requirements of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq.), NEPA regulations (40
CFR 1500-1508), other appropriate Federal regulations, and Service
procedures for compliance with those regulations.
We estimate the Draft EIS will be available for public review by
summer 1996.
Dated: January 23, 1996.
Marvin E. Moriarty,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 96-1872 Filed 1-30-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-55-M
