96-16247. Revised Army-Wide Guidelines for the Management of the Red- Cockaded Woodpecker on Army Installations

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 124 (Wednesday, June 26, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33102-33103]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-16247]



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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Department of the Army


Revised Army-Wide Guidelines for the Management of the Red-
Cockaded Woodpecker on Army Installations

AGENCY: Department of the Army, DoD.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The Department of the Army has prepared an environmental 
assessment (EA) and a draft finding of no significant impact (FNSI) for 
assessing the impacts associated with its revision to Army-wide 
guidelines for the management of the red-cockaded woodpecker (RCW) on 
Army installations. The new guidelines will replace existing guidelines 
approved in 1994. The RCW is a federally listed endangered species 
found on seven Army installations in the southeastern United States: 
Fort Bragg and Sunny Point Military Ocean Terminal, North Carolina; 
Forts Stewart, Benning and Gordon Georgia; Fort Jackson, South 
Carolina; and Fort Polk, Louisiana. The following Army installations do 
not currently have RCWs but have sites indicating past RCW presence: 
Forts Rucker and McClellan, Alabama; Camp Shelby, Mississippi; and 
Louisiana Army Ammunition Plant, Louisiana. The purpose of the revision 
is to improve the effectiveness of Army-wide RCW management in 
compliance with the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA) while 
maintaining the Army's ability to train and prepare soldiers for 
military conflict. The revised guidelines will be used by Army 
installations as baseline standards in preparing their RCW management 
plans. In the revised guidelines, the Army identified measures which 
should increase RCW populations on military installations while 
simultaneously enhancing the realism of military training conducted on 
military installations with RCW populations.
    As part of the guidelines revision process, the Army has prepared 
an EA in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 
(NEPA), the regulations published by the Council on Environmental 
Quality, and the Army's NEPA implementing regulations--Army Regulation 
200-2, Environmental Effects of Army Actions, dated December 23, 1988. 
Additionally, the Army has prepared a biological assessment under the 
ESA to assess the effects of the revised guidelines on endangered and 
threatened species. The Army announced commencement of the guidelines 
revision process in the Federal Register on March 13, 1996, and invited 
public participation (61 FR 10330). One comment was received from the 
public during the process and has been addressed in the EA. The data, 
analyses, and conclusions developed through the course of the revisions 
process, and incorporated and documented in the EA, provide the basis 
for the conclusion that the guidelines will not have a significant 
impact upon the environment. The Army has documented and explained this 
conclusion in a draft FNSI and will implement the revised Army RCW 
management guidelines, upon completion of consultation with the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service in accordance with the ESA.

APPROVAL DATE: The Army shall publish the draft FNSI in its present 
form, as final, 30 days after publication of this notice unless the 
public identifies significant new issues of environmental concern. Upon 
publication of the final FNSI and completion of the ESA, Section 7 
process, the Army shall immediately proceed with implementation of the 
revised guidelines.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or requests to obtain a copy of the EA and 
draft FNSI, with draft RCW management guidelines and biological 
assessment attached, may be forwarded to: Headquarters, Department of 
the Army, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations and Plans, ATTN: DAMO-
TRS (Army Endangered Species Team), Washington, DC 20310-0400.


[[Page 33103]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Questions regarding this action may be directed to: Major Mark R. 
Lindon, Army Endangered Species Team, [phone]; Mr. Phil Pierce, 
Army Endangered Species Team, [phone]; or Major Thomas E. Ayres, 
Army Endangered Species Team, [phone].
Raymond J. Fatz,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army (Environment, Safety and 
Occupational Health) OASA (I, L&E).
[FR Doc. 96-16247 Filed 6-25-96; 8:45 am]
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