[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
_______________________________________________________________________
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
