Notice of Intent (Notice) To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the Development of a Comprehensive Conservation Plan for Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex, Churchill and Storey Counties, Nevada, and a Boundary Revision for Stillwater NWR, Churchill County

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fish and Wildlife Service

Notice of Intent (Notice) To Prepare an Environmental Impact

Statement (EIS) on the Development of a Comprehensive Conservation Plan

for Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) Complex, Churchill and

Storey Counties, Nevada, and a Boundary Revision for Stillwater NWR,

Churchill County

AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent.

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SUMMARY: The Fish and Wildlife Service is preparing an EIS for a

comprehensive conservation plan for Stillwater NWR Complex and an

associated boundary revision for Stillwater NWR. Stillwater NWR Complex

currently consists of Stillwater NWR, Fallon NWR, Stillwater Wildlife

Management Area (WMA), and Anaho Island NWR.

DATES: To ensure that the Service has adequate time to evaluate and

incorporate suggestions and other input into the planning process,

comments must be received by July 17, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments, or requests to be added to the

mailing list, to the following address: Stillwater NWR Complex CCP/

Boundary Revision, c/o Refuge Manager, Stillwater National Wildlife

Refuge Complex, P.O. Box 1236, Fallon, Nevada 89407, telephone (702)

423-5128.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The first notification of the intent to

prepare an EIS on the development of a comprehensive conservation plan

for Stillwater NWR Complex, including a boundary revision for

Stillwater NWR, was published in the Federal Register on March 14, 1997

in a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS and hold public scoping

workshops on water resources management proposals in the Truckee and

Carson Rivers, Churchill, Douglas, Lyon, Storey, and Washoe Counties,

Nevada (Pages 12245-12246, Volume 62, Number 50). Comprehensive

conservation planning at the Stillwater NWR Complex, including the

Stillwater NWR boundary revision, was one of four Federal actions

covered in the March 14, 1997 Notice for this Department of the

Interior EIS. Scoping meetings were held on March 10, 11, and 19, 1997

in Fallon, Fernley, and Reno, Nevada, respectively, to identify

potential issues related to various water resource management proposals

in the Truckee and Carson River drainages, including the development of

a comprehensive conservation plan and boundary revision for Stillwater

NWR Complex. During March, April, and July 1997, a total of six

additional open-house workshops were conducted in Fallon and Reno

specifically to address the comprehensive conservation plan and

boundary revision. A number of other meetings have been held with the

Nevada Division of Wildlife, Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, Pyramid Lake

Paiute Tribe, Churchill County, City of Fallon, and various

organizations and individuals to gain additional information about

issues relevant to the comprehensive conservation plan and boundary

revision. Comments received from the public during these meetings

constitute the bulk of the public scoping comments being used by the

Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare a separate draft EIS on

comprehensive conservation planning and boundary revisions for

Stillwater NWR Complex, which will no longer be analyzed in a

Department of the Interior EIS on water resources management proposals

in the Truckee and Carson Rivers.

Wetlands on Stillwater NWR and Stillwater WMA are located at the

terminus of the Carson River. They are major components of the Lahontan

Valley wetland ecosystem. Stillwater NWR, Stillwater WMA, and Fallon

NWR also encompass significant upland habitats, including parts of a

25-mile-long sand dune complex. Anaho Island NWR is located on Pyramid

Lake within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation, at the terminus of the

Truckee River in Storey County, Nevada.

Comprehensive Conservation Plan

A comprehensive conservation plan is being developed for the

Stillwater NWR Complex in accordance with the National Wildlife Refuge

System Administration Act of 1966 (16 U.S.C. 6688dd et seq.), as

amended. This act requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to prepare

comprehensive conservation plans for all refuges in the Refuge System.

The comprehensive conservation plan for the Stillwater NWR Complex will

cover a 15-year planning period and will identify goals, objectives,

strategies, and a monitoring program for achieving refuge purposes and

contributing to the mission of the Refuge System. Care will be taken to

ensure consistency with the National Wildlife Refuge System

Administration Act, as amended; other applicable laws and international

treaties; Fish and Wildlife Service policy; and sound principles of

biodiversity conservation and other aspects of natural resources

management. The mission of the Refuge System ``is to administer a

national network of lands and waters for the conservation, management,

and where appropriate, restoration of the fish, wildlife, and plant

resources and their habitats within the United States for the benefit

of present and future generations of Americans.''

Stillwater NWR and Stillwater WMA were originally established in

1948 as part of an agreement (Tripartite Agreement) between the Fish

and Wildlife Service, Nevada Division of Wildlife, and the Truckee-

Carson Irrigation District. Stillwater WMA, which was established for

the co-equal purposes of conserving wildlife and public hunting, will

cease to exist after November 26, 1998, when the 50-year Tripartite

Agreement expires. The Tripartite Agreement also specified that

livestock grazing and muskrat trapping were to be managed commensurate

with wildlife conservation and hunting. Anaho Island was originally

established in 1913 under Executive Order 1819 as a preserve and

breeding ground for native birds. Fallon NWR was established in 1931

for the purpose of providing a refuge and breeding ground for birds and

other wildlife.

The Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Settlement Act of 1990 (Title

II of Public Law 101-618) enlarged Stillwater NWR by reducing the size

of Stillwater WMA and directed the Secretary of the Interior to manage

Stillwater NWR for the following purposes:

(A) restoring and maintaining natural biological diversity within

the refuge;

(B) conserving and managing fish, wildlife, and their habitat

within the refuge;

(C) fulfilling international treaty obligations with respect to

fish and wildlife; and

(D) providing opportunities for scientific research, environmental

[[Page 32677]]

education, and wildlife-oriented recreation.

Public Law 101-618 also directed the Secretary to manage Anaho

Island for the benefit and protection of colonial nesting species and

other migratory birds.

The comprehensive conservation plan will include strategies for

managing water and water rights that the Fish and Wildlife Service is

acquiring through its water-rights acquisition program that was

authorized and directed by Public Law 101-618. In November 1996, an EIS

was completed and a Record of Decision was signed for cooperative

efforts to acquire water rights to sustain, on a long-term average,

approximately 25,000 acres of primary wetlands habitat in Lahontan

Valley, including wetlands on Stillwater NWR and Stillwater WMA. To

date, about 27,000 acre-feet of water rights have been acquired by Fish

and Wildlife Service, State of Nevada, and Nevada Waterfowl Association

to supplement agricultural drainwater and intermittent controlled

releases from Lahontan Reservoir. Given the mandate to restore natural

biological diversity within the refuge, natural hydrologic patterns and

their applications to management are being explored.

The comprehensive conservation plan will guide the management of

public use on the Stillwater NWR Complex in accordance with existing

laws. These laws require that refuge planning efforts explore

opportunities for hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and

photography, and environmental education and interpretation, to the

extent these activities do not interfere with or detract from (i.e.,

are compatible with) achieving the purposes of individual refuge units

and the mission of the Refuge System. Compatibility of public uses will

be evaluated as part of the comprehensive planning process, in

accordance with the requirement that such determinations must be

consistent with sound principles of fish and wildlife management,

available scientific information, and applicable laws.

The comprehensive conservation plan comprises the following

programs: wildlife and habitat management, including management of

acquired water, control of undesirable species, prescribed burning, and

livestock grazing; public use management, including the management of

areas open to different types of public uses, and the management of

hunting, fishing, wildlife observation and photography, and

environmental interpretation and education; cultural resource

management; law enforcement; facilities management; and administration.

Several alternative management scenarios are being developed and

evaluated. The following draft goals for the Stillwater NWR Complex

were developed based primarily on establishing authorities, the Refuge

System mission, and other provisions of applicable laws, international

treaties, and principles of natural resource conservation.

Stillwater NWR

(1) Conserve and manage fish, wildlife, and their habitats to

restore and maintain natural biological diversity.

(2) Fulfill obligations of international treaties and other

international agreements with respect to fish and wildlife.

(3) Provide opportunities for scientific research, environmental

education, and wildlife-dependent recreation that are compatible with

refuge purposes.

Fallon NWR

(1) Provide high-quality sanctuary and nesting habitat for

migratory birds.

(2) Restore and maintain natural biological diversity.

(3) Provide opportunities for scientific research, environmental

education, and wildlife-dependent recreation that are compatible with

refuge purposes.

Anaho Island NWR

(1) Protect and perpetuate colonial nesting birds and other

migratory birds.

(2) Restore and maintain natural biological diversity.

Major categories of issues identified to date include wildlife and

habitat protection and enhancement, including concerns with respect to

emphasizing natural biological diversity; opportunities for wildlife-

dependent recreational uses; continued protection of cultural

resources; and potential effects on local agriculture, irrigation

project, and economy. Major, on-refuge environmental problems to be

addressed in the comprehensive conservation plan include inadequate

water supplies and timing of water inflows, dominance and spread of

invasive nonnative plants, contaminants, and the effects of livestock

grazing on biological communities. Major public use issues to be

addressed include the balancing of compatible wildlife-dependent

recreational uses (including concerns with respect to a legally-

required shift from managing the hunting program as a co-equal top

priority with wildlife conservation to managing hunting as one of

several recreational uses that are secondary to wildlife conservation),

inadequate facilities to provide a broad spectrum of high-quality

experiences for refuge visitors and for environmental education

activities, and the compatibility and appropriateness of camping and

other nonwildlife-dependent recreational uses.

Stillwater NWR Boundary Revision

Public Law 101-618 authorized the Secretary of the Interior to

recommend to Congress boundary revisions to Stillwater NWR that may be

appropriate to carry out the purposes of the refuge and to facilitate

the protection and enhancement of Lahontan Valley wetland habitat. It

also authorized the Secretary to recommend the transfer of any Bureau

of Reclamation withdrawn public lands within existing wildlife use

areas in Lahontan Valley (e.g., Stillwater WMA) to the Fish and

Wildlife Service for addition to the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Furthermore, it authorized the identification of lands in Lahontan

Valley currently under the jurisdiction of the Fish and Wildlife

Service that no longer warrant continued status as units of the Refuge

System. Several alternative boundary revisions are being analyzed.

Tentative Schedule

Estimated dates for completing an EIS that evaluates the potential

impacts of implementing a comprehensive conservation plan for

Stillwater NWR Complex and revising the boundary of Stillwater NWR are

as follows:

Supplemental Scoping Period--July 17, 1998

Draft EIS Distributed to Public--November 1998

Public Review/Comment Period November 1998--February 1999

Final EIS filed with EPA--August 1999

Implementation of the Decision--September 1999

Date: June 8, 1998.

Thomas J. Dwyer,

Acting Regional Director, Region 1, Portland, Oregon.

[FR Doc. 98-15802 Filed 6-12-98; 8:45 am]

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