USFWS finishes update of refuge management EIS

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is announcing the availability of the Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge and Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (CCP/EIS). The CCP/ EIS was developed to provide guidance for the management of these refuges over the next 15 years.

The CCP/ EIS was developed to provide scientifically grounded guidance for improving the refuges’ habitats for the long-term conservation of migratory birds and native plants and animals. The document identifies actions for protecting and sustaining the refuges’ natural resources, including habitats, migratory bird populations and threatened, endangered, or rare species.

The plan also identifies opportunities for priority public use programs – hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography and environmental education and interpretation.

The CCP/EIS is available at the following websites:

http://www.fws.gov/lc;

http://www.fws/gpv/jbh;

and http://www.fws.gov/pacific/planning.

It is also available at the Blanche Bradley Library, Cathlamet; the Astoria and Clatskanie library districts; Ilwaco Timberline Regional Library; Longview Public Library, and Fort Vancouver Regional Library.

To inquire about the long-term management plan contact Charlie Stenvall, Project Leader, Willapa National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 3888 SR 101, Ilwaco, WA 98624; fax number (360) 484-3109; or e-mail FW1PlanningComments@fws.gov.

The Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer was established in 1972 to protect and manage the endangered Columbian white-tailed deer. The refuge contains over 6,000 acres of pastures, forested tidal swamps, brushy woodlots, marshes and sloughs along the Columbia River in both Washington and Oregon.

The refuge’s habitat also benefits a large variety of wintering birds, a small herd of Roosevelt elk, river otter, various reptiles and amphibians including painted turtles and red-legged frogs, and several pairs of nesting bald eagles and ospreys.

The Lewis and Clark National Wildlife Refuge includes approximately 20 islands stretching over 27 miles of the Columbia River, from the mouth upstream nearly to Skamakowa.

The refuge includes tidal sand flats, marshes, forested swamps and upland pasture. These habitats support large numbers of waterfowl, gulls, terns, wading birds, shorebirds, and a wide variety of raptors and songbirds. The Lewis and Clark islands are only accessible by boat.