[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 251 (Thursday, December 31, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81856-81857]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-32970]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-NER-FIIS-18941; PXXNR5E2150001]
Notice of Availability of the Final White-Tailed Deer Management
Plan and Environmental Impact Statement, Fire Island National Seashore,
New York
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of
the Final White-tailed Deer Management Plan and Environmental Impact
Statement (Final Plan/EIS) for Fire Island National Seashore, New York.
The Final Plan/EIS identifies Alternative D as the NPS preferred
alternative. When approved, the management plan will guide management
of white-tailed deer at Fire Island National Seashore through the use
of integrated tools and strategies to control the deer population and
support preservation of the natural and cultural landscape, protection
and restoration of native vegetation and other natural and cultural
resources.
DATES: The NPS will prepare a Record of Decision (ROD) no sooner than
30 days following publication by the Environmental Protection Agency of
a Notice of Availability of the Final Plan/EIS in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: The Final Plan/EIS is available electronically at http://www.parkplanning.nps.gov/fiis. A limited number of printed copies will
be available upon request by contacting the Superintendent's office.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Morgan Elmer, NPS Denver Service
Center, 303-969-2317, [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Fire Island National Seashore (the
Seashore), a unit of the National Park System, is located along the
south shore of Long Island in Suffolk County, New York. The Seashore
encompasses 19,579 acres of upland, tidal, and submerged lands along a
26-mile stretch of the 32-mile barrier island--part of a much larger
system of barrier islands and bluffs stretching from New York City to
the very eastern end of Long Island at
[[Page 81857]]
Montauk Point. The Seashore sustains a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus
virginianus) population that has expanded since the late 1960s to the
extent that impacts from high densities of deer have been, and continue
to be, a complex issue for National Park Service (NPS) managers. As a
result, pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(NEPA), the Seashore prepared a Draft White-tailed Deer Management Plan
and Environmental Impact Statement (Draft Plan/EIS) to develop a deer
management strategy that supports preservation of the natural and
cultural landscape through population management and the protection of
native vegetation. The Draft Plan/EIS was prepared in cooperation with
the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS-DEC)
and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health
Inspection Services (APHIS).
The NPS released the Draft Plan/EIS for public and agency review
and comment beginning July 31, 2014 and ending October 10, 2014. The
Draft Plan/EIS evaluated a no action alternative (A) and three action
alternatives (B, C, and D). Each action alternative presented a
different strategy to protect native plant communities and cultural
plantings, promote forest regeneration, further reduce undesirable
human-deer interactions, and reduce the deer population in the
Seashore.
Alternative A would continue existing deer management and
monitoring efforts throughout the Seashore. These actions include
continued public education/interpretation efforts, vegetation
monitoring, and deer population and behavior surveys.
Alternative B provides a nonlethal deer reduction option to
implement nonsurgical reproductive control of does when an acceptable
reproductive control agent is available that meets NPS established
criteria. Large fence exclosures would also protect forested areas and
vegetation to allow restoration of the maritime holly forest, other
natural vegetation and the culturally important vegetation at the
William Floyd Estate.
Alternative C provides a lethal deer reduction option through the
use of sharpshooting with firearms, and possible capture and euthanasia
to reduce deer populations to the target density and maintain that
level.
Alternative D, identified as the NPS preferred alternative,
provides a combined lethal and nonlethal deer reduction option through
the use of sharpshooting with firearms, and possible capture and
euthanasia to reduce deer populations to a desirable level. Once the
target density has been reached, use of nonsurgical reproductive
control of does may be used to maintain that level when an acceptable
reproductive control agent is available that meets NPS established
criteria.
Comments were accepted on the Draft Plan/EIS during the 60-day
public comment period. After reviewing and considering all comments
received, the NPS has prepared this Final White-tailed Deer Management
Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Final Plan/EIS). The Final
Plan/EIS identifies Alternative D as the NPS preferred alternative with
no changes from the Draft Plan/EIS and presents the likely
environmental consequences of implementing the preferred alternative,
as well as the other alternatives considered. The Final Plan/EIS also
discusses the comments received on the Draft Plan/EIS and responds to
substantive comments.
Dated: August 5, 2015.
Michael A. Caldwell,
Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2015-32970 Filed 12-30-15; 8:45 am]
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