Fish & Wildlife Service Releases CMR Draft Plan

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced publication on Tuesday of the draft comprehensive conservation plan and environmental impact statement for the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. There will be a 60-day public review and comment period.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has developed four draft alternatives, including a proposed action, based on their mission and purpose and the comments received during scoping that began in early 2008.
The Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a series of public meetings during September and October at various locations in Montana to solicit input on the draft plan for the CMR and the UL Bend National Wildlife Refuge. UL Bend lies within the CMR, and the two units are managed jointly as one refuge.
The meetings are:
Billings, Sept. 28, 7-9 p.m., Billings Hotel and Convention Center, 1223 Mullowney Lane
Bozeman, Sept. 29, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Holiday Inn, 5 E. Baxter Lane
Great Falls, Sept. 30, 7-9 p.m., Best Western Heritage Inn, 1700 Fox Farm Rd.
Lewistown, Oct. 12, 7-9 p.m., Yogo Inn, 211 E. Main St.
Jordan, Oct. 13, 2-4 p.m., VFW Post, 11 S. Main St.
Glasgow, Oct. 14, 1-3 p.m., Cottonwood Inn, 45 1st Ave. N.
Malta, Oct. 14, 7-9 p.m., Malta High School, 12 S. 9th St. W.
The published draft plan contains descriptions of the four alternatives.
Alternative A Under the no-action alternative (A), few changes would occur in managing existing wildlife populations and habitat. The habitat regime would be maintained mostly through a fire suppression program with little use of prescribed fire. There would be continued emphasis on big game management, annual livestock grazing, fencing, invasive species control and water development. Habitats would continue to be managed in 65 units and residual cover would be measured.
Wildlife-dependent public use would occur at current levels, which includes hunting, fishing and limited interpretation and environmental education programs. About 680 miles of roads would remain open.
Alternative B Under alternative B's wildlife population emphasis, the Fish and Wildlife Service would manage the landscape in cooperation with partners to emphasize abundant wildlife populations using both natural ecological processes, such as fire and wildlife ungulate grazing, and responsible synthetic methods such as farming practices or tree planting.
Wildlife-dependent public use would be encouraged, but economic uses would be limitEd when they compete for habitat resources.
Alternative C Under alternative C's public use and economic use emphasis, the Fish and Wildlife Service would manage the landscape in cooperation with partners to emphasize and promote maximum levels of compatible, wildlife-dependent public use and economic use. Wildlife populations and habitats would be protected with various management tools that would minimize damaging effects to wildlife and habitats while enhancing and diversifying public and economic opportunities.
Alternative D Under the Fish and Wildlife Service's proposed action – alternative D's ecological processes emphasis – they would work with partners to use natural, dynamic, ecological processes along with active management in a balanced manner to restore and maintain biological diversity, biological integrity and environmental health. Once natural processes were restored, more passive approaches would be favored.
The Fish and Wildlife Service would provide for quality wildlife-dependent public use and experiences and would limit economic uses when they were injurious to ecological processes.
The public can provide comments on the draft comprehensive conservation plan and EIS by written letters, emails, or by attending one of the public meetings. The Fish and Wildlife Service encourages the public to provide feedback on the contents of the plan. Each meeting will include a brief overview of key issues that are being addressed. Following this, those who wish to offer public comment may do so. Staff will be available to answer questions.
Written comments should be submitted by Nov. 16 to Laurie Shannon, Planning Team Leader, P.O. Box 25486, Denver, CO 80225-0486. E-mails can be submitted to cmrplanning@fws.gov. For more information about the plan, visit http://www.fws.gov/cmr/planning or call 303-236-4317 or 406-538-8706.
The Charles M. Russell NWR was first established in 1936 as the Fort Peck Game Range for the purpose of sustaining large numbers of sharp-tailed grouse, pronghorn and other wildlife. In 1963, the range was designated as Charles M. Russell Range. In 1976 the range became a refuge and the Fish and Wildlife Service was granted full management authority. The refuge is now administered as part of the National Wildlife Refuge System, the world's premier network of lands and waters managed for the conservation of fish, wildlife and their habitats. It encompasses 1.1 million acres of land and water in north central Montana and is the largest national wildlife refuge in Montana.
UL Bend NWR was established in 1969. Significant portions of this refuge are protected as wilderness under the National Wilderness Preservation System.
The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 requires that all refuges be managed in accordance with an approved comprehensive conservation plan. The plan will guide management decisions and set forth goals, objectives and strategies to accomplish these tasks. The Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to finalize the plan by 2012.