Notice of Record of Decision for Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge Master Plan, Jasper County, IA

Samenvatting

This notice makes available to the public a summary of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the proposed Master Plan for the Walnut Creek National Wildlife Refuge, located in Jasper County, Iowa. Establishment of the 8,654-acre Refuge was approved on September 5, 1990. Federal funding for design, construction, and operation of the Refuge is provided through appropriations by the U.S. Congress. Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (40 CFR 1505.2), the Service issues this ROD upon consideration of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) prepared for the Proposed Action. The U.S. Department of Army, Corps of Engineers (USCOE), acting as a cooperating agency in the preparation of the FEIS also adopts the FEIS and ROD as its NEPA documentation. A Notice of Availability of the FEIS was published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Federal Register on July 23, 1993. The FEIS evaluated alternatives for four elements of the Master Plan: habitat/wildlife emphasis, management, programs, and facilities siting. Based upon an evaluation of the impacts of the various alternatives on the physical, biol