Chapter 1 Edward Henry/USFWS The Wallkill River in spring The Purpose and Need for Action ■ Introduction ■ The Purpose and Need for Action ■ Regional Context and Project Analysis Area ■ The Service and the Refuge System ■ Refuge Purposes and Land Acquisition History ■ Refuge Operational Plans (“Step-Down” Plans) ■ Refuge Vision Statement ■ Refuge Goals ■ The Comprehensive Conservation Planning Process ■ Issues and Opportunities ■ Plan Amendment and Revision Introduction Introduction This draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge (refuge) combines two documents required by federal laws: ■ a CCP, which creates a vision and serves as a mid- to long-term planning document, required by the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 (Public Law 105–57) (Refuge Improvement Act); and, ■ an EA, required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), for the purposes of assessing the impacts associated with the alternatives developed by this CCP and obtaining public input in examining them. The alternatives provide a range of potential goals and objectives that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service, we, our) could use to manage the refuge, including a status quo approach. The CCP also conforms to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service policy and legal mandates (see “National and Regional Mandates, Policies, and Plans Guiding the Project,” below). Our regional director’s final decision, based on this combined CCP/EA document, will produce a CCP to guide management decisions and actions on the refuge during the next 15 years. We will also use it as a tool to help the public, natural resource agencies of New Jersey and New York, and our other conservation partners understand and support refuge management priorities. Chapter 1, “The Purpose and Need for Action,” sets the stage for chapters 2 through 4. It ■ describes the purpose and need for a CCP/EA for the refuge, ■ identifies national and regional mandates and plans that influenced this document, ■ highlights establishing purposes and land acquisition history of the refuge, ■ presents our vision and goals for the refuge, ■ explains the planning process we followed in developing this document, and ■ describes the key issues, concerns, and opportunities it addresses. Chapter 2, “Description of the Affected Environment,” describes the physical, biological, and human environment. Chapter 3, “Alternatives Considered, Including the Service-Preferred Alternative,” describes varying management strategies for meeting refuge goals and objectives and responding to key issues of conservation and public use. Chapter 4, “Environmental Consequences,” evaluates the environmental consequences of implementing each of the proposed management alternatives. Chapter 5, “Consultation and Coordination with Others,” summarizes how we involved the public and our conservation partners in the planning process. Chapter 6, “List of Preparers,” credits Service and non-Service contributors. Appendixes provide additional documentation and reference information we used in compiling this document. Chapter 1. The Purpose and Need for Action 1-1 The Purpose and Need for Action The Purpose and Need Our goal, which is directly connected with the Refuge Improvement Act, is to for Action develop a CCP for the Wallkill River refuge that attains its vision and goals; best achieves its establishing purposes; contributes to the mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System (Refuge System); adheres to relevant Service policies and mandates; addresses key public and conservation issues, and uses sound principles of fish and wildlife science. As NEPA requires, this draft CCP/EA evaluates a reasonable range of management alternatives and describes their foreseeable impacts on the socioeconomic, physical, cultural, and biological environments in the project area. We designed each alternative with the potential to be fully developed into a final CCP. Developing a CCP is vital for the future management of every national wildlife refuge. The purpose of this CCP is to provide strategic management direction for the next 15 years by ■ providing a clear statement of desired future conditions for habitat, wildlife, visitor services, staffing, and facilities; ■ providing state agencies, refuge neighbors, visitors, and partners with a clear understanding of the reasons for management actions; ■ ensuring refuge management reflects the policies and goals of the Refuge System and legal mandates; ■ ensuring the compatibility of current and future public use; ■ providing long-term continuity and direction for refuge management; and, ■ providing direction for staffing, operations, maintenance, and annual budget requests. In addition to the requirements of the Refuge Improvement Act, the need for a CCP arises partly from the outdated nature of the 1993 Station Management Plan. Since its publication, the refuge land base has more than doubled, and our management priorities have evolved. The northern population of the bog turtle (Glyptemys [Glyptemys] muhlenbergii), which inhabits the refuge, was federal- listed as threatened in 1997, and is now a management priority. The 1993 master plan also lacked sufficient state, public, and local community involvement. Regional Context and The refuge encompasses a portion of the Wallkill River, which flows north Project Analysis Area from Lake Mohawk in Sparta, New Jersey, to the Hudson River near Kingston, N.Y., via the Rondout Creek. Map 1-1 depicts the Wallkill River watershed and the location of the refuge within it. The refuge lies in the Kittatinny Valley in northwestern New Jersey, between the Kittatinny-Shawangunk Ridges to the west and the Hudson Highlands to the east (see map 1-2). The 1990 law (Pub. L 101–593) that created the refuge established a boundary of approximately 7,500 acres, using a compilation of tax maps from the townships of Wantage, Vernon, and Hardyston in Sussex County, N. J, and the township of Warwick in Orange County, N.Y. Subsequent GIS calculations and surveys of the tax parcels that make up the refuge estimate the original defined boundary at closer to 6,700 acres. Categorical exclusions, a regulatory method for adding a limited amount of land that is important to the refuge, yet lies outside the approved boundary, have expanded the refuge boundary by approximately 350 acres, bringing the current refuge boundary to approximately 7,100 acres (see map 1-3). We have acquired 5,106 acres within that 7,100-acre boundary. Most of that approved boundary is located in Sussex County, N. J.; 147 acres is located 1-2 Chapter 1. The Purpose and Need for Action Map 1-1 Regional Context and Project Analysis Area Chapter 1. The Purpose and Need for Action 1-3 Regional Context and Project Analysis Area Map 1-2 1-4 Chapter 1. The Purpose and Need for Action Map 1-3 Regional Context and Project Analysis Area Chapter 1. The Purpose and Need for Action 1-5 The Service and the Refuge System in Orange County, New York. The refuge headquarters is in Vernon Township, New Jersey. The Shawangunk Grasslands National Wildlife Refuge, a satellite refuge administered by the Wallkill River refuge, is located in Ulster County, New York. In fall 1998, we started one CCP for both refuges. However, we decided in 2002 that separating that plan into two CCPs, one for each refuge, would be more efficient. The Service completed the CCP for Shawangunk Grasslands NWR in 2006. In 2004, Wallkill River refuge was administratively complexed with Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in Basking Ridge, N.J., to reduce costs and create management efficiencies. The Service and the Refuge System Policies and Mandates This section presents hierarchically, from the national level to the local level, Guiding the Planning highlights of Service policy, legal mandates, and existing regional, state, and local resource plans that directly influenced development of this draft CCP/EA. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife The Service, part of the Department of the Interior, administers the National Service and Its Mission Wildlife refuge System. The Service mission is “Working with others, to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people.” Congress entrusts the Service with the conservation and protection of national resources such as migratory birds and fish, Federal-listed endangered or threatened species, inter-jurisdictional fish, and certain marine mammals. The Service also manages national wildlife refuges and national fish hatcheries, enforces federal wildlife laws and international treaties on importing and exporting wildlife, assists with state fish and wildlife programs, and helps other countries develop wildlife conservation programs. The Service manual contains the standing and continuing directives to implement its authorities, responsibilities and activities. You can access it at http://www.fws.gov.directives/direct.html. Special Service directives affecting the rights of citizens or the authorities of other agencies are published separately in the Code of Federal Regulations, and are not duplicated in the Service manual. The National Wildlife The Refuge System is the world’s largest collection of lands and waters set Refuge System and its aside specifically for conserving wildlife and protecting ecosystems. More than Mission and Policies 545 national wildlife refuges encompassing more than 95 million acres are part of the national network today, in