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Watercress Darter National Wildlife Refuge, Jefferson County, AL


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#1 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 22 December 2010 - 05:12 PM

The watercress darter, Etheostoma nuchale, now has a finalized plan from US Fish and Wildlife Service for its own National Wildlife Refuge in suburnan Birmingham, Alabama. This is a separate development from the critical habitat designation two weeks ago for E. chermocki on the other side of Birmingham. Hopefully everyone is happy that an endemic darter can be the focus of an NWR for its protection!
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With this notice, we finalize the CCP (comprehensive conservation plan) process for Watercress Darter NWR. We started this process through a notice in the Federal Register on March 12, 2007 (72 FR 11048).

Watercress Darter NWR, near the city of Bessemer, Jefferson County, Alabama, was established by the Service in 1980, to provide protection for the endangered watercress darter. The refuge is only about 24 acres of ponds, mixed pine-hardwood forest, and a residence, and contains Thomas Spring. A second pond was constructed on the refuge in 1983, to provide additional watercress darter habitat. The refuge is unstaffed and administered by Mountain Longleaf NWR.

We announce our decision and the availability of the final CCP and FONSI (finding of no significant impact) for Watercress Darter NWR in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) [40 CFR 1506.6(b)] requirements. We completed a thorough analysis of impacts on the human environment, which we included in the Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment (Draft CCP/EA).

The CCP will guide us in managing and administering Watercress Darter NWR for the next 15 years. Alternative C, as we described in the final CCP, is the foundation for the CCP.

The compatibility determinations for wildlife observation and photography and environmental education and interpretation are also available in the final CCP.



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