USFWS asks for input on plans for Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge
On Friday, Stephen Guertin, regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, issued a statement calling attention to long-term plans for the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in northeast Montana. The statement discusses plans for a 15-year roadmap to preserve and protect the refuge’s biologic diversity, natural character and environmental health.
The “CMR” has long been a popular location for visitors who hunt, fish and enjoy the region’s vast natural resources. The refuge is visited by thousands each year and represents one of the largest national wildlife refuges in continental United States.
Guertin urged concerned parties, including Montana resident who visit the refuge or own land near its borders, to review the draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and associated Environmental Impact Statement and submit comments on the plan. A copy of the Comprehensive Conservation Plan and associated Environmental Impact Statement can be viewed here.
A copy of Guertin’s statement on plans for the “CMR” follows follows:
This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released to the public a draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan, and associated Environmental Impact Statement, for the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, located in northeastern Montana.
These documents, developed pursuant to the 1997 National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act and the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, respectively, represent months of work by the Service and its many federal, state, and local partners to develop and deliver a “road map” for successful, long-term management of the refuge and the superlative fish and wildlife resources it contains, resources beloved to Montanans and the thousands of people from beyond the state’s borders who each year visit “the CMR” to hunt, fish, view wildlife and pursue other wildlife-dependent recreation opportunities on one of the largest national wildlife refuges in the contiguous United States.
The Service and our partners understand how special a place this refuge is for the public, including the many communities with whom the refuge shares a boundary. We are also keenly aware that a refuge this big and this rich in natural resources can generate controversy over how those resources are best managed. That is why, in crafting the plan we released this week and developing the public review and comment process that will follow, we are investing significant time and effort to engage as broad and diverse a cross-section of refuge customers as possible, from producers to county commissioners to hunters to the Montana Congressional Delegation.
The plan sets forth a 15-year vision for sustainable, productive management of the refuge that emphasizes adaptive management rooted in science to protect and improve the biological integrity, biological diversity and environmental health of the refuge and its wildlife and habitat. The plan also provides for continuing opportunities for visitors to the CMR to experience an intact, functional landscape, similar to the one Native Americans, and later Lewis and Clark, encountered. In a rapidly-changing West, such opportunities are increasingly rare, and by extension are valuable to the American public.
The Service and our partners recognize the diverse perspectives Montanans and other Americans hold about this special place and its future. In the days and weeks ahead, we ask anyone who shares an interest in the CMR to take the time to read these documents, think about what we are proposing and how it affects you and your interests in the refuge, and let us know your thoughts and, importantly, your constructive ideas about how together, we can insure a healthy Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge, one that works for wildlife and for people.
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