The bet365下载ios is announcing a 14-day public review and comment period on draft compatibility determinations for research and survey activities at Rappahannock River Valley, James River, and Presquile National Wildlife Refuges in Virginia. The public review and comment period is open from May 1 to 14, 2025.
Compatibility determinations (CDs) are the end results of a process whereby the refuge manager reviews a proposed use on a refuge and determines whether the use is compatible with the service鈥檚 mission and the purpose for which the refuge was established. Service policy requires that compatibility determinations be provided to the public for review and comment.
These CDs address using Refuges to conduct research and surveys with low- or no-adverse impacts conducted by federal, state, or local agencies, federally recognized tribes, universities, nongovernmental organizations, and qualified members of the public that are not operating as Service-authorized agents.
Research is a planned, organized, and systematic investigation of a scientific nature. A survey is a scientific inventory or monitoring activity. These activities are intended to advance our collective understanding of the natural and human environment.鈥疞ow- or no-adverse impact projects includes thots that have minimal potential to adversely affect cultural resources, populations of plants, wildlife, or their habitats, or ecosystems. Any adverse impacts from these research activities would be expected to affect only individual organisms or resources, at most; to rarely or never result in accidental mortality of individuals; and to not have detectable effects at the population level. Additionally, any adverse impacts to habitat would be short-term, at most. Such research projects span a wide range of subjects covering biological, physical, or cultural resources, as well as public-use management issues, and may be conducted using a variety of methods.鈥
The draft research compatibility determinations are available for public review here:
- Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge draft Compatibility Determination for research and surveys
- Presquile National Wildlife Refuge draft Compatibility Determination for research and surveys
- James River National Wildlife Refuge draft Compatibility Determination for research and surveys
Copies may also be obtained by visiting the Eastern Virginia Rivers NWR Complex Headquarters at 336 Wilna Road, Warsaw, Virginia, 22572 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
How to provide comments
Comments may be sent by mail to the address above or by e-mail to fw5rw_evrnwr@fws.gov or made over the phone Monday through Friday at (804) 313-7574, from May 1 through May 14, 2025.
Comments received will be reviewed and addressed in the Final Compatibility Determination for Research and Surveys, which is expected by Summer 2025. Refuge staff will be available to provide information and answer questions throughout the 14-day comment period from May 1 to May 14, 2025.
