See the Planning Documents
The Stand-alone CCP and the Final EIS/CCP are provided here in portable document format (pdf), which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader software. Acrobat is available for free on the Adobe website.
Both documents include several graphics, making them very large files. They are provided in a variety of ways in an effort to make them convenient for a wide range of computer users. You can see each document either as one file with graphics, as one text-only document, or by chapter.
CCP by Chapter:
Table of Contents (99
Chapter 1: Introduction, Purpose and Need, and Issues (901 KB)
Chapter 2: Public Involvement and Decison Process (1.3 MB)
Chapter 3: Affected Environment (2.8 MB); lower resolution version with graphics (1.3 MB); text-only version (328 KB)
Chapter 4: Management Direction (2.8 MB); lower resolution version (947 KB)
Chapter 5: Plan Implementation (825 KB)
Appendix A: Record of Decision (215 KB)
Appendix B: Glossary (80 KB)
Appendix C: Species Lists 1 MB)
Appendix D: Compatibility Determinations (34 KB)
Appendix E: Applicable Laws and Executive Orders (69 KB)
Appendix F: Executive Order Establishing Trempealeau Migratory Waterfowl Refuge (31 KB)
Appendix G: Distribution List (41 KB)
Appendix H: Bibliography (38 KB)
Final EIS/CCP (Full document, 8.2 MB)
Final EIS/CCP, text-only version (4.5 MB)
Summary Final EIS/CCP (322 KB)
Final EIS/CCP by Chapter:
Dear Reader (56 KB)
Abstract (29 KB)
Reader's Guide (39 KB)
Contents (362 KB)
Chapter 1: Introduction, Purpose and Need and Issues (1.5 MB), text-only version of Chapter 1 (215 KB)
Chapter 2: Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action (7 MB), text-only version of Chapter 2 (625 KB)
Chapter 3: The Affeccted Environment (5 MB), text-only version Chapter 3 (334 KB)
Chapter 4: Environmental Consequences 868 KB)
Chapter 5: List of Preparers (40 KB)
Chapter 6: Compliance, Consultation, and Coordination with Others (227 KB)
Chapter 7: Public Comment on the Draft EIS and Response (2.2 MB), text-only version (130 KB)
Chapter 8: List of References (39 KB)
Appendix A: Glossary (69 KB)
Appendix B: Acronyms and Abbreviations (34 KB)
Appendix C: Distribution List (22 KB)
Appendix D: Applicable Laws and Executive Orders (64 KB)
Appendix E: Executive Order Establishing Trempealeau Migratory Waterfowl Refuge (31 KB)
Appendix F: Economic Analysis of Refuge Alternatives and Demographics (43 KB)
Appendix G: Species List (196 KB)
Appendix H: Plan Implementation (711 KB)
Appendix I: Draft Compatibility Determinations (35 KB)
Index (337 KB)
Where in the Plan Are We?
These are the steps that the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service follows in comprehensive conservation planning; the step that Trempealeau NWR has reached is highlighted:
- Preplanning: Plan the Plan
- Initiate Public Involvement and Scoping
- Review Vision Statement and Goals and Determine Significant Issues
- Develop and Analyze Alternatives, Including the Proposed Action
- Prepare a Draft CCP and NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) Document
- Prepare and Adopt Final CCP
- Implement Plan, Monitor and Evaluate
- Review and Revise the Plan
Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge Comprehensive Conservation Plan
The Environmental Impact Statement prepared for Trempealeau NWR is an integrated document that combines elements of a comprehensive conservation plan with the elements of an EIS. It is a wonderful reference but too unwieldy for everyday use.
To make the document easier for Refuge staff to use on a day-to-day basis, the elements of a CCP have been pulled out of the Final EIS and printed as a stand-alone CCP. While some sections of text were moved to form new chapters in the CCP, none of the text was altered from what was printed in the Final EIS.
The stand-alone CCP can be viewed in portable document format (pdf) on this website, and a limited number of paper copies are available. The CCP is also available on a CD-ROM in pdf format.
A summary of the CCP is available in portable document format (pdf).
The Record of Decision (ROD) for Trempealeau NWR's Final Environmental Impact Statement and Comprehensive Conservation Plan was signed on June 17, 2008. Signature of the ROD completes the planning process for the Refuge.
The Final EIS/CCP can be viewed in pdf format on this website.
Refuge management will increase its emphasis on fish and wildlife habitat management as well as provide diverse wildlife-dependent activities for people visiting the Refuge, including traditional and compatible non-wildlife-dependent activities.
Some highlights of the proposed plan include:
- Strengthen the Refuge's role in protecting threatened and endangered species with improved monitoring of Bald Eagle nests and assessing the potential for reintroduction of Massasauga rattlesnakes in the River Bottoms Road area.
- Lower water levels in various pools periodically to enhance plant growth, encourage white swamp oak growth, and reduce rough fish populations.
- Remove pine plantations from prairie units.
- Treat 5 acres of upland and floodplain forest every year to remove black locust and European buckthorn.
- Continue to use trapping as a management tool for controlling muskrat, beaver and raccoon populations.
- Try to reduce conflicts between hunters and other visitors during the hunting season. Toward this end, require pedestrians to wear blaze orange during the hunting season and investigate the option of closing the Refuge to non-hunting visitors during key hunting times.
- Make the Refuge friendlier to bicyclists with improved directional signs and interpretation on the Great River Road, and add bike racks at some locations on the Refuge.
- Expand the role of volunteers in all areas of Refuge management.
- Improve protection of cultural resources on the Refuge.
Located along the Mississippi River near Trempealeau, Wisconsin, Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1936 as a refuge and breeding ground for migratory birds and other wildlife. The 6,226-acre Refuge is part of the Upper Mississippi River NWR Complex.
The Refuge is a backwater of the Mississippi River and is strategically located within an important migration corridor, providing resting and feeding habitat for thousands of waterfowl and other birds during spring and fall. The Refuge also includes more than 700 acres of native prairie and oak savanna, habitat types that are becoming scarce in Wisconsin.
For more information on comprehensive conservation planning for Trempealeau NWR, please e-mail us, or call or write to Refuge Manager Vickie Hirschboeck at:
Phone: 608/539-2311, ext. 10
TTY: 1-800-877-8339 (Federal Relay)
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge
W28488 Refuge Road
Trempealeau, WI 54661