Southern Idaho Sailing Association

Regarding the latest Deer Flat proposal from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Southern Idaho Sailing Association only supports Alternative 1 which is maintaining the "status quo" of Lake Lowell. Alternatives 2 to 4 do not allow for sailing regattas on Lake Lowell. U.S. Fish and Wildlife is proposing to ban all sailing regattas on Lake Lowell. SISA will be submitting a formal response to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We encourage our SISA membership to provide feedback to U.S. Fish and Wildlive Service at: http://www.fws.gov/deerflat/ccp/comments.cfm.

Please contact Idaho congressional delegation too:

Senator Mike Crapo http://crapo.senate.gov/

Senator James Risch http://risch.senate.gov/public/

Congressman Mike Simpson http://simpson.house.gov/

Congressman Raúl Labrador http://labrador.house.gov/

Message and Attachments from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is developing a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Lake Lowell and Snake River Islands Units of Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge). The CCP will guide Refuge management for the next 15 years. You are currently on our CCP e-mail list, so you will receive updates throughout the process.

Please find attached Planning Update 3 and a Preliminary Draft Alternatives Comparison Table. The Planning Update and Comparison Table summarize the preliminary draft goals and the alternatives and associated maps. The current preliminary draft alternatives were developed using public feedback received during the scoping process in summer 2010 and the best available science. The range of action alternatives is designed to meet Refuge purposes and the Refuge System mission, and to provide sufficient sanctuary for wildlife, while allowing most recreational uses to continue on the Refuge.

We welcome and encourage you to be part of this process. From now until July 29, 2011, we will be accepting public comments on the preliminary draft alternatives. Those comments will be considered as we develop the draft CCP/EIS. We thank everyone who has provided comments so far and we invite you to continue sharing your ideas with us. Your participation remains critical to the success of this planning effort.

This Planning Update and other information about the planning process is also available at the Refuge website at http://www.fws.gov/deerflat/refugeplanning.html.

The Deer Flat NWR CCP Team