[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19589-19590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9783]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Recreational and
Subsistence Use of ORVs in the Nabesna District of Wrangell-St. Elias
National Park and Preserve
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS).
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SUMMARY: This notice supplements the National Park Service (NPS) Notice
of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on Recreational
Use of Off-Road Vehicles Along Nine Trails in the Nabesna Area of
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve published in Federal
Register, Vol. 72, No. 245 on Friday, December 21, 2007. The NPS
intends to expand the scope of the EIS to include the use of Off-Road
Vehicles (ORVs) for subsistence purposes.
The NPS is preparing an EIS on the use of ORVs in the Nabesna area
of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The purpose of the
EIS is to evaluate a range of alternatives for managing recreational
and subsistence
[[Page 19590]]
off-road vehicle use including use on the following trails: Caribou
Creek, Lost Creek, Trail Creek, Reeve Field, Boomerang Lake, Soda Lake,
Suslota Lake, Copper Lake and Tanada Lake. The EIS will be used to
guide the management of all ORV use.
In addition to the No Action alternative, the EIS will evaluate a
proposed action that would authorize recreational ORV use on trails
that can be maintained to a standard that minimizes resource impacts.
Other alternatives include authorizing recreational ORV use on all nine
trails without trail improvement, not authorizing recreational ORV use
on any trails, and authorizing recreational ORV use on improved trails
in the preserve but not the park. Public input is sought on this range
of alternatives. In all action alternatives, subsistence ORV use would
be monitored and measures taken to mitigate resource impacts.
Scoping: This notice extends the scoping period for this EIS and
solicits comments. The NPS requests input from the public including
local rural residents and residents of the park's twenty-three resident
zone communities who engage in subsistence activities within the park.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can
ask us to withhold your personal identifying information from public
review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will
always make submissions from organizations or businesses, and from
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their
entirety.
DATES: Comments should be received on or before June 29, 2009.
Electronic comments may be submitted to the NPS Planning, Environment,
and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WRST.
Written comments also may be mailed or faxed to the address and phone
number provided below.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meg Jensen, Park Superintendent,
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 439, Copper
Center, Alaska 99573. Telephone (907) 822-5234, Fax (907) 822-7259.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The December 21, 2007 Notice of Intent for
the project was followed by scoping which included five public meetings
in March and April of 2008. The meetings were held in Anchorage,
Fairbanks, Tok, Slana, and Glennallen, Alaska. Scoping also included
meetings with the Wrangell-St. Elias Park Subsistence Resource
Commission, the Southcentral Alaska Federal Subsistence Regional
Advisory Council, Ahtna Inc., and the villages of Mentasta and
Chistochina. The public scoping process and the comments received were
summarized in a scoping report posted on the park's Web site and on the
NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WRST.
Based on comments received from the public, NPS developed a set of
draft alternatives. An alternative package was sent out for public
review and comment in December 2008. NPS received over 30 comments,
nine of which requested that NPS consider reasonable regulation of
subsistence ORV use within a range of alternatives.
Public meetings will be held after the release of the Draft EIS,
tentatively scheduled for Spring 2010. Public meetings will be held in
Anchorage, Fairbanks, Tok, Glennallen, and Slana, Alaska. When public
meetings have been scheduled, the dates, times, and locations will be
announced in local newspapers and posted on the NPS Planning,
Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WRST.
Dated: March 25, 2009.
Sue E. Masica,
Regional Director, Alaska Region.
[FR Doc. E9-9783 Filed 4-28-09; 8:45 am]
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