[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 54 (Tuesday, March 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14958-14959]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-6963]



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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Mountain Goat Management 
Within Olympic National Park, Washington

ACTION: Notice of Availability of Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces the availability of a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for mountain goat management 
within Olympic National Park, Washington. This Notice also announces 
two public meetings for the purpose of receiving public comments on the 
DEIS.

DATES: Written comments on the DEIS should be received no later than 
May 22, 1995. The dates of the public meetings regarding the DEIS are 3 
May (Wednesday) 1995 and 4 May (Thursday) 1995.

[[Page 14959]] ADDRESSES: Written comments should be submitted to: 
Superintendent, Olympic National Park, 600 East Park Avenue, Port 
Angeles, WA 93362.
    The first public meeting will be at the Jackson Federal Building, 
915 Second Avenue, Seattle, Washington, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on 
Wednesday, 3 May 1995, in the 4th Floor North Auditorium (enter the 
building from First Avenue). The second meeting will be at the Vern 
Burton Community Center, 308 East Fourth Street, Port Angeles, 
Washington, from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Thursday, 4 May 1995.
    Public reading copies of the DEIS will be available for review at 
the following locations:

Office of Public Affairs, National Park Service, 1849 C. St., NW., 
Washington, D.C.
Pacific Northwest Regional Office, National Park Service, 909 First 
Avenue, Seattle, Washington
Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service, 2525 Gambell St., 
Anchorage, Alaska
Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, National Park Service, 143 South Third 
St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Midwest Regional Office, National Park Service, 1709 Jackson St., 
Omaha, Nebraska
North Atlantic Regional Office, National Park Service, 15 State St., 
Boston, Massachusetts
Rocky Mountain Regional Office, National Park Service, 12795 West 
Alameda Parkway, Denver, Colorado
Southeast Regional Office, National Park Service, 75 Spring St., SW., 
Atlanta, Georgia
Southwest Regional Office, National Park Service, 1100 Old Santa Fe 
Trail, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Western Regional Office, National Park Service, 600 Hrrison St., Suite 
600, San Francisco, California
Olympbic National Forest Headquarters, U.S. Forest Service, 1835 Black 
Lake Blvd., SW., Olympia, Washington
Pacific Northwest Regional Office, U.S. Forest Service, 333 SW 1st 
Ave., Portland, Oregon

    A limited number of copies of the DEIS are available on request 
from the Superintendent, Olympic National Park, at the above address.

supplementary information: Mountain goats are not native to 
Washington's Olympic Peninsula, but were introduced there in the 1920's 
apparently to develop a population for hunting. Olympic National Park 
was established in 1938 and hunting was subsequently prohibited on park 
lands. The introduced goat population grew in size and dispersed 
throughout suitable areas of the peninsula, with most concentrating 
within the National Park. By 1983, the goat population on the peninsula 
was estimated to be approximately 1,175 171 (Standard 
Error). During the 1980's, Olympic National Park staff conducted 
experimental and operational management programs to reduce goat 
populations using translocation and reproductive control methods. A 
census conducted in 1990 documented a population of 389 106 
(Standard Error). Results from an additional census in 1994 showed no 
statistical difference from the 1990 results. The non-native goats are 
causing significant impacts to native ecosystem processes and 
components within Olympic National Park. Documented goat impacts on 
vegetation include changes in dominance and competitive relationships 
between plant species which alter the relative abundance of species in 
native communities. Goats directly and indirectly alter plant 
communities through changes in plant structure, reproductive patterns, 
growth rates, and seedling establishment. Threats to 33 known rare and/
or endemic plant taxa from goat trampling, wallowing, and grazing 
include risks to individual plants, subpopulations, and populations. 
The Olympic Mt. milkvetch (Astragalus australis var. olympicus) is 
proposed for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as 
threatened or endangered and is listed as threatened by the Washington 
Natural Heritage Program. The world's entire known population of this 
species contains only 3,800-4,000 plants, all of which are within goat 
habitat of the Olympic Mountains. Soil impacts from goats include 
wallows and trailing.
    The Draft Environmental Impact Statement describes and analyzes 
three alternatives for future management of mountain goats within 
Olympic National Park. Alternative 1 (the proposed action) is the 
National Park Service's preferred alternative. This alternative 
proposes elimination of mountain goats from the park by shooting from 
helicopters. Ecosystem impacts from goats would cease in approximately 
three years. Alternative 2 (the no-action alternative) identifies no 
active management of the park's mountain goats, other than monitoring. 
The goat population would likely increase to approximately 1,400 
animals and impacts to native ecosystems would increase dramatically. 
Alternative 3 is similar to Alternative 1 except that it allows for a 
short-term, live-capture program before elimination by shooting. 
Ecosystem impacts from goats would cease in approximately four years.

    Dated: March 10, 1995.
William C. Walters,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific Northwest Region, National Park 
Service.
[FR Doc. 95-6963 Filed 3-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-M