[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 136 (Monday, July 15, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36894-36895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17889]


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[[Page 36895]]


DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Missouri/Niobrara/Verdigre Creek National Recreational Rivers 
Draft Environmental Impact Statement and General Management Plan

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Availability of draft environmental impact statement and 
general management plan, for the Missouri/Niobrara/Verdigre Creek 
National Recreational Rivers located in Bon Homme, Charles Mix, and 
Gregory counties, South Dakota, and Boyd and Knox counties in Nebraska.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service (NPS) announces the 
availability of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and 
general management plan, for the Missouri/Niobrara /Verdigre Creek 
National Recreation Rivers. The DEIS responds to Public Law 102-50, 
which amended the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to add 39 miles of the 
Missouri, 20 miles of the Niobrara, and 8 miles of Verdigre Creek to 
the national wild and scenic rivers system. The NPS prepared the DEIS. 
Cooperating agencies included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the 
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission; 
the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks; the Nebraska and 
South Dakota State Historic Preservation Offices; Boyd and Knox 
counties in Nebraska; and Bon Homme, Charles Mix, and Gregory counties 
in South Dakota.
    The document describes five management and boundary alternatives. 
Alternative 1, a no action alternative, is required in order to provide 
a description of baseline conditions from which the action alternatives 
can be compared; its boundary is 1/4 mile from the riverbank, which is 
the interim boundary noted in the establishing legislation. Alternative 
2 would provide for the preservation of the rural landscape, primarily 
through local management, and would establish a boundary at 200 feet 
from the riverbank. Alternative 3 would emphasize management to 
preserve and restore the biological elements of the river ecosystem; 
its boundary would be 200 feet from the riverbank, plus significant 
biological bottomland. Alternative 4 would emphasize visitor use along 
with resource conservation; its boundary would be 200 feet from the 
riverbank, plus significant biologic and public use resource areas. 
Alternative 5, the preferred alternative, combines the local management 
and philosophy of Alternative 2, some resource management and boundary 
of Alternative 3, and some interpretive and visitor experience aspects 
of Alternative 4.
    Each management action alternative is expected to provide a 
mechanism for long-term resource protection and accommodate 
recreational use of the river with minimal impact on the private 
property owner. In each alternative, farming and ranching are 
considered appropriate activities within the boundaries of the 
recreational rivers. Each action alternative relies heavily on the 
cooperative efforts of property owners, local communities and the 
National Park Service. No alternative would require much, if any, 
acquisition of land; any acquisitions would be from willing sellers 
only.

DATES: Comments on the DEIS should be received no later than September 
3, 1996. Public meetings will be held in various Nebraska and South 
Dakota towns and cities during August, 1996, and will be announced in 
local news media when schedules are final.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the DEIS should be submitted to the 
Superintendent, Niobrara/Missouri National Scenic Riverways, P.O. Box 
591, O'Neill, Nebraska 68763.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public reading copies of the DEIS will be 
available for review at the Department of Interior Natural Resources 
Library, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240, and at public 
libraries and county courthouses in Center and Butte, Nebraska; and 
Burke, Lake Andes and Tyndall, South Dakota. Public reading copies will 
also be available at the public libraries in Verdigre and Niobrara, 
Nebraska.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Warren H. Hill, Superintendent, 
Niobrara/Missouri National Scenic Riverways at the above address or he 
can be reached at 402-336-3970.

    Dated: July 3, 1996.
William W. Schenk,
Field Director, Midwest Field Area.
[FR Doc. 96-17889 Filed 7-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P