[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 189 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50866-50868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24822]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Record of Decision; Final General Management Plan/Environmental 
Impact Statement; Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho

ACTION: Notice of approval of Record of Decision.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the regulations promulgated by the 
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1505.2), the Department of the 
Interior, National Park Service, has prepared a Record of Decision on 
the Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for 
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Twin Falls and Gooding 
Counties, Idaho. The National Park Service will implement the proposed 
action (Alternative 2) as described in the Final General Management 
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement.

DATES: The Record of Decision was recommended by the Superintendent of 
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, concurred by the Deputy Field 
Director, Pacific West Area, and approved by the Field Director, 
Pacific West Area, on September 18, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Inquiries regarding the Record of Decision or the 
Environmental Impact Statement should be submitted to the 
Superintendent, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, P.O. Box 570, 
Hagerman, Idaho 83332; telephone: (208) 837-4793.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Record of Decision follows:

Introduction

    Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969, as amended, and the regulations promulgated by the Council 
on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1505.2), the Department of the 
Interior, National Park Service, has prepared this Record of Decision 
on the Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for 
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Twin Falls and Gooding 
Counties, Idaho. The Record of Decision is a concise statement of the 
decisions made, other alternatives considered, the basis for the 
decision, the environmentally preferable alternative, the mitigating 
measures developed to avoid or minimize environmental harm, and public 
involvement in the decision making process.

The Decision (Selected Action)

    The National Park Service will implement the proposed action 
(Alternative 2) as described in the Final General Management Plan/
Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/EIS) issued in July 1996. The Draft 
GMP/EIS was issued in November 1995.
    The selected action (Alternative 2) will provide a plan for 
comprehensively meeting the monument's legislative mandate to provide a 
center for paleontological research and education, including the 
construction of a fully functional research center and museum. The 
National Park Service will perform professional research, educational, 
and resource management functions as peers and partners with various 
persons, institutions, and organizations that will help staff, fund, 
equip, and implement those functions. An institute will need to be 
established to help facilitate monument research and educational 
programs. The research center and museum will be integrated so that

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visitors will be able to interact with researchers and research 
projects. Support for educational programs will be a major monument 
function. In addition to paleontological resources, other monument 
resources, including the Oregon Trail, will receive the benefit of 
fully professional resource management, interpretation, and educational 
programs. An overlook at the Hagerman Horse Quarry, the Bluff and 
Emigrant Trails and a Rim-to-River Trail will be constructed, along 
with improvements to the existing Snake River and Oregon Trail 
overlooks.
    Additional actions common to all alternatives in the Draft and 
Final GMP/EIS are included in the selected action, including: measures 
to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and policies; 
participation in regional planning and information/orientation efforts; 
housing employees outside the monument in the private sector; 
restricting visitors to designated roads and trails in most areas; 
prohibiting camping in the monument; and continuing hunting and fishing 
as legislatively mandated. Carrying capacity considerations will be 
addressed primarily by directing visitors to the research center and 
museum and then encouraging them to stay there or venture into other 
areas depending upon current visitation and resource conditions.
    Statements of the monument's purpose, significance, management 
goals, desired future conditions, interpretive themes, and management 
zones are also part of the selected action. In addition, the selected 
action calls for a number of future action plans as described on pages 
16-17 of the Draft GMP/EIS. To implement the plan, implementation teams 
and partnerships will be set up, and creative funding opportunities and 
potential cost savings will be fully evaluated and utilized where 
practicable.

Alternatives Considered

    In addition to the selected action, two other alternatives were 
fully evaluated in the Draft and Final GMP/EIS: the No-Action 
Alternative, and a minimum requirements alternative (Alternative 1). 
The No-Action Alternative would have continued the present course of 
action with only minor changes from existing conditions, and would not 
have met the legislative mandate for the monument to provide for 
paleontological research and education. It would not have provided a 
research center and museum, and would have allowed only the most 
fundamental resource stewardship and interpretation activities. 
Resource management, interpretation and visitor protection activities 
would have been severely limited and there would have been little or no 
support for research or educational programs.
    Alternative 1 would have met the minimum requirements of the 
legislative mandate by operating the research center and museum at a 
limited level, with research and museum functions separated so that 
research and researchers would generally not have been accessible to 
visitors. Research and education functions would have been almost 
entirely dependent on sources outside the National Park Service. A 
professional paleontological resource management program would have 
been provided, but programs for the monument's other resources would 
have been limited. The Snake River and Oregon Trail overlooks would 
have remained in the present condition, and the Bluff and Emigrant 
Trails would have been the only new construction in the monument.

Actions Considered but Rejected

    In addition to the alternatives which were fully evaluated in the 
Draft and Final GMP/EIS, the following actions were identified as 
considered but rejected in the Draft GMP/EIS, with rationale for 
rejecting the actions detailed on page 50 of that document: public 
camping or other overnight use in the monument; transit service 
provided by the National Park Service (however, an action common to all 
alternatives left open the possibility of future private or public/
private transportation services if needed and appropriate); a bridge or 
gondola across the Snake River to the monument; and improvements to the 
pump access road or otherwise increasing private vehicle access to the 
Snake River in the monument.

Environmentally Preferable Alternative

    The selected action (Alternative 2) is considered to be the 
environmentally preferable alternative.

Measures To Minimize Environmental Harm

    All practicable measures to avoid or minimize environmental impacts 
that could result from implementation of the selected plan have been 
identified and incorporated into the selected action. These include, 
but are not limited to: restricting visitors to designated roads and 
trails in most areas; revegetation of disturbed sites with native 
plants; restoration or maintenance of natural processes to the extent 
practicable; baseline studies of plants and animals; consultation and 
compliance regarding cultural resources; monitoring programs for 
resource and visitor impacts and carrying capacities; and emphasis on 
resource protection in interpretation and educational programs.
    Because the general management plan is mostly conceptual in scope, 
site-specific surveys, consultation, and compliance with all applicable 
laws, regulations, and policies, including mitigation if necessary, 
will be carried out before any development begins.

Public Involvement

    Scoping and consultation are detailed in the Draft GMP/EIS on pages 
133-135 and 142-154, and in the Final GMP/EIS on pages 106-107. Public 
scoping began in 1990, and was reinitiated in 1993 after publication of 
a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. A 
separate planning effort to select a site for a research center and 
museum for the monument resulted in a draft environmental assessment in 
1993 and a finding of no significant impact and selection of the 
proposed site in 1995, as detailed on pages 15 and 133 of the Draft 
GMP/EIS.
    A public review period associated with a scoping newsletter 
occurred in 1993, and another public review period including public 
meetings occurred in 1994 to consider draft statements of monument 
purpose, management goals, and management options. Consultation was 
also completed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Advisory 
Council on Historic Preservation, the Idaho State Historic Preservation 
Office, and Native American tribes.
    More than 1,000 copies of the Draft GMP/EIS were distributed 
between November 1995 and March 1996. Written comments were accepted 
for 113 days. A total of 60 people participated in public meetings in 
Hagerman, Twin Falls, and Boise, Idaho to discuss the draft document 
and a total of 63 comment letters were received. Because of the nature 
of the comments received on the Draft GMP/EIS, the Final GMP/EIS was 
prepared in a shortened format in accordance with 40 CFR 1503.4. The 
Final GMP/EIS, distributed in July 1996, responded to comments and 
included copies of the comment letters, clarifying changes to the text 
of the draft document, and factual corrections. The changes in the 
final plan (a) clarified important points regarding hunting, road and 
trail access, and other issues, and (b) deleted services or facilities 
from the proposed action that could be accomplished through 
partnerships or by the private sector and therefore would not require 
federal funds, further reducing costs. The responses to comments also

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addressed quality of life and other concerns.

The Basis for the Decision

    After carefully evaluating public comments throughout the planning 
process, including comments on the Draft and Final GMP/EIS, the 
selected action best accomplishes the monument's legislated purpose to 
provide a center for continuing paleontological research and education. 
It balances the statutory mission of the National Park Service to 
provide long-term protection of monument resources and significance 
while allowing for appropriate levels of visitor use and appropriate 
means of visitor enjoyment. The selected action also best accomplishes 
identified management goals and desired future conditions, with the 
fewest environmental impacts.
    Support for the selected action and monument purpose has been 
generally widespread and strong, as described in the Final GMP/EIS. No 
comments or protests were received on the final plan and environmental 
impact statement during the 30-day no-action period that the document 
was available to the public.
    Conclusion: The above factors and considerations warrant selecting 
Alternative 2, identified as the proposed action in the draft document 
(and as modified in the Final GMP/EIS), as the general management plan 
for Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. The selected action will be 
implemented as described, and a final document including only the 
selected action will be printed and made available to aid in 
implementing the plan.

    Dated: September 23, 1996.
William C. Walters,
Deputy Field Director, Pacific West Area.
[FR Doc. 96-24822 Filed 9-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P