[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 9 (Tuesday, January 14, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1898-1899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-802]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service


Notice of Availability of the Final Development Concept Plan/
Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Entrance Area 
and Road Corridor, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska

AGENCIES: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Final Development Concept Plan/
Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement for the entrance area 
and road corridor, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service announces the availability of a 
Final Development Concept Plan/Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (DCP/EIS) for the Entrance Area and Road Corridor (Front 
Country) of Denali National Park and Preserve. The document describes 
and analyzes the environmental impacts of a proposed action and three 
other action alternatives for visitor facilities and services. A no 
action alternative also is evaluated.

DATES: A Record of Decision will be made no sooner than 30 days after 
the date of this notice.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the statement are available on request from: 
Superintendent, Denali National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 9, Denali 
Park, Alaska 99755.
    Public reading copies of the final DCP and abbreviated final EIS 
will be available for review in the following locations:

Office of Public Affairs, National Park Service, Department of the 
Interior, 1849 C Street, Room 3424, Washington, DC 20240, telephone: 
(202) 208-6843.
Alaska System Support Office, National Park Service, 2525 Gambell 
Street, Room 404, Anchorage, Alaska 99503-2892, telephone: (907) 257-
2647.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mike Tranel, Denali National Park and 
Preserve. Telephone: (907) 683-9552 FAX: (907) 683-9612.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the 
National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (P.L. 91-190, as amended), 
the National Park Service, has prepared a final DCP and abbreviated 
final EIS for proposed visitor facilities and services in the front 
country of Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska. The final DCP/
EIS includes five alternatives for providing for visitor use and 
resource protection and related facility development in the front 
country of Denali National Park and Preserve. The front country 
includes all non-wilderness areas along the Parks Highway, the Riley 
Creek/headquarters area, and the park road corridor to the Kantishna 
airstrip. The five alternatives include a no action alternative and 
four action alternatives. The proposed action as revised in the final 
is based on the recommendations of the Denali Task Force, a committee 
formed at the request of the Secretary of the Interior in 1994, on 
proposals received during public scoping, on previous plans, on 
planning team work and impact analysis, and on public comments on the 
draft plan.
    Facilities and services considered in the proposed action and in 
each alternative include visitor accommodations, campgrounds, camper 
conveniences, interpretive facilities, transportation, parking, bus 
tours, bicycle use, rest and picnic areas, concessions, road 
maintenance, trails, employee housing, administrative and support 
facilities, airstrips, and utility systems. The alternatives differ in 
construction costs, extent and location of visitor facilities, and 
corresponding environmental, social, and economic impacts.
    The Proposed Action (Alternative D) would provide visitor 
facilities and services in the front country to meet a wide range of 
visitor needs and interests. Front country developments would be 
limited to actions in which the NPS has traditionally specialized, such 
as interpretive centers, environmental education opportunities, trails, 
and campgrounds. The park hotel would be closed, and the NPS would 
encourage the private sector to develop visitor service facilities 
(accommodations, food service, and other commercial services) outside 
the park. The existing Visitor Access Center would be remodeled and 
expanded to serve as an interpretive and discovery center, and a new 
visitor services building and parking would be constructed nearby. 
Camper convenience services would be provided in this same area and the 
existing store and temporary shower building would be removed. Some 
buildings in the former hotel area would be adaptively used to provide 
an environmental education and science facility. New permanent rest 
areas would be constructed at Savage and Toklat. Additional trails 
would be constructed primarily in the Nenana River and Savage River 
areas. New campsites would be developed in the entrance area, the 
Nenana River corridor, and in the Kantishna area. Road maintenance and 
repair would be upgraded to address safety concerns and major 
structural failures along the park road. These actions would be phased 
in over the 15 to 20-year life of the plan.
    Alternative A (No Action--Continue Current Management Direction) 
represents no change from current management direction. With the 
exception of development concepts not yet implemented, it continues the 
present course of action set forth in existing management plans and 
guidance documents including the Statement for Management (1995) and 
the General Management Plan/Land Protection Plan/Wilderness Suitability 
Review (1986). This alternative represents the existing situation in 
the park, so existing facilities and services would remain. For 
example, the temporary park hotel would be rehabilitated as funds 
allow, adaptive use of historic structures and overcrowding of 
administrative space would continue, campgrounds would not be expanded, 
and no new trail construction or additional trail maintenance would be 
done.
    Alternative B (Implement Development Concepts from Previous Plans) 
would fully implement previous planning decisions and development 
concepts contained in approved plans such as the 1986 General 
Management Plan and the 1992 Amendment to the 1983 Development Concept 
Plan/Environmental Assessment for the park road corridor and 1987 
addendum (1992 Riley Creek Amendment). These documents not only propose 
additional facilities throughout the park to support NPS operations; 
they also propose increased visitor services and facilities within the 
park entrance area. Examples of new facilities proposed include a new 
hotel and camper convenience center to replace existing temporary 
facilities, a hostel in the entrance area, a new interpretive center 
with additional administrative space, a 50-site expansion to Riley 
Creek campground, and upgraded trail maintenance in the entrance area.

[[Page 1899]]

    Alternative C (Reduce Facilities and Services Inside Park) would 
reduce the level of development and visitor services inside the park 
and encourage the private sector to provide necessary new facilities 
such as overnight accommodations, campgrounds, and camper conveniences 
outside the park boundary. Major new park facilities such as an 
interpretive center and an environmental education center would be 
constructed outside the park as well. The park entrance area would 
function primarily as a staging area for trips farther into the park 
rather than as a destination in itself. This alternative allows for 
minimizing resource impacts and therefore maximizing resource 
protection inside the park.
    Alternative E (Emphasize Visitor Services and Recreational 
Opportunities Within the Park) would significantly enhance the visitor 
experience by concentrating new development inside the park and 
providing a diversity of visitor facilities and services in the front 
country to meet a wide range of visitor needs and interests. The NPS 
would take the leading role in providing new visitor services. A new 
hotel would replace the existing temporary building, and a hostel or 
similar low-cost accommodations would be constructed at a separate 
location. A new interpretive center, a camper conveniences center, and 
an environmental education facility would be constructed just north of 
Riley Creek Campground. Additional campsites would be developed 
throughout the front country. New permanent rest areas would be 
constructed at Toklat and Savage, and trails would be upgraded and 
expanded at several locations. Road maintenance and repair along the 
park road would be upgraded to address documented structural problems 
as well as safety concerns and actual structural failures.
    The responsible official for a Record of Decision on the proposed 
action is the NPS field director in Alaska.

    Dated: December 24, 1996.
Paul R. Anderson,
Field Director, Alaska Field Office.
[FR Doc. 97-802 Filed 1-13-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P