[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 177 (Monday, September 14, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49134-49135]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24597]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Draft Environmental Impact Statement/General Management Plan; 
Death Valley National Park; Inyo and San Bernardino Counties, CA; Nye 
and Esmeralda Counties, Nevada; Notice of Availability

Summary

    Pursuant to Sec. 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190, as amended), the National Park Service (NPS), 
Department of the Interior, has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact 
Statement (DEIS) identifying and evaluating potential impacts of a 
proposed General Management Plan (GMP) for Death Valley National Park. 
Death Valley is a unit of the National Park System, created by Congress 
on October 31, 1994, in the California Desert Protection Act (CDPA). 
The DEIS also includes a draft Land Protection Plan (LPP) that 
addresses management options for non-federal lands that exist inside 
the park boundary. This planning document and DEIS were initiated as a 
component of the Northern and Eastern Mojave Planning Project, a 
coordinated interagency effort involving the NPS, Bureau of Land 
Management, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The DEIS identifies and 
evaluates the environmental consequences of a proposed action and two 
alternatives; appropriate mitigations are addressed. No significant 
adverse environmental impacts are anticipated. The GMP will serve as 
the overall management strategy for the next 10-15 years under which 
more detailed activity or implementation plans are prepared.

Proposal

    This DEIS presents the proposed management approach and two 
alternatives for park management. The Proposed Action (Alternative 1) 
seeks to extend existing management strategies that are in place for 
the original smaller area (proclaimed a national monument on February 
11, 1933), to the management of the resources within the new lands 
added to the unit in 1994. It also strives to incorporate the NPS 
mission and policies, and respond to the designation of 95% of the park 
as Wilderness. This alternative addresses the removal of feral burros 
and horses from the park in order to achieve the NPS mission of 
managing the unit for native desert species. It also recognizes the 
need to work cooperatively with the Bureau of Land Management on 
adjacent land, where their mandate from Congress is to maintain viable 
herds of wild horses and burros. Furthermore, this alternative strives 
to balance the preservation of resources mission with specific mandates 
from Congress for Death Valley, such as continuation of grazing on the 
new lands. This alternative addresses grazing as a component of the 
management. This alternative also identifies a number of activity-level 
or site-specific issues, such as management of the Saline Valley Warm 
Springs area and a Backcountry and Wilderness Management Plan. This 
alternative seeks funding for purchase of private property from willing 
sellers, and/or mineral interests where proposed uses conflict with the 
primary mission of preserving resources and providing for visitor 
enjoyment.

Alternatives

    In addition to the proposal, the alternatives described and 
analyzed are existing management (no action) and an optional management 
approach. The Existing Management alternative (Alternative 2) describes 
outcomes of continuing current management strategies. It is commonly 
referred to as the no-action or status quo alternative. Under this 
alternative, existing visitor and administrative support services and 
facilities would be maintained in their current locations. There would 
be no change in road maintenance, although some roads might be improved 
if funding became available. No changes in recreation use would occur. 
Land acquisition would focus on obtaining funds to acquire private 
property and mineral interests from willing sellers only where proposed 
uses conflict with the park mission. The Optional Management approach 
(Alternative 3) provides for approval of the use of airstrips at Saline 
Valley Warm Springs, designating campsites at the Warm Springs, 
specifies acquisition of private land or mineral interests only in 
sensitive habitats, and phases out the concession operation at 
Stovepipe Wells.

Comments

    Printed or CD-ROM copies of the DEIS are available for public 
review at park headquarters, as well as at many public libraries and 
federal offices in southern California and southern Nevada. In 
addition, the document is posted on the internet at www.nps.gov/deva. 
Inquiries and comments on the DEIS should be directed to: 
Superintendent, Death Valley National Park, Furnace Creek, California 
92328. The telephone number for the park is (760) 786-2331. All written 
comments must be postmarked not later than 90 days after publication of 
a notice of filing of the DEIS/GMP in the Federal Register by the 
Environmental Protection Agency.

Public Meetings

    The NPS will host a series of open houses to provide interested 
individuals and organization representatives an opportunity to express 
concerns, ask questions, view large scale maps and engage in dialogue 
about the range or content of alternatives. Specific details will be 
available at the internet site identified above or by calling the park. 
This dialogue is intended to provide additional guidance to the NPS in 
preparing a final EIS and plan amending the GMP and LPP. Written 
comments will also be accepted at these workshops. All workshops are 
scheduled for 6:00-9:00 p.m., as follows:

Monday, Oct. 19, Doubletree Inn, 191 Los Robles, Pasadena, CA
Tuesday, Oct. 20, Harvey House (Santa Fe Depot), 685 First St., 
Barstow, CA
Wednesday, Oct. 21, Hilltop Hotel, 2000 Ostrems Way, San Bernardino, CA
Thursday, Oct. 22, Needles Community Senior Center, 1699 Bailey Ave., 
Needles, CA
Friday, Oct. 23, Enterprise Public Library, 25 E. Shelbourne Ave., Las 
Vegas, NV
Saturday, Oct. 24, Baker Senior Center, 73730C Baker Blvd., Baker, CA

[[Page 49135]]

Tuesday, Oct. 27, Death Valley Natl Park, Visitor Center Auditorium, 
Furnace Creek, CA
Wednesday, Oct. 28, Eastern Sierra Fairgrounds, Sierra St. & Fair Dr., 
Bishop, CA
Thursday, Oct. 29, Boulder Creek RV Park, Hwy 395 (5mi s. of Lone 
Pine), Lone Pine, CA
Friday, Oct. 30, Ridgecrest Public Library, 131 E. Las Flores, 
Ridgecrest, CA

Decision

    Following the formal DEIS review period all written comments 
received will be considered in preparing a final plan. Currently the 
Final EIS and GMP/LPP are anticipated to be completed during spring 
1999. Their availability will be similarly announced in the Federal 
Register. Subsequently a Record of Decision would be approved by the 
Regional Director, Pacific West Region, no sooner than 30 (thirty) days 
after release of the Final EIS. The responsible officials are the 
Regional Director, Pacific West Region, and the Superintendent, Death 
Valley National Park.

    Dated: August 31, 1998.
John J. Reynolds,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 98-24597 Filed 9-11-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P