[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 176 (Monday, September 13, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 49503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-23762]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to 
Amend the General Management Plan for the Backcountry of Denali 
National Park and Preserve

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: General Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact 
Statement, Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an amendment to 
the general management plan, a backcountry management plan and an 
accompanying environmental impact statement (EIS) for Denali National 
Park and Preserve. The purpose of the management plan and EIS is to 
formulate a comprehensive plan for the backcountry, including 
designated wilderness, of Denali National Park and Preserve that will 
provide management direction over the next 15-20 years. This new 
management plan will amend the 1986 General Management Plan for the 
backcountry of Denali National Park and Preserve. The backcountry of 
Denali National Park and Preserve is defined to include all of the park 
except for those areas designated specifically for development in the 
entrance area and along the road corridor. Many issues to be addressed 
in the backcountry management plan would affect the entire park, 
including developed areas. The NPS has initiated this management plan 
and EIS to address the rapidly growing level and diversity of uses, 
resource management needs, and the anticipated demand for future uses 
not foreseen or addressed in the 1986 General Management Plan.
    Primary issues that the management plan and EIS will address are 
types and levels of visitor use, the visitor experience, resource 
protection, subsistence use, facility development and maintenance, 
administration of the backcountry management program, coordination with 
other land management agencies, research and other scientific uses, 
motorized uses including snowmachine and aircraft use, and fire 
management.
    The proposed action in the management plan and EIS will include 
guidelines for the types and levels of a variety of backcountry uses 
and outline methods for resource protection. The proposal will allocate 
visitor use of the backcountry to prevent user conflicts and to 
continue providing for high quality visitor experiences and diverse 
opportunities. The proposed action will include zoning to provide for a 
spectrum of visitor opportunities ranging from motorized use areas to 
``quiet zones'' where motorized uses would be prohibited. This will 
address visitor and management concerns about the existing conditions 
in which user conflicts occur.
    Possible alternatives in the EIS will propose variations in the 
types and levels of backcountry uses. One alternative to the proposed 
action will be to provide for expanded uses similar to the level and 
types of uses in national parks in the lower 48. A second alternative 
will limit recreational and other backcountry uses so that Denali 
National Park and Preserve would be more comparable to other large 
national parks in Alaska with less visitor use. A no action alternative 
will also be included.
    The NPS is seeking ideas on possible alternatives. The NPS will 
hold open house scoping sessions in fall 1999 in Fairbanks, the Denali 
National Park area, Talkeetna/Trapper Creek, and Anchorage. Specific 
dates, times, and locations of these scoping sessions will be announced 
in area newspapers. The NPS will continue to meet with other government 
agencies, organizations, and the public for information sharing.
    The draft management plan/EIS is anticipated to be available for 
public review in late summer 2000. Public meetings will be scheduled in 
the Denali National Park/Healy area, the Talkeetna/Trapper Creek area, 
Fairbanks, and Anchorage, Alaska, after release of the draft management 
plan/EIS. The final EIS is expected to be released during summer 2001.
    Interested groups, organizations, individuals and government 
agencies are invited to comment on the plan. Our practice is to make 
comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available 
for public review during regular business hours. Individual respondents 
may request that we withhold their home address from the administrative 
record, which we will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also 
may be circumstances in which we would withhold from the administrative 
record a respondent's identity, as allowable by law. If you wish us to 
withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at 
the beginning of your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous 
comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.
    The EIS is being prepared in accordance with the requirements of 
the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 
4331 et seq.) and its implementing regulations at 40 CFR part 1500.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Stephen P. Martin, Superintendent, 
Denali National Park and Preserve, PO Box 9, Denali Park, Alaska 99755. 
Telephone (907) 683-2294.

    Dated: September 1, 1999.
John Quinley,
Acting Regional Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 99-23762 Filed 9-10-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P