[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 75 (Tuesday, April 18, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 20831]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-9587]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Approval of Record of Decision; Final Environmental 
Impact Statement and General Management Plan for Redwood National and 
State Parks, Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, California

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (Pub.L. 91-190, as amended), and the regulations 
promulgated by the Council of Environmental Quality at 40 CFR 1505.2, 
the Department of the Interior, National Park Service has prepared and 
approved a Record of Decision for the Final Environmental Impact 
Statement (FEIS) for the General Management Plan (GMP) for Redwood 
National and State Parks, California.
    Redwood National and State Parks are comprised of Redwood National 
Park and three state parks included within the national park boundary, 
Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State 
Parks. The Final GMP is a joint General Management Plan/General Plan 
(GMP/GP) produced in cooperation with the State of California's 
Department of Parks and Recreation. This document incorporates all the 
elements of an Environmental Impact Report/General Plan (EIR/GP) 
required under state law. The National Park Service (NPS) and the 
California Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) will use the joint 
plan as a comprehensive guide for managing the 105,516-acre area of 
contiguous federal and state parklands cooperatively. The California 
State Park and Recreation Commission issued a resolution following a 
public hearing on the FEIR/GP on November 17, 1999 unanimously 
approving the Proposed Action (alternative 1) as it appeared in the 
FEIS/R as the option under which the three state parks will be managed. 
The CDPR has completed its conservation planning and environmental 
impact analysis process required under the California Environmental 
Quality Act.
    The NPS will implement actions identified as the Proposed Action 
(alternative 1) in the Final General Management Plan/General Plan, as 
described in the Final EIS/R issued in November 1999. The Draft EIS/R 
was issued in August 1998 and analyzed three alternatives in addition 
to the Proposed Action. Under the no action alternative (alternative 
2), the parks would be managed according to the prescriptions in the 
1980 Redwood National Park General Management Plan and the 1985 State 
Redwoods Parks General Plan, and subsequent approved planning documents 
based on those general plans. Under the Preservation Emphasis 
alternative (alternative 3), the agencies would emphasize the 
preservation and restoration of the parks' resources and values; 
opportunities for public use and enjoyment would be limited to 
experiences that are consistent with this high degree of resource 
stewardship. This was the environmentally preferred alternative but it 
was not selected because it unnecessarily restricted visitor use 
without a substantial concomitant increase in benefits to the resources 
when compared to the selected action. Under the Visitor Use Emphasis 
alternative (alternative 4), the agencies would provide a wide spectrum 
of appropriate visitor experiences that relate to the parks' resources, 
consistent with overarching obligations to protect the parks' resources 
and values.
    The Record of Decision is a concise statement of all alternatives 
considered, what decisions were made, and the rationale supporting the 
selection of the final plan. It also contains a synopsis of the 
conservation planning and environmental impact analysis process, 
identifies the environmentally preferred alternative, notes the 
important public collaboration undertaken and its part in the decision, 
and summarizes the critical mitigation measures.
    Copies of the complete Record of Decision may be obtained from the 
Superintendent, Redwood National and State Parks, 1111 Second Street, 
Crescent City, CA, or via telephone at (707) 464-6101.

    Dated: April 6, 2000.
John J. Reynolds,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 00-9587 Filed 4-17-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P