[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 77 (Friday, April 20, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20326-20327]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-9758]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Intent to Prepare An Environmental Impact Statement for the 
Alagnak Wild River Management Plan, Alaska

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
for the Alagnak Wild River Management Plan, Alaska.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the 1969 National Environmental Policy 
Act, the National Park Service is preparing an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) for the Alagnak Wild River Management Plan. The Alaska 
National Interest Lands Conservation Act of December 2, 1980, 
designated the Alagnak River (including the Nonvianuk River) from the 
outlets at Kukaklek and Nonvianuk Lakes to the west boundary of 
township 13 south, range 43 west, Seward Meridian, as a wild river 
under the provisions of the 1968 National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. 
The Wild and Scenic River Act directs the administering agency 
(National Park Service) to manage components of the system in such a 
manner as to protect and enhance the values for which the river was 
designated, while providing for public recreation and resource uses 
that do not adversely impact or degrade those values.
    A braided navigable river, the Alagnak drains from lakes of 
unusually high elevation for the area, resulting in a corridor that 
runs from alpine habitats, through tundra and boreal forest systems, to 
the coast. A diversity and abundance of wildlife along with a rich 
cultural heritage is found within the river corridor, thus making the 
area important to Alaska Natives, as well as to subsistence and 
recreational users.
    The purpose of a new Alagnak Wild River Management Plan is to 
provide comprehensive management direction over the next 15-20 years to 
protect and enhance the values for which the Alagnak Wild River was 
designated. This new management plan will replace the 1983 Alagnak Wild 
River Management Plan and amend the 1986 General Management Plan for 
Katmai National Park and Preserve (1986 GMP). A new management plan is 
needed because both the 1983 River Management Plan and the 1986 GMP are 
based on outdated assumptions about the levels and types of use on the 
river and related management and development approaches. Furthermore, 
neither the 1983 River Management Plan nor the 1986 GMP adequately 
describes strategies for resource protection and management, long-term 
monitoring, and management along a river corridor with a complex 
pattern of land ownership.
    During the ensuing planning process, a reasonable range of 
alternatives will be developed and analyzed in the river management 
plan and EIS, including no-action and an agency preferred alternative. 
A preliminary list of planning issues that the alternatives need to 
address has been identified and includes:
     How can the important natural and cultural resources best 
be protected and enhanced, while providing for continued use of the 
river by present and future generations?
     What level and type of use is appropriate and consistent 
with the purpose for which the river was designated under the Wild and 
Scenic Rivers Act?
     What facilities are necessary to meet the goals of the 
river management plan and appropriate to the wild river classification?
    In the agency-preferred alternative and other action alternatives, 
some of the above issues will be addressed by the development and 
allocation of specific management zones along the Alagnak Wild River. 
The use of zones will enable the National Park Service to provide a 
range of quality user experiences and resource conditions consistent 
with the mandates of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
    Public scoping for the Alagnak Wild River Management Plan and EIS 
begins with this Notice of Intent. The National Park Service requests 
input from federal and state agencies, Native groups, local 
governments, private organizations, recreational and subsistence users, 
local landowners, members of the community, and the general public. 
Further information on this planning process will be made available to 
the public in April 2001 through the distribution of a newsletter, the 
development of a Web page, and public open houses and meetings. 
Specific dates, times, and locations of scoping sessions will be 
announced in area newspapers, via radio announcements, and on community 
bulletin boards. Preliminary alternatives will be developed based on 
the issues identified and comments gathered. The public will be 
provided with an opportunity to comment on the preliminary alternatives 
before they are incorporated into the draft EIS.
    The draft EIS is anticipated to be available for public review in 
spring 2002. The anticipated release of the final EIS/Alagnak Wild 
River Management Plan is winter 2002/03.
    Those interested in submitting additional planning issues or 
providing input to this initial phase of developing the Alagnak Wild 
River Management Plan and EIS are invited to do so by sending such 
comments to the point of contact identified below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jane Bacchieri, Alagnak Wild River 
Project Coordinator, Katmai National Park & Preserve, PO Box 7, King 
Salmon, AK 99613. (907) 246-2148. (907) 246-4286 Fax. 
[email protected]

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Alagnak Wild River Project Coordinator 
should receive comments no later than 90 days from the publication of 
this Notice of Intent.
    The practice of the National Park Service 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 record, which we 
will honor to the extent allowable by law. There also may be 
circumstances in which we would withhold from the 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 and businesses, and from

[[Page 20327]]

individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

Ralph Tingey,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 01-9758 Filed 4-19-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P