[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 145 (Friday, July 27, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39196-39197]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-18698]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Environmental Impact Statement for the Exit Glacier Area Plan, 
Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
for the Exit Glacier Area Plan, Kenai Fjords National Park, AK.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) for the Exit Glacier Area Plan at Kenai Fjords 
National Park, under the provisions of the 1969 National Environmental 
Policy Act. The Exit Glacier frontcountry area is the only area of the 
park accessible by road and is a popular Alaska tourist destination. 
Visitation has outpaced projected trends year-round, resulting in 
changes to the visitor experience and impacts on resources.
    The Exit Glacier area is accessible via a nine-mile road from the 
Seward Highway, just outside the town of Seward, Alaska. The road 
enters the park in the last mile and terminates in a parking lot. Exit 
Glacier flows from the 300-square-mile Harding Icefield, and visitors 
can approach the towering glacier face on a one-half mile footpath.
    The General Management Plan for Kenai Fjords National Park 
completed in 1984 established broad goals for management of the Exit 
Glacier area. Specific area developments were approved in the 1996 
Frontcountry Development Concept Plan (DCP), and

[[Page 39197]]

most have been constructed (road improvements, parking lot expansion, 
campground upgrades, and new sanitary and power facilities).
    The purpose of the Exit Glacier Area Plan and EIS is to provide 
comprehensive management direction over the next 15 to 20 years that 
allows for visitor use while protecting resources in the Exit Glacier 
area. The DCP called for further study before implementing a proposed 
alternative transportation system (shuttle bus) and visitor use limits. 
The NPS Visitor Experience and Resource Protection framework will be 
used to identify desired future conditions and to develop a reasonable 
range of alternatives. The EIS also will analyze the no-action and 
agency preferred alternatives. This planning process will result in an 
amendment to the 1984 General Management Plan for Kenai Fjords National 
Park to add management prescriptions for the Exit Glacier area and will 
replace the 1996 DCP.
    A preliminary list of issues the alternatives need to consider 
include:
     How can important natural and cultural resources best be 
protected while providing for continued visitor use of the Exit Glacier 
area by present and future generations?
     What level and type of use--in all seasons--is appropriate 
and consistent with the purposes for which Kenai Fjords National Park 
was established?
     What specific management strategies, including facilities, 
alternative transportation systems, and new regulations, are necessary 
to meet the goals of the plan?
    Except for the no-action alternative, these and other issues will 
be addressed by development of management zones and allocation of 
activities in those zones. The use of zones will allow NPS to provide a 
range of user experiences and resource conditions consistent with the 
park's mandate. The alternatives also will include future management 
actions to be taken when social and resource standards are exceeded, as 
determined by area monitoring.
    The NPS requests input from federal and state agencies, local 
government, private organizations, recreational users, and the public. 
Further information on this planning process will be available through 
public open houses and meetings, the distribution of a newsletter, and 
development of a Web page. Specific dates, times, and locations of 
scoping meetings will be announced in area newspapers, via radio 
announcements, and on community bulletin boards. The park's Web page 
will contain updates on the public involvement schedule: http://www.nps.gov/kefj/. Comments may be submitted via the Internet, using 
the email address [email protected]. Scoping meetings will be held 
in Anchorage and Seward, Alaska, in summer and fall of 2001.
    Preliminary alternatives will be developed based on the issues 
identified and comments gathered. The public will be provided the 
opportunity to comment on the preliminary alternatives before they are 
incorporated in the draft EIS. The draft EIS is projected to be 
available for a 60-day public review in fall 2002. The anticipated 
release date of the final EIS is early in 2003.
    Comments on the scope of this project should be received by March 
31, 2002. Comments may be hand-delivered to Kenai Fjords National Park 
at 1212 4th Avenue, Seward, Alaska, e-mailed, or mailed to the 
Interdisciplinary Team Leader at the address provided below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeff Tratman, Interdisciplinary Team 
Leader; Kenai Fjords National Park; P.O. Box 1727; Seward, AK 99664. E-
mail [email protected]. Telephone (907) 224-3175, Fax (907) 224-
2144.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Comments, including names and home addresses 
of respondents, will be made available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their home address from the public record, which will be honored to the 
extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we 
would withhold from the public 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, anonymous comments will not be considered. All submissions 
from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, will be made available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

Paul R. Anderson,
Acting Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 01-18698 Filed 7-26-01; 8:45 am]
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