[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 18, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41444-41445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-15230]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Draft Environmental Impact Statement[bs]Fire 
Management Plan Yosemite National Park Madera, Mariposa and Tuolumne 
Counties, California; Notice of Availability

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Sec. 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190, as amended), and the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR part 1500-1508), the National 
Park Service, Department of the Interior, has prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement identifying and evaluating four 
alternatives for a Fire Management Plan for Yosemite National Park, 
California. Potential impacts, and appropriate mitigations, are 
assessed for each alternative. When approved, the plan will guide all 
future fire management actions in Yosemite National Park.
    This Draft Yosemite Fire Management Plan/Environmental Impact 
Statement (DYFMP/EIS) documents the environmental impact analysis of 
three action alternatives, and a no action alternative. These fire 
management alternatives are needed to meet public safety, natural and 
cultural resource management, and wildland/urban interface protection 
objectives, in Yosemite National Park and at the El Portal 
Administrative Site. The action alternatives vary in their schedule for 
completing ecosystem restoration and wildland/urban interface 
protection work, and in their mix of treatments available to the 
program for completing work. The no-action alternative describes the 
existing fire management program, which has been locally effective, but 
unable to restore large areas of the park and administrative site to 
natural conditions or to keep more areas from progressing to the point 
of needing restoration. As a result, the incidence of catastrophic fire 
has increased in recent decades.

Alternatives Analyzed

    Under the preferred alternative (Alternative D, Multiple Action), 
aggressive treatment strategies would be used in wildland/urban 
interface (homes, businesses, and administrative buildings) if needed, 
while achieving ecosystem restoration goals in other areas by using 
prescribed fire and passive hazard reduction techniques. The Multiple 
Action Alternative would decrease fuels in wildland/urban interface 
areas over a period of 6-8 years and restore fire to the ecosystem in 
15-20 years. This alternative would reduce fuels on 1,095 acres per 
year in the wildland/urban interface (7,664 acres total) and would 
restore the natural fire regime by treating between 1,817 and 9,194 
acres per year (31,503 to 160,894 acres total). This alternative would 
require more time to accomplish wildland/urban interface protection and 
ecosystem restoration than under Alternative B, Aggressive Action 
Alternative, but less than under Alternatives A and C, Passive Action 
Alternative. It would accomplish the work with a combination of 
National Park Service and other agency fire crews, the park forestry 
crew, and some contract labor.
    Under the No-Action Alternative (Alternative A), the existing 
direction and level of accomplishment in Yosemite's fire management 
program would continue. This alternative would use the strategies of 
the existing Fire Management Plan, written in 1990. These strategies 
include prescribed fire, management of natural ignitions (managed 
wildland fire), fire suppression, and hand cutting followed by pile 
burning and prescribed fire. This program has not been able to meet 
park needs because of the limited amount of annual accomplishment. The 
Fire Management Units for this alternative are the same as the 
``zones'' used in the 1990 plan: Zone I--Prescribed Natural Fire Zone; 
Zone II--Conditional Fire Zone; and Zone III--Suppression Zone. Under 
this program the park has averaged 1,472 acres of prescribed burning 
and 2,567 acres of managed wildland fire each year. This does not 
approach the annual target of 16,000 acres that would need to burn 
annually to simulate natural conditions. While over the last decade the 
park has reduced hazardous levels of fuels near developed areas, the 
goal of providing an open defensible forest in and around every 
community may not ever be met at the current rate of work. Less than 25 
acres per year, in each of the larger wildland/urban interface areas 
(Yosemite Valley, El Portal, Wawona, Foresta, Hodgdon Meadow, and 
Yosemite West), have been treated.
    Under Alternative B (Agressive Action), active efforts would be 
taken to reduce fuels in and near developed areas (wildland/urban 
interface) within a period of five years and accomplish fire-related 
ecosystem restoration goals within 10-15 years. This alternative would 
reduce fuels on an average of 1,533 acres per year in the wildland/
urban interface over five years (7,664 acres total) and restore the 
natural fire regime to between 2,520 and 12,872 acres per year, for a 
total of between 31,503 and 160,894 acres over the next 10-15 years. 
Prescribed burning would be increased dramatically over present levels 
and lightening fires would be managed where practicable. Work under 
this alternative would apply aggressive fuel reduction treatments to 
wildland/urban interface areas and accomplish park restoration goals in 
the least amount of time compared to the other alternatives. Median and 
maximum fire return interval departure analyses were used to determine 
locations and set annual goals (range of acres) for treatments, using 
the various restoration, maintenance, and fuel reduction strategies.
    Under Alternative C (Passive Action), efforts would be taken to 
decrease fuels in wildland/urban interface areas within a period of 10 
years, and accomplish ecosystem restoration goals in 25 years. 
Alternative C would reduce fuels in wildland/urban interface areas by 
an average of 766 acres per year (7664 acres total over 10 years), and 
the fire regime would be restored in areas having

[[Page 41445]]

missed three or more fire return intervals by treating between 1,260 
and 6,436 acres per year (31,503 to 160,894 acres over 25 years). 
Prescribed burning would be increased over what the current program 
accomplished but not as much as under Alternative B and D. Fuel 
reduction work under this alternative would apply less aggressive 
treatments to wildland/urban interface areas. Under this alternative, 
it would take more time than under Alternative B and the proposed 
action, but less than would be needed under Alternative A to accomplish 
the park's minimum goals. By the time all areas were treated, however, 
many areas would have missed another fire return interval or two, thus, 
the risk of stand replacement fire would remain high throughout the 
restoration period. The basis for the difference in annual 
accomplishment, when comparing alternatives, is the time frame proposed 
for reaching the restoration targets and the type of treatments 
allowed. Because of this time frame, the number of acres to be treated 
each year would be the least among the action alternatives.

Planning Background

    The DYFMP/EIS was prepared pursuant to the National Environmental 
Policy Act. Public outreach was initiated in April 1999. A Notice of 
Intent was published in the Federal Register on March 22, 2001. Scoping 
comments were accepted until April 30, 2001. One planning meeting was 
held in Yosemite Valley. During this scoping period, the NPS held 
discussions and briefings with: local communities; local residents and 
home owners associations (Forest, Wawona, Yosemite West, and El 
Portal); local, regional and state fire organizations; air quality 
regulators; other agency representatives; park staff, elected 
officials; public service organizations; and other interested members 
of the public. Nearly 100 letters concerning the Draft YFMP/EIS 
planning process were received. The major issues raised during this 
period are summarized in Chapter 1, Purpose of and Need for the Action.

Public Meetings

    In order to facilitate public review and comment on the draft 
DYFMP/EIS, the Superintendent will schedule public meetings in the 
Yosemite, Oakhurst, Mariposa, Sonora and one location on the east side 
of the park. Detailed information on location and times for each of the 
public meetings will be published in local and regional newspapers 
several weeks in advance and listed on the park's Webpage. Yosemite 
National Park management and planning officials will attend all 
sessions to present the DYFMP/EIS, to receive oral and written 
comments, and to answer questions. Participants are encouraged to 
review the document prior to attending a meeting.

Comments

    The draft YFMP/EIS will be sent directly to those who have 
requested it. Copies will be available at park headquarters in Yosemite 
Valley, the Warehouse Building in El Portal, and at local and regional 
libraries (i.e., Mariposa, Oakhurst, Sonora, San Francisco and Los 
Angeles). Also, the complete document will be posted on the Yosemite 
National Park webpage http://www.nps.gov/yose/planning).
    Written comments must be postmarked (or transmitted by e-mail) no 
later than 60 days from the date of publication of the EPAs filing 
notice in the Federal Register--as soon as this date is determined it 
will be announced on the park's webpage. All comments should be 
addressed to the Superintendent (and mailed to Yosemite National Park, 
P.O. Box 577, Yosemite, California 95389 (Attn: Fire Management Plan); 
or e-mailed to: [email protected] (in the subject line, type: Fire 
Management Plan)).
    All comments received will be available for public review in the 
park's research library. If individuals submitting comments request 
that their name and/or address be withheld from public disclosure, it 
will be honored to the extent allowable by law. Such requests must be 
stated prominently in the beginning of the comments. There also may be 
circumstances wherein the NPS will withhold a respondent's identity as 
allowable by law. As always: NPS will make available to public 
inspection all submissions from organizations or businesses and from 
persons identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations and businesses, and, anonymous comments may not be 
considered.

Decision Process

    Depending upon the degree of public interest and response from 
other agencies and organizations, at this time it is anticipated that 
the Final Fire Management Plan EIS will be completed during 2002; 
availability of the document will be duly noticed in the Federal 
Register. Subsequently, notice of an approved Record of Decision would 
be published in the Federal Register not sooner than thirty days after 
the final document is distributed. As a delegated EIS, the official 
responsible for the decision is the Regional Director, Pacific West 
Region, National Park Service; subsequently the official responsible 
for implementation is the Superintendent, Yosemite National Park.

    Dated: April 2, 2002.
Arthur E. Eck,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 02-15230 Filed 6-17-02; 8:45 am]
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