[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 184 (Monday, September 23, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59531-59532]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-24067]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Final Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management 
Plan

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Final Environmental Impact 
Statement for the General Management Plan for Fort Frederica National 
Monument, Saint Simons Island, Georgia.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service (NPS) announces the 
availability of a Final Environmental Impact Statement and General 
Management Plan (FEIS/GMP) for Fort Frederica National Monument, St. 
Simons Island, Georgia.

DATES: The Draft EIS/GMP was on public review from October 15, 2001 
through December 15, 2001. Responses to public comment are addressed in 
the FEIS/GMP. A 30-day no-action period will follow the Environmental 
Protection Agency's Notice of Availability of the FEIS/GMP. After the 
30-day period, a Record of Decision will be signed that will document 
NPS approval of the FEIS/GMP and identify the selected alternative for 
implementation.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS/GMP are available from the 
Superintendent, Fort Frederica National Monument, Route 9, Box 286-C, 
St. Simons Island, Georgia 31522. Public reading copies of the FEIS/GMP 
will also be available for review at the following locations:
    [sbull] Division of Planning and Compliance, Southeast Regional 
Office, National Park Service, Attention: David Libman, 100 Alabama 
Street, 1924 Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, Telephone: 404-562-3124, 
ext. 685.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent, Fort Frederica 
National Monument, Route 9, Box 286C, St. Simons Island, Georgia 31522, 
Telephone: 912-638-3639

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Consistent with the park's purpose, 
significance, and mission goals, the FEIS/GMP analyzes 4 alternatives 
for guiding management of the park over the next 15 to 20 years. The 
alternatives incorporate various management prescriptions to ensure 
resource protection and quality visitor experience conditions. The 
environmental consequences anticipated from implementing the various 
alternatives are addressed in the document. Impact topics include 
cultural resources, natural resources, visitor use and experience, and 
the socioeconomic environment. The following management alternatives 
were evaluated in the FEIS/GMP:
    Alternative A would emphasize the use of archeological methods and 
the tangible discoveries of archeological investigations to tell the 
story to visitors. Active archeological investigations would occur 
regularly. There would be opportunities for visitors to interact 
actively with archeologists on site and in labs, and with other park 
staff. Under this alternative, the park would provide additional 
archeological infrastructure including a lab to wash, screen, dry, 
number, and store artifacts in a controlled (humidity, temperature,

[[Page 59532]]

insects) environment. There would also be office space for a curator 
and an archeologist as well as classrooms, additional exhibit space, 
and storage space for equipment.
    Alternative B, which is NPS's preferred alternative, would enable 
the visitor to experience some of the sights, sounds, smells, and other 
sensory impressions of daily life in the Fort Frederica colonial 
military settlement on Saint Simons Island, Georgia. Although 
archeological field investigations could occur that would provide 
information on landscape elements and other features of the settlement, 
there would be no construction of additional labs or other facilities 
as in Alternative A. There would be increased emphasis on re-
establishing a visual impression of the colonial Frederica scene by 
using suitable methods such as appropriate trees, shrubs, ground 
covers, and other fitting and historically accurate landscape elements. 
Also, when the existing visitor center and administrative complex 
becomes functionally obsolete, the NPS would seek authority and funding 
to demolish it, clear the site, and build a new visitor center in a 
currently developed or previously disturbed area that is not visible 
from the historic town site. Administrative offices would be relocated 
to renovated park residences. The area formerly occupied by the visitor 
center and parking area would be replanted with native trees and shrubs 
and allowed to return to a more natural forested condition. Finally, 
Alternative B provides for the possibility of constructing a dock on 
the Frederica River to permit tour boats and water taxis to bring 
visitors to the site in the same manner that the original Frederica 
settlers arrived.
    Alternative C would add additional interpretive themes to the story 
of colonial Frederica to place the monument site in the broader context 
of coastal sea island history. These themes would include pre-European, 
post-contact, plantation, and other historical periods associated with 
the Frederica site. Some on-site archeology would occur to reveal 
information necessary to interpret these other historical periods. The 
primary focus would remain the Fort Frederica settlement period, but 
the expanded number of stories would require an expansion of the 
visitor center to accommodate additional exhibits and programs.
    Alternative D is the no-action alternative, which would continue 
current management practices and policies into the future. Current 
interpretive programs include an aging 25-minute visitor center film, 
ranger-led tours, living history demonstrations, trade and craft 
demonstrations, military encampments, and the annual Frederica Festival 
held the first weekend in March. Current resource management activities 
include riverbank stabilization, monitoring and maintenance of historic 
structures and earthworks, hazardous tree management, and management of 
the park's museum collection.
    The responsible official for this Environmental Impact Statement is 
Jerry Belson, Regional Director, Southeast Region, National Park 
Service, 100 Alabama Street SW., 1924 Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.

    Dated: July 16, 2002.
Patricia A. Hooks,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 02-24067 Filed 9-20-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-40-P