[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 2, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16080-16081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-7952]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision for the Final 
General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Fort Frederica 
National Monument, Georgia

SUMMARY: On November 15, 2002, the Director, Southeast Region, approved 
the Record of Decision for the Final General Management Plan (GMP) and 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Fort Frederica National 
Monument. The purpose of the Record of Decision (ROD) is to document 
the National Park Service (NPS) selection of the proposed action for 
the final GMP/EIS. The plan is designed to afford a high level of 
protection to the national monument's resources and to provide for 
appropriate types and levels of high quality visitor experiences. This 
will be accomplished through management zoning and suitable 
interpretive methods and strategies including but not limited to 
costumed demonstrations, encampments, ghost structures, period 
landscape plantings, and living history demonstrations.
    Management zones will provide guidance for managing specific areas 
for desired resource conditions and visitor experiences. The Historic 
Preservation zone, which encompasses the entire historic town site as 
well as Old Military Road and the burial ground, will be the focus of 
the greatest visitor activities including ranger led tours, 
encampments, crafts demonstrations, and costumed interpretation. The 
marshes on the northwest side of the National Monument as well as the 
western side of the Frederica River will be a Natural Resource 
Protection zone in which natural processes and natural ecosystem 
succession will predominate. The same will be true of the marshy areas 
and the wooded area on the

[[Page 16081]]

northeast corner of the Bloody Marsh Memorial site. Other management 
zones will provide for potential natural resource based recreation, 
park administrative, visitor service, and maintenance purposes.
    The selected management alternative will emphasize the daily life, 
lifestyles and events associated with the inhabitants of Fort 
Frederica, and the colonial military settlement on Saint Simons Island. 
The goal will be to give the visitor some idea (within the context of 
current laws regarding sanitation, solid waste disposal, air/water 
pollution, etc.) of the sights, sounds, smells, and other experiences 
that would have been typical in this bustling British Army outpost. 
Since the 1940s, at least 40 archeological field investigations at Fort 
Frederica have been conducted to reveal vital information about the 
people and events associated with this military settlement. Thousands 
of artifacts that were recovered through archeological investigations 
are housed in the Monument's museum collection and the storage 
facilities of the Southeast Archeological Center in Tallahassee, 
Florida. These artifacts, along with other information obtained through 
the field investigations, play an important role in telling the story 
of Fort Frederica to the visitor.
    Archeological field investigations will continue to be an important 
attribute of this alternative. There will be a strong archeological 
research effort to provide information on landscape elements, 
lifestyles, important events, and other features of the settlement.
    The plan designates the area presently occupied by the visitor 
center/administrative complex and the parking lot as part of the 
Historic Preservation Zone. As a result, when the current visitor 
center/administrative complex becomes functionally obsolete, the 
National Monument will seek authority and funding to demolish the 
facility and build a new visitor center in a currently developed or 
previously disturbed area that is not visible from the historic town 
site. The area formerly occupied by the visitor center, entrance drive, 
and parking would be cleared and reforested. Existing park residences 
would be converted to office and administrative space.
    Entrance and access to the site would then more accurately mirror 
colonial conditions and experience. Although the relocated visitor 
center might be as much as 200-300 yards more distant from the town 
site than the present one, the enhanced visitor experience will more 
than counterbalance the slightly greater distance. This alternative 
envisions a visitor walking down a wooded path from the visitor center 
to the town site, gradually leaving the sights and sounds of the modern 
visitor center and parking lot and entering a different place and time 
where views in all directions would be uninterrupted by modern 
structures, vehicles or other intrusions on the historic scene. 
Although there will be no attempt to recreate the palisades, homes and 
other elements of the colonial settlement, the setting will be similar 
to that experienced by the original British colonists when they first 
arrived. Americans with Disabilities Act concerns could be addressed by 
developing a new and improved visitor center film or video, new 
exhibits and displays, active interpretive efforts by park staff and 
volunteer costumed interpreters.
    The NPS has identified and incorporated into the selected action 
all practical measures to avoid or minimize environmental impacts that 
could result from its implementation. These measures are presented in 
detail in the Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact 
Statement.
    The full ROD includes a statement of the decision made, synopses of 
other alternatives considered, the rationale for the decision, a 
description of the environmentally preferred alternative, a 
determination of non-impairment of park resources and values, a listing 
of measures to minimize environmental harm, an overview of public 
involvement in the decision-making process, and a statement regarding 
section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

Basis for Decision

    In reaching its decision to select the preferred alternative, the 
NPS considered the purposes for which Fort Frederica National Monument 
was established, and other laws and policies that apply to lands in the 
monument, such as the National Park Service Organic Act, National 
Environmental Policy Act, and the NPS Management Policies. The NPS also 
carefully considered public comments received during the planning 
process.
    To develop a preliminary preferred alternative, the planning team 
evaluated three action alternatives that were reviewed by the public as 
well as the required no-action alternative. To minimize the influence 
of individual biases and opinions, the team used an objective analysis 
process called ``Choosing by Advantages.'' This process has been used 
extensively by government agencies and the private sector.

DATES: The Record of Decision for the Final General Management Plan 
(GMP) and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Fort Frederica 
National Monument was signed by the Director, Southeast Region for the 
National Park Service on November 15, 2002.

ADDRESSES: Fort Frederica National Monument, Route 9, Box 286C, St. 
Simons Island, Georgia 31522.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent, Fort Frederica 
National Monument, (912) 638-3639.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A copy of the Record of Decision on the 
Final General Management Plan for Fort Frederica National Monument can 
be obtained via the Internet by visiting the NPS Web site at http://planning.den.nps.gov/ or by calling 404-562-3124, ext. 685.

    Dated: December 18, 2002.
Patricia A. Hooks,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 03-7952 Filed 4-1-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P