[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 67 (Tuesday, April 8, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17079-17080]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-8502]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Draft General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement 
(GMP/EIS), Saguaro National Park, AZ

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
for a general management plan, Saguaro National Park, Arizona.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 
the National Park Service is preparing an environmental impact 
statement (EIS) for a general management plan for Saguaro National 
Park. The environmental impact statement will be approved by the 
Director, Intermountain Region.
    The general management plan (GMP) will establish the overall 
direction for the park, setting broad management goals for managing the 
area over the next 15 to 20 years. The plan will prescribe desired 
resource conditions and visitor experiences that are to be achieved and 
maintained throughout the park. Based on the desired

[[Page 17080]]

conditions, the plan will outline the kinds of resource management 
activities, visitor activities, and developments that would be 
appropriate in the park. Among the topics that will be addressed are 
protection of natural and cultural resources, protection of riparian 
resources, appropriate range of visitor uses, impacts of visitor uses, 
adequacy of park infrastructure, visitor access to the park, education 
and interpretive efforts, wilderness suitability, park partnerships, 
and external pressures on the park. In cooperation with local, State, 
tribal, and other Federal agencies, attention will also be given to 
cooperative efforts to address issues that affect the integrity of 
Saguaro National Park, such as the management of the urban/park 
interface, traffic congestion in and around the park, fires, threatened 
and endangered species and their habitat, and biological corridors that 
lead into and out of the park.
    A range of reasonable alternatives for managing the park, including 
a no-action and preferred alternative, will be developed through the 
planning process and included in the EIS. The EIS will evaluate the 
potential environmental impacts of the alternatives.
    As the first phase of the planning and EIS process, the National 
Park Service is beginning to scope the issues to be addressed in the 
GMP/EIS. All interested persons, organizations, and agencies are 
encouraged to submit comments and suggestions regarding the issues or 
concerns the GMP/EIS should address, including the suitable range of 
alternatives and appropriate mitigating measures, and the nature and 
extent of potential environmental impacts.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the general management plan/
environmental impact statement will be accepted for 60 days beyond the 
publication of this notice of intent. In addition, public scoping 
sessions will be held in Tucson and surrounding communities in the 
winter of 2003. Locations, dates, and times of these meetings will be 
provided in local and regional newspapers, and on the Internet at 
http://www.nps.gov/sagu.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or requests to be added to the project 
mailing list should be directed to: Sarah Craighead, Superintendent, 
Saguaro National Park, 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail, Tucson, AZ 85730 
telephone (520) 733-5101; e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent, Sarah Craighead, 
Superintendent, Saguaro National Park, 3693 S. Old Spanish Trail, 
Tucson, AZ 85730 telephone (520) 733-5101. General information about 
Saguaro National Park is available on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/sagu and http://friendsofsaguaro.org.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please submit Internet comments as a text 
file avoiding the use of special characters and any form of encryption. 
Be sure to include your name and return street address in your Internet 
message.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names and home 
addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular 
business hours. Individual respondents may request that their home 
addresses be withheld from the public record, which will be honored to 
the extent allowable by law. Requests to withhold names and/or 
addresses must be stated prominently at the beginning of the comments. 
However, 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.

    Dated: February 3, 2003.
Karen P. Wade,
Director, Intermountain Region.
[FR Doc. 03-8502 Filed 4-7-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P