[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 103 (Thursday, May 29, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32083-32084]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-13334]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare a General Management Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement for Cumberland Gap National Historical 
Park (KY, TN, VA)

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), the National Park Service (Service) will 
prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the General 
Management Plan for Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. The EIS 
will assess potential environmental impacts associated with various 
types and levels of visitor use and resources management within the 
National Historical Park. This General Management Plan/EIS is being 
prepared in response to the requirements of the National Parks and 
Recreation Act of 1978, Public Law 95-625, and in accord with 
Director's Order Number 2, the planning directive for NPS units.
    The NPS will conduct public scoping meetings in the local area to 
receive input from interested parties on issues, concerns, and 
suggestions pertinent to the management of Cumberland Gap National 
Historical Park. Representatives of the NPS will be available to 
discuss issues, resource concerns, and the planning process at each of 
the public meetings. Suggestions and ideas for managing the cultural 
and natural resources and visitor experiences at the park are 
encouraged.

DATES: Locations, dates, and times of public scoping meetings will be 
published in local newspapers and may also be obtained by contacting 
the park Superintendent. This information will also be published on the 
General Management Plan web site for Cumberland Gap, http://www.nps.gov/cuga.

ADDRESSES: Scoping suggestions should be submitted to the following 
address to ensure adequate consideration by the NPS: Superintendent, 
Cumberland Gap National Historical Park, P.O. Box 1848, Middlesboro, 
Kentucky 40965, Telephone: 606-248-2817, Email: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent, Cumberland Gap 
National Historical Park, P.O. Box 1848, Middlesboro, Kentucky 40965, 
Telephone: 606-248-2817, Email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Cumberland Gap National Historical Park is 
located on the tri-state boundaries of Kentucky, Virginia, and 
Tennessee. The park was authorized on June 11, 1940, and now consists 
of over 20,000 acres. The park lies in four counties in the three 
states, ranges from 1 to 4 miles in width, and stretches for 20 miles 
astride the forested Cumberland Mountain. Fourteen thousand acres in 
the park are managed as wilderness. The Cumberland Gap itself is a 
natural notch in the mountain ridge. It was this low passageway that 
provided access for travel among American Indian tribes and access for 
Daniel Boone and hundreds of thousands of settlers who poured into the 
west in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
    The Gap continued to serve as a strategic transportation corridor 
during the Civil War and during the late 19th-century period of intense 
industrial development. Today the Cumberland Gap Tunnel provides easy 
and safe vehicular travel among the connecting states, and the historic 
corridor has been returned to its natural topography. Visitors are able 
to walk in the footsteps of pioneers along the Wilderness Road through 
the restored Gap.
    Public documents associated with the planning effort, including all 
newsletters, will be posted on the Internet through the park's website 
at http://www.nps.gov/cuga.
    The Draft and Final General Management Plan/EIS will be made 
available to all known interested parties and appropriate agencies. 
Full public participation by Federal, State, and local agencies as well 
as other concerned organizations and private citizens is invited 
throughout the preparation process of this document. Please note that 
due to public disclosure requirements, the NPS, if requested, will make 
the names and addresses of those who submit written comments public. 
Anonymous comments will not be considered; however, individual 
respondents may request that we withhold their names and addresses from 
the public record. If you wish to withhold your name and/or address, 
you must state that request prominently at the beginning of your 
comment. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, 
and from individuals identifying themselves as

[[Page 32084]]

representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.
    The responsible official for this Environmental Impact Statement is 
William W. Schenk, Regional Director, Southeast Region, National Park 
Service, 100 Alabama Street SW., 1924 Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.

    Dated: April 18, 2003.
Charlie Powell,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 03-13334 Filed 5-28-03; 8:45 am]
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