[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 167 (Thursday, August 28, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51800-51801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-21972]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Harpers 
Ferry National Historical Park, West Virginia, Virginia, and Maryland

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement 
for the general management plan, Harpers Ferry National Historical 
Park.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act, 
the National Park Service is preparing an environmental impact 
statement for the general management plan for Harpers Ferry National 
Historical Park. The Regional Director, National Capital Region, will 
approve the environmental impact statement.
    Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is in Jefferson County, West 
Virginia; Loudoun County, Virginia; and Washington County, Maryland. 
The park was authorized by Congress in June 1944. Congress charged the 
National Park Service with managing the site as ``a public national 
memorial commemorating historical events at or near Harpers Ferry.'' 
The enabling legislation also states that the Director of the National 
Park Service ``shall maintain and preserve it for the benefit and 
enjoyment of the people of the United States, subject to the provisions 
of the [NPS Organic Act].''
    The general management plan will prescribe the resource conditions 
and visitor experiences that are to be achieved and maintained in the 
park over the next 15 to 20 years. The clarification of what must be 
achieved according to law and policy will be based on review of the 
park's purpose, significance, special mandates, and the body of law and 
policies directing park management. Management decisions to be made 
where law, policy, or regulations do not provide clear guidance or 
limits will be based on the purposes of the park; the range of public 
expectations and concerns; resource analysis; an evaluation of the 
natural, cultural, and social impacts of alternative courses of action; 
and consideration of long-term economic costs. Based on determinations 
of desired conditions, the general management plan will outline the 
kinds of resource management activities, visitor activities, land 
acquisition and development that would be appropriate in the park in 
the future. Alternatives will be developed through this planning

[[Page 51801]]

process and will include, at a minimum, no-action and the preferred 
alternative.
    Major issues include protection and interpretation of natural and 
cultural resources, adaptive re-use of historic structures, quality of 
visitor experience, land acquisition, and potential partnerships with 
other agencies, organizations, and local interests.

DATES: The National Park Service will conduct public scoping for 60 
days from the date of publication of this notice in the Federal 
Register. Open meetings regarding the general management plan will be 
held during the public scoping period. Specific dates, times, and 
locations will be made available in the local media, on the Harpers 
Ferry National Historical Park Web site (http://www.nps.gov/hafe), or 
by contacting the Superintendent.

ADDRESSES: Throughout the scoping and planning process, information 
will be available for public review and comment in the office of the 
superintendent (Donald Campbell, Harpers Ferry National Historical 
Park, PO Box 65, Harpers Ferry, WV 25425).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent Donald Campbell, 
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, PO Box 65, Harpers Ferry, WV 
25425; Tel: (304) 535-6224; FAX: (304) 535-4022.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you wish to comment on the general 
management planning process for Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, 
or on any issues associated with the plan, you may submit your comments 
by any one of several methods. You may mail comments to Superintendent 
Donald Campbell, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, PO Box 65, 
Harpers Ferry, WV 25425. You may also e-mail comments to the 
Superintendent's Office at [email protected]. Finally, you may 
hand-deliver comments to the Harpers Ferry Visitor Center (off U.S. 
Highway 340). 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 we 
withhold their home address from the record, which we will honor to the 
extent allowable by law. There also may be circumstances in which we 
would withhold from the record a respondent's identity, as allowable by 
law. If you wish us to withhold your address, you must state this 
prominently at the beginning of your comment. We will make all 
submissions from organizations, businesses, or individuals identifying 
themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or 
businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: June 13, 2003.
Terry Carlstrom,
Regional Director, National Capital Region.
[FR Doc. 03-21972 Filed 8-27-03; 8:45 am]
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