[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 14 (Thursday, January 22, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3172-3174]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-1286]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Final Environmental Impact Statement[bs]General 
Management Plan, Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, Clark County, 
Washington; Notice of Availability

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190, as amended) and the Council on 
Environmental Quality's regulations, the National Park Service, 
Department of the Interior, has prepared a final environmental impact 
statement (EIS) for the proposed general management plan (GMP) for Fort 
Vancouver National Historic Site located in the city of Vancouver, 
Washington. This GMP describes and analyzes ``action'' alternatives 
responsive to issues and concerns voiced during the public scoping 
process (as well as NPS conservation planning requirements). These 
alternatives address visitor use and the preservation of the cultural 
and natural resources that provide the environment in which the 
Hudson's Bay Company story is presented to the public. Alternative A 
constitutes the No Action alternative and assumes that existing 
programming, facilities, staffing, and funding would generally continue 
at their current levels. Alternative B, the agency preferred 
alternative, expands opportunities for the visitor to appreciate the 
broad sense of history that occurred at Fort Vancouver and its place in 
Northwest history. Alternative C proposes full reconstruction within 
the Fort and additional reconstruction or delineation elsewhere within 
the National Historic Site (NHS). The environmental consequences of all 
the alternatives, and mitigation strategies, are identified, compared, 
and analyzed in the EIS--based on this information, Alternative B was 
deemed to be the ``environmentally preferred'' alternative.
    Scoping: Public meetings were initiated by the National Park 
Service (NPS) in January 1999 to solicit early participation into the 
conservation planning and environmental impact analysis process, which 
aided in defining the range of issues to be analyzed. A Notice of 
Intent announcing preparation of the EIS/GMP was published in the 
Federal Register on January 7, 1999. A newsletter was produced and 
mailed to approximately 600 people on the park's mailing list to 
encourage feedback on critical park issues. The park received 29 
scoping letters. Two public meetings were hosted in January 2000 from 
which over 150 oral comments were obtained. Scoping comments continued 
to be accepted and considered through the end of March 1999. During 
this period, the park facilitated discussions and briefings with the 
Vancouver National Historic Reserve Trust Board, congressional staff, 
elected officials, tribal representatives, public service 
organizations, educational institutions, and other interested members 
of the public.
    Response to Draft Plan: During November 2002, over 670 copies of 
the draft EIS[bs]GMP were mailed to agencies, 
organizations, and interested individuals; the documents were also made 
publicly available in local libraries in Vancouver, Washington and 
Oregon City, Oregon. A Notice of Availability was published in the 
Federal Register on December 3, 2002 (and EPA's notice of filing was 
published on December 27, 2002). In addition, advertisements were 
placed in the Oregonian (Portland, Oregon) and The Columbian 
(Vancouver, Washington) announcing release of the draft plan and 
locations, times, and dates for four public meetings to be held in 
Vancouver and Oregon City. Announcements were posted periodically on 
the park website, and a newsletter was prepared featuring a summary of 
the draft plan (and which included details for the December 2002 public 
meetings). A total of 4,500 newsletters were printed. Each newsletter 
included a mailback postage-paid response form for people to provide 
comments concerning the plan. Newsletters were made available at the 
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site visitor center, several venues at 
the Vancouver National Historic Reserve, and other places through the 
City of Vancouver including the library, museums, the Chamber of 
Commerce, City Hall, and the Parks and Recreation Department, and at 
the McLoughlin House in Oregon City, Oregon.
    The public review period ended on February 8, 2003. Resulting from 
the opportunity for public comment, a total of 118 pieces of written 
correspondence were received, which included letters from agencies, 
organizations, and individuals, newsletter mail-back response forms, 
and electronically mailed responses through the Internet from the park 
website. In addition, a total of 65 people signed in at the public 
meetings (and 185 comments were recorded). Written comments were 
received from the following locations in the Pacific Northwest: 57 from 
Vancouver, Washington, 21 from Portland, Oregon, 5 from Oregon City, 
Oregon, 12 from other locations in Washington State, 7 from other 
locations in Oregon State, and 2 from Idaho. A total of 14 letters 
arrived from California, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Arizona, 
Maryland, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC.
    Throughout the overall conservation planning and environmental 
impact analysis process, consultations were held with the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Washington State 
Historic Preservation Office, and the Advisory Council for Historic 
Preservation. Except for the Washington State Historic Preservation 
Office, no written comments were received from these four agencies. 
Three tribes prepared written comments; the Cowlitz Indian Tribe, the 
Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon, and the 
Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon.
    The following elements of the proposed plan received the most 
comment: Village and Waterfront expansion, reconstruction, Research and 
Education Center, living history, Reserve visitor center, land bridge 
connection, adding the McLoughlin House NHS as a unit of Fort Vancouver 
NHS, East Fifth Street closure, relationship with Pearson Field, 
parking, food concessions, HBC cemetery, and staffing and funding. All 
letters are reproduced in the final EIS[bs]GMP.
    In addition to corrections and editorial changes, two elements of 
the proposed plan were modified based on public comment. Neither of 
these two changes constitutes an impairment of park resources or a 
significant impact of a singular or cumulative nature. The first 
relates to the proposed closure of East Fifth Street. East Fifth Street 
will remain open to public vehicular use. As mentioned in the draft 
EIS[bs]GMP, NPS staff will work with the city's Public 
Works Department staff and officials to change the appearance and 
texture of the street surface to reflect a more historic appearance.
    The second change relates to the temporary parking lot at the Fort. 
The action proposed in the draft EIS/GMP was to remove this parking lot 
completely and to construct a new

[[Page 3173]]

parking area within the south or east barracks. Comments from public 
meetings stated the importance of keeping this lot for use by persons 
with disabilities and the elderly, who may have trouble walking a 
longer distance to the Fort. In response, the NPS planning team 
recommends removing the existing temporary parking lot, with the 
provision of several permanent ADA parking spaces with a drop-off and 
loading area for passengers.
    Final Proposed Plan and Alternatives: The final EIS GMP includes 
two action alternatives and a no-action (existing conditions) 
alternative--no substantive changes in actions proposed or attendant 
mitigation strategies have occurred as a result of public review and 
comment. Under all of the action alternatives, agricultural fields 
around the fort palisade would be restored as part of Hudson's Bay 
Company historic landscape (when the City of Vancouver vacates Pearson 
Airfield T-hangars and the former aviation museum building). In 
addition, park staff would administer any and all portions of the south 
and east Vancouver Barracks area as may be determined excess to needs 
of the U.S. Army by the Secretary of the Army. Use of this area could 
include restoring the Vancouver Barracks cultural landscape, adapting 
and reusing existing historic buildings, leasing properties to the City 
of Vancouver, providing for additional parking, staging public 
transportation operations, and incorporating administrative functions.
    Alternative A is the no-action alternative and assumes that 
existing conditions, including programming, facilities, staffing, and 
funding, would generally continue at their current levels. This 
alternative would include fulfilling the existing commitments and 
relationships with the Reserve. No new substantial facility or program 
initiatives would be proposed under this alternative. The NHS would 
continue to work with the City of Vancouver to extend the City's 
proposed Discovery Historic Loop Trail through the Village of the NHS 
and along East Fifth Street. In cooperation with the City of Vancouver 
and Washington Department of Transportation, a pedestrian overpass 
would be built over State Route 14 and the railroad to connect the Fort 
Vancouver Waterfront and the City's Old Apple Tree Park to link the 
Fort and HBC Village. The current NHS visitor center would be retained 
in its current configuration and location, as would the current 
Vancouver National Historic Reserve visitor center situated in the 
historic General O.O. Howard House at the Vancouver Barracks. In 
addition, this alternative provided for technical assistance to the 
McLoughlin House NHS in Oregon City, Oregon (which was an affiliated 
unit of the National Park System). This no longer applies because on 
July 29, 2003 President Bush signed P. L. 108-63 (known also as H.R. 
733), which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the 
McLoughlin House NHS for inclusion in Fort Vancouver NHS.
    Alternative B constitutes the Preferred Alternative, and this 
proposed course of action has also been determined to be the 
``environmentally preferred'' alternative. Implementing this 
alternative would result in expanded opportunities for the visitor to 
appreciate the broad sense of history that occurred at Fort Vancouver 
and its place in Northwest history. Work to reconstruct nine Hudson's 
Bay Company structures within the fort palisade, and two at the 
Village, would be undertaken. A research and education center would be 
developed within the fort. Interpretive components would be added 
including wayside exhibits and delineation of structures in certain 
locations. Much of the historic landscape would be restored. The NPS 
would develop an interpretive area at the Waterfront by partially 
reconstructing the Salmon Store as an interpretive shed, and 
delineating several other historic Hudson's Bay Company structures. The 
original location of the wharf would be simulated and the historic pond 
delineated with plants. A portion of Columbia Way would be realigned to 
better accommodate visitor circulation and interpretation.
    In cooperation with the City of Vancouver and the Washington 
Department of Transportation, the pedestrian overpass would be widened 
as a land bridge to allow for interpretation devices and vegetation. A 
local transit authority, in cooperation with NPS and other Reserve 
Partners, would implement a shuttle system to facilitate visitation. 
Other cooperative sharing would include administrative, maintenance, 
and visitor facilities with Reserve Partners. The NPS would recommend 
that one of the four buildings fronting the historic Parade Ground as 
determined excess by the Secretary of the Army be renovated as the 
joint administrative headquarters for the park and other Reserve 
offices. Maximum use would be made of existing structures including 
renovation of the existing Fort Vancouver visitor center as the 
Vancouver National Historic Reserve visitor center jointly managed by 
the Reserve Partners including the NPS.
    Implementation of this alternative would result in development of 
additional educational outreach programs and new research facilities 
related to the Hudson's Bay Company and early U.S. Army period. This 
alternative recommends that the McLoughlin House National Historic Site 
in Oregon City, Oregon become a unit of Fort Vancouver NHS and be 
managed by Fort Vancouver National Historic Site staff. As noted above, 
legislation passed on July 29, 2003 authorized the Secretary of the 
Interior to acquire this site for inclusion in Fort Vancouver NHS.
    Alternative C contains many of the same actions as the Preferred 
Alternative, but key differences include the following: Full 
reconstruction within the fort palisade, along with the reconstruction 
of the two historic School Houses and a barn to the north of the Fort. 
Additional delineation of structures would occur at the Waterfront and 
the Village. The historic Salmon Store would be reconstructed along the 
Columbia River shoreline, as would the historic wharf and other 
waterfront features. An ethno botanical garden would be constructed to 
interpret the local historic uses of native plants. An opening in the 
railroad berm would be created to visually link the Fort to the 
Waterfront. To facilitate visitor use and interpretation, a portion of 
Columbia Way would be closed to vehicular traffic in cooperation with 
the City of Vancouver. The current NHS visitor center would be 
renovated and retained for more detailed interpretation concerning Fort 
Vancouver, while a new location would be sought for a joint Vancouver 
National Historic Reserve visitor facility to provide the public with 
information and orientation to all the Reserve stories and venues. The 
location for this facility is yet to be determined, but priority would 
be given to rehabilitation of an historic structure within the 
Vancouver Barracks Historic District that is listed in the National 
Register of Historic Places. The research and education center would be 
located within the Vancouver Barracks portion of the Reserve.
    Public Availability: The final EIS/GMP is now available. Interested 
persons and organizations wishing to express any new concerns may 
obtain the document from the Superintendent, Fort Vancouver National 
Historic Site, 612 East Reserve Street, Vancouver, Washington 98661, or 
via telephone at (360) 696-7655. The document may also be reviewed at 
area libraries, or obtained electronically via the park Web site at 
http://www.nps.gov/fova/news.htm. Any written responses must be

[[Page 3174]]

postmarked not later than 30 days following publication of EPA's notice 
of filing in the Federal Register (immediately upon publication, this 
date will be posted on the park website). All responses will become 
part of the public record. If individuals responding request that their 
name or/and address be withheld from public disclosure, the request 
will be honored to the extent allowable by law. Such requests must be 
stated prominently in the beginning of the letter. There also may be 
circumstances wherein the NPS will withhold a respondent's identity as 
allowable by law. As always: the NPS will make available to public 
inspection all submissions from organizations or businesses and from 
persons identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations; and, anonymous comments may not be considered.
    Decision: Not sooner than 30 days after release of the final EIS/
GMP a Record of Decision will be prepared. As this is a delegated EIS, 
the official responsible for the final decision is the Regional 
Director, Pacific West Region; subsequently the official responsible 
for implementing the approved plan would be the Superintendent, Fort 
Vancouver National Historic Site.

    Dated: November 24, 2003.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 04-1286 Filed 1-21-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-99-P