[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 30 (Friday, February 13, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7253-7254]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-3250]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement

SUMMARY: The National Park Service in cooperation with the State of 
Alaska, Department of Transportation and Public Facilities; State of 
Alaska, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Parks and Outdoor 
Recreation; and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Alaska intend to prepare 
the South Denali Implementation Plan and accompanying Environmental 
Impact Statement (EIS). The 1986 General Management Plan for Denali 
National Park and Preserve called for the development of visitor 
services and access to the South Denali region, and the 1997 South Side 
Denali Development Concept Plan/EIS identified a site within the 
western portion of Denali State park for new visitor facilities. The 
Implementation Plan will study new site locations and provide more 
detailed information on the proposed facilities.
    The purpose of the plan is to implement the 1997 South Side Plan 
and to evaluate specific locations for proposed visitor and 
administrative facilities, including a nature center, access road, 
trail systems, campsites, picnic shelters, employee housing and 
administrative facilities. In addition to siting the facilities, the 
plan will identify and evaluate the design, capacity and function of 
proposed development. Options and opportunities to enhance recreation 
and access throughout the South Denali region will also be evaluated. 
The study area for the Implementation Plan encompasses the Petersville 
Road corridor, the southern boundary area of Denali National Park and 
Preserve, the western section of Denali State Park and the Peters 
Hills. The goals are to provide a quality visitor experience while 
protecting resource values in Denali State Park and Denali National 
Park and Preserve and preserving the quality of life for residents in 
nearby communities, and to enhance recreational and access 
opportunities for a wide variety of visitors including Alaskans, and 
independent and package tour travelers. Alternatives under 
consideration for

[[Page 7254]]

this project focus on variations in location and extent of new visitor 
opportunities and facilities and access options in the areas mentioned 
above:
    1. No new construction of facilities or access. (No-Action 
alternative).
    2. Construct facilities in the Peters Hills at the southern 
boundary of Denali State Park and provide access to the site from the 
Petersville Road (Proposed Action).
    3. Construct facilities at the Tokositna site identified in the 
1997 South Side plan, and provide access to the site by extending the 
Petersville Road.

Other facility locations and access options within the study area may 
be identified for alternative evaluation based on the public comments 
received during public scoping.
    Scoping: The planning team requests input from interested federal 
and state agencies, local governments, groups, organizations, 
recreational users, and the public. Written and verbal scoping comments 
are being solicited . Further information on this planning process will 
be available through public scoping meetings, press releases, and 
newsletters. Public scoping meetings will be held in Anchorage, 
Wasilla, Susitna Valley, McKinley Village, and Fairbanks Alaska in 
early 2004. Specific dates, times, and locations of scoping meetings 
will be announced. An agency scoping meeting will be held in Anchorage, 
Alaska in early 2004.
    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 administrative record, which we will honor 
to the extent allowable by law. If you wish us to withhold your name 
and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comment. We will not, however, consider anonymous comments. We 
will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

DATES: Comments concerning the scope of this project should be received 
on or before April 13, 2004. The draft EIS is projected to be available 
in late 2004. Comments may be sent to the address or Web site provided 
below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Miriam Valentine, Park Planner, at the 
Talkeetna Ranger Station, P.O. Box 588, Talkeetna, AK 99676, (907) 733-
9102, or at the following Web site: http://parkplanning.nps.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The implementation plan will be based on 
existing federal and state plans including the 1986 Denali National 
Park and Preserve General Management Plan, the 1997 National Park 
Service South Side Denali Development Concept Plan. the 1989 Denali 
State Park Master Plan, the 1998 Matanuska-Susitna Borough Petersville 
Road Corridor Management Plan, and consideration of the Governor-
chartered South Denali Citizens Consultation Committee report (1999).
    The 1986 Denali National Park and Preserve General Management Plan 
calls for the development of visitor services and access to the South 
Denali region to take advantage of the area's dramatically sculptured 
landscapes and mountain-oriented recreational opportunities. This plan 
recommends the project be planned and developed cooperatively with the 
state of Alaska and with involvement from the private sector.
    The 1997 South Side Denali Development Concept Plan is a regional 
cooperative plan formulated by a team representing the National Park 
Service, State of Alaska, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Denali Borough, 
Ahtna, Inc., and Cook Inlet Region, Inc. In the Record of Decision the 
NPS decided to construct visitor facilities at the western edge of 
Denali State Park near the end of an upgraded and extended Petersville 
Road. Developments would include a visitor center, parking, up to 50 
campsites, a picnic area, hiking trails, information and safety 
signage, and associated facilities.
    The 1999 South Denali Citizens Consultation Committee Final Report 
recommended modifying the development concepts in the South Side Denali 
Development Concept Plan while remaining consistent with its goals and 
objectives: to provide resident and visitor facilities throughout the 
south side of the Alaska Range to meet a wide range of needs and 
interests of the region's diverse user groups. The committee 
recommended that a nature center be constructed within the Denali State 
Park boundary and avoid an extensive upgrade of the Petersville Road 
through the canyon, thereby minimizing impacts to mining and 
backcountry uses.
    The 1989 Denali State Park Master Plan recommends facility 
construction in the South Denali region: ``Tremendous views of the Mt. 
McKinley massif and the diversity of surrounding areas make the park an 
appropriate location for a ``South Denali Visitor Complex''. The 
visitor complex will provide a focal point and staging area for the 
Denali State Park interpretive program.''
    One of the objectives of the 1998 Matanuska-Susitna Borough 
Petersville Road Corridor Management Plan is to enhance the visitor 
experience of Petersville Road in conjunctions with facility 
development in the South Denali region. Recommendations include 
interpretive panels, informational kiosks, vegetative buffers, and 
retention of scenic qualities along the road corridor.

    Dated: January 28, 2004.
Thomas J. Ferranti,
Acting Regional Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 04-3250 Filed 2-12-04; 8:45 am]
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