[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 16, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33655-33657]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-13520]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Fire Management Plan, Santa 
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Los Angeles and Ventura 
Counties, CA; Notice of Availability

    Summary: Pursuant to Sec.  102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190, as amended), and the Council on 
Environmental Quality Regulations (40 CFR Part 1500-1508), the National 
Park Service, Department of the Interior, has prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement identifying and evaluating four 
alternatives for a proposed update to the Fire Management Plan at Santa 
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA), California. 
Potential impacts and appropriate mitigations are assessed for each 
alternative. When approved, the plan will guide all future fire 
management actions in the SMMNRA for five to ten years.
    The Draft Santa Monica Mountains Environmental Impact Statement 
(DSMMEIS) documents the

[[Page 33656]]

environmental impact analysis of three action alternatives, and a no 
action alternative. These fire management alternatives are needed to 
meet public safety, natural and cultural resource management, and 
wildland urban interface protection objectives on National Park Service 
(NPS) managed lands within the SMMNRA. They are also designed to 
protect ecological and cultural resource values based on a current 
understanding of the dynamic relationship between the native chaparral/
coastal sage scrub vegetation and the fire climate of the Santa Monica 
Mountains. Related activities such as coordination with local fire 
agencies, assessment of fire hazards, and public education apply to all 
private and public lands within the SMMNRA boundary. In varying degrees 
each action alternative identifies measures to address resource 
condition and education goals as called for in the SMMNRA General 
Management Plan, which was approved in 2003.
    Alternatives Analyzed: Elements common to all alternatives include 
the goal of complete suppression of wildland fires. Under the 
management preferred alternative, which is also the ``environmentally 
preferred'' alternative (Alternative 2, Mechanical Fuel Reduction/
Ecological Prescribed Fire/Strategic Fuels Treatment) prescribed 
burning is used to provide resource enhancement. In addition, hazard 
fuel reduction projects using prescribed fire or mechanical fuel 
reduction are considered in strategic locations to reduce the chance of 
wildfires which may damage life and property or impact natural and 
cultural resources. Short-term and site-specific resource impacts of 
strategic prescribed fires are weighed against long-term and regional 
hazard fuel reduction benefits. Strategic zones are identified using 
up-to-date analysis of vegetation types, fuel characteristics, fire 
spread models, and potential hazards to life, property and natural and 
cultural resources. Mechanical fuel reduction is concentrated at the 
wildland urban interface to protect homes. This alternative provides 
maximum potential environmental benefit and minimizes the adverse 
impacts of fire management actions. It is also the most flexible 
alternative, utilizing all available fire management strategies 
identified to be appropriate in the Santa Monica Mountains.
    Under the No-Action Alternative (Alternative 1) the current SMMNRA 
fire and vegetation management program, approved in 1986 and revised in 
1994, would be retained. It is intended to create a landscape mosaic of 
varying aged chaparral stands through the application of prescribed 
fire in separate watersheds. Brush clearance is limited to the wildland 
urban interface (those areas directly adjacent to homes and roads that 
abut parkland or open space). In recent years the desired execution of 
this program has been difficult because of increasingly complex 
regulatory constraints on prescribed fire, especially those relating to 
air quality standards. Maintaining the current program has the 
potential in the long term to be ecologically damaging to native plant 
communities. It may not provide direct protection for residential areas 
by reducing fuel loads at the wildland urban interface. A growing body 
of research indicates that the program does not provide effective 
control of wildfire spread under severe weather conditions.
    Under Alternative 3 (Mechanical Fuel Reduction/Ecological 
Prescribed Fire) prescribed burning is used exclusively to provide 
resource enhancement including control of exotic species and 
restoration of natural communities. Mosaic burning is eliminated. Fuel 
hazard reduction is concentrated at the wildland urban interface to 
protect homes and development and emphasizes brush clearance by 
mechanical means. This alternative lacks the potential risk reduction 
benefits from strategic fuel modification.
    Under Alternative 4 (Mechanical Fuel Reduction only) vegetation 
management is limited to expanded brush clearance at the wildland urban 
interface. Prescribed fire is eliminated. This alternative provides 
effective protection of homes by focusing mechanical fuel reduction at 
the interface between homes and wildland vegetation, but lacks the 
ecological benefits of resource prescribed burning, and the potential 
risk reduction benefits from strategic fuel modification.
    Planning Background: The DSMMEIS was prepared pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act in compliance with NPS environmental 
requirements. Public outreach was initiated in June 2001 with a 
planning workshop for agencies, cooperators and other partners attended 
by approximately 30 people. A Scoping Notice published in the Federal 
Register in March 2002 encouraged comments during a six month period. 
Four public meetings were also held in April 2002, in Beverly Hills, 
Calabasas, Malibu and Thousand Oaks, California. Two additional 
meetings were held in June 2002 to gain additional input on the 
alternatives from fire agencies, cooperators and other partners. 
Approximately 35 citizens attended these six sessions. Letters were 
also sent to Native American representatives, requesting their comments 
and concerns related to cultural activities, practices or resources. In 
addition to the oral comments, the park received nine letters, faxes 
and emails; a majority of respondents supported a strategy that 
provided the most flexibility. One letter encouraged planners to 
minimize prescribed burning as a management tool. These responses, 
along with information from the 2001 preliminary workshop involving 
numerous fire management and land management agencies, have been taken 
into account in the development of alternatives.
    Public Meetings: In order to facilitate public review and comment 
on the DSMMEIS, several public meetings are planned for August 2004 
(with at least two to be held in the evening and one in the afternoon; 
possible locations include Beverly Hills, Malibu, Calabasas/Agoura 
Hills, and Thousand Oaks, California). Detailed information on location 
and times for all public meetings will be published in local and 
regional newspapers several weeks in advance and announced on the 
park's webpage. SMMNRA management and fire planning officials will 
attend all sessions to present the DSMMEIS and receive comments and 
answer questions.
    Comments: The complete DSMMEIS will be posted on the SMMNRA webpage 
at http://www.nps.gov/samo/pphtml/documents.html. Copies in printed or 
CD form will be available at park headquarters in Thousand Oaks and at 
local and regional libraries in the greater Los Angeles area; these 
locations will also be posted on the Web site. Copies will also be sent 
directly to those who request it (specify desired format and inquire at 
(805) 370-2331 or via eMail per address below). All written comments 
must be postmarked, or transmitted electronically, not later than 
September 15, 2004. All comments should be addressed to the 
Superintendent and mailed to Santa Monica Mountains NRA, 401 W. 
Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 Attn: Fire Management Plan; or 
eMailed to: <[email protected] (in the subject line, type: 
Fire Mgmt Plan EIS). All comments received will be maintained in the 
administrative record and the information provided may be made 
available for public review. If individuals submitting comments request 
that their name and/or address be withheld from public disclosure, it 
will be honored to the extent allowable by law. Such requests must be 
stated prominently in the beginning of the comments. There also may be 
circumstances wherein the NPS will

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withhold a respondent's identity as allowable by law. As always, 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 businesses, and, 
anonymous comments may not be considered.
    Decision Process: Depending upon the degree of public interest and 
response from other agencies and organizations, at this time it is 
anticipated that the Final Fire Management Plan and Environmental 
Impact Statement will be completed during 2005; availability of the 
document will be duly noticed in the Federal Register and announced in 
local and regional press. Subsequently, a Record of Decision may be 
approved not sooner than thirty days after the final document is 
distributed. As a delegated EIS, the official responsible for the 
decision is the Regional Director, Pacific West Region, National Park 
Service; subsequently the official responsible for implementation is 
the Superintendent, Santa Monica Mountains NRA.

    Dated: May 11, 2004.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 04-13520 Filed 6-15-04; 8:45 am]
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