[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 171 (Friday, September 3, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53942-53943]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-20023]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Apostle Islands National Lakeshore General Management Plan, 
Environmental Impact Statement, Wisconsin

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
for the General Management Plan, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 
U.S.C. 4332(C), the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an 
environmental impact statement for a general management plan for 
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin. The environmental impact 
statement will be approved by the Regional Director, Midwest Region.
    The general management plan will establish the overall direction 
for the park, setting broad management goals for managing the area over 
the next 15 to 20 years. The plan will prescribe desired resource 
conditions and visitor experiences that are to be achieved and 
maintained throughout the park based on such factors as the park's 
purpose, significance, special mandates, the body of laws and policies 
directing park management, resource analysis, and the range of public 
expectations and concerns. The plan, also, will outline the kinds of 
resource management activities, visitor activities, and developments 
that would be appropriate in the park in the future.
    A range of reasonable alternatives for managing the park will be 
developed through this planning process and will include, at a minimum, 
a no-action and a preferred alternative. Major issues the plan will 
address include changes in visitor use patterns, adequacy and

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sustainability of existing visitor facilities and park operations, 
management of natural and cultural resources, and partnership 
opportunities. The environmental impact statement will evaluate the 
potential environmental impacts of the alternative management 
approaches.
    As the first phase of the planning process, the NPS is beginning to 
scope the issues to be addressed in the general management plan/
environmental impact statement. All interested persons, organizations, 
and agencies are encouraged to submit comments and suggestions on 
issues and concerns that should be addressed in the general management 
plan/environmental impact statement, and the range of appropriate 
alternatives that should be examined.

DATES: The NPS is planning to begin public scoping in September 2004 
via a newsletter to State and Federal Agencies; associated American 
Indian tribes; neighboring communities; county commissioners; local 
organizations, researchers, and institutions; the congressional 
delegation; and other interested members of the public. In addition, 
the NPS will hold public scoping meetings regarding the general 
management plan beginning in October 2004. At least one public meeting 
will be held in Bayfield, Wisconsin. Specific dates, times, and 
locations will be announced in the local media, on the Internet at 
http://www.nps.gov/apis, and will, also, be available by contacting the 
park's chief of planning and resource management. In addition to 
attending the scoping meetings, people wishing to provide input to this 
initial phase of developing the general management plan/environmental 
impact statement may mail or e-mail comments to the park's chief of 
planning and resource management at the address below.

ADDRESSES: General park information requests or requests to be added to 
the project mailing list should be directed to: Jim Nepstad, Chief of 
Planning and Resource Management, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 
Route 1, Box 4, Bayfield, Wisconsin 54814. Telephone: (715) 779-3398, 
extension 102, e-mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim Nepstad, Chief of Planning and 
Resource Management, at the address above. Telephone: (715) 779-3398, 
extension 102, e-mail: [email protected]. General information about 
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is available on the Internet at 
http://www.nps.gov/apis.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you wish to comment on any issues 
associated with the plan, you may submit your comments by any one of 
several methods. You may mail comments to Apostle Islands National 
Lakeshore, Route 1, Box 4, Bayfield, Wisconsin 54814. You may, also, 
comment via the Internet to [email protected]. Please submit 
Internet comments as a text file avoiding the use of special characters 
and any form of encryption. Be sure to include your name and return 
street address in your Internet message. If you do not receive a 
confirmation from the system that we have received your Internet 
message, contact us directly at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, 
(715) 779-3398, extension 102. Finally, you may hand-deliver comments 
to the park at 415 Washington Avenue, Bayfield, Wisconsin 54814.
    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 or businesses, and from individuals 
identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations 
or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: July 9, 2004.
Ernest Quintana,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 04-20023 Filed 9-2-04; 8:45 am]
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