[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 242 (Friday, December 17, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 75567-75568]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 04-27611]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
an Elk Management Plan, Wind Cave National Park, SD

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
(NEPA) of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the National Park Service 
(NPS) is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for an Elk 
Management Plan for Wind Cave National Park (WICA), South Dakota. An 
elk management plan is needed to manage the elk population within 
established acceptable levels, to identify a range of elk management 
strategies that are compatible with long-term protection of other park 
resources and natural ecosystems and processes, and to test for and 
manage disease situations in the elk population. A number of factors 
contribute to the need for this plan. The elk population within the 
park has fluctuated since reintroduction and dictated both lethal and 
translocation control in the past. Due to the insufficient number of 
predators and the limited movement of elk in and out of the park, the 
elk population will likely continue to grow unchecked. Excessive 
browsing caused by high densities of elk may adversely affect mixed-
grass prairie and other forage, as well as cultural resources in the 
park. Furthermore, this plan is needed because the NPS has the 
responsibility to manage the elk population within the park at levels 
that are compatible with park goals.

DATES: The National Park Service (NPS) intends to conduct public 
scoping at locations in South Dakota, including Pierre, Sioux Falls, 
Rapid City, Custer, and Hot Springs. Public scoping is intended to 
identify issues and concerns that should be addressed in the 
development of an Elk Management Plan for WICA. To be most helpful to 
the scoping process, comments should be received within 60 days of the 
publication of this notice in the Federal Register. See details for 
sending comments in SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION below. Please check local 
newspapers, the WICA Web site at http://www.nps.gov/wica, or contact 
the name listed below to find out when and where these open houses will 
be held and to view draft documents and other current information 
regarding elk management and the EIS. In addition to this scoping 
process, there will be additional opportunities to comment on the plan 
throughout the planning process, including the draft and final 
document.

ADDRESSES: Information will be available for public review and comment 
at WICA headquarters located 14 miles north of Hot Springs, SD. The 
address is: Wind Cave National Park, RR1, Box 190, Hot Springs, SD 
57747.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom Farrell, Public Information 
Officer, or Linda Stoll, Superintendent, at 605-745-4600.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NPS seeks to complete an EIS to address 
elk management at WICA. Section 4.4.2 of the NPS Management Policies 
(2001) provides for the active management of native animals when 
management of a population is necessary because it occurs in 
unnaturally high or low numbers because of human influence. An elk 
management strategy is needed at WICA because past and current actions 
within and beyond the park have created conditions that allow the WICA 
elk population to increase with little or no control. These conditions 
include the insufficient number of elk predators, the limited 
effectiveness of public hunting outside of the park as a population 
control method for elk that range primarily within the park, lack of 
significant winter kill and other environmentally-caused elk 
mortalities, high reproductive and survival rates, and the 
discontinuation of translocating elk from the park.
    Elk were reintroduced to the park in 1913 to restore an extirpated 
native species. The park is surrounded by thirty-seven miles of 7 foot 
high and four miles of 4.5 foot high woven-wire fence. This fence was 
designed to allow for movement of most wildlife, yet confines bison 
within the park. Wolves and bears have been extirpated since the late 
1800s, and effective natural predation on ungulates is limited to that 
which occurs by mountain lions, coyotes and bobcats. Since elk 
reintroduction in 1913, the population has doubled approximately every 
3 years. Research was conducted in the mid-1960s and again in 2003 to 
provide insight into the forage requirements of elk and other grazers 
in the park. The resulting data, which considers the forage needs of 
all ungulates in the park, suggested the park could maintain 
approximately 350-400 elk. Since reintroduction, the population has 
exceeded 400 at various times, prompting the removal of animals by both 
lethal and translocation means. In the fall of 2002, chronic wasting 
disease (CWD) was found in the park. The NPS policy dictates that 
translocation of elk may only occur if the animals are free of disease, 
which removes the possibility of translocation of animals from WICA. 
Currently, the elk herd numbers about 700, exceeding the maximum number 
of animals that data suggest can be sustained long-term without 
negatively affecting other park resources.
    A determination of the effects of the elk management plan will be 
conducted

[[Page 75568]]

in accordance with NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4372 et seq.), NEPA regulations (40 
CFR 1500-1508), other appropriate Federal regulations, and NPS 
procedures and policies for compliance with those regulations.
    The South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department will serve as a 
Cooperating Agency in the preparation of the EIS, per NEPA guidelines.
    If you wish to comment on the scoping brochure or any other issues 
associated with the plan, you may submit your comments by any one of 
several methods. Written comments may be mailed or hand-delivered to 
the Superintendent at the address above. You may e-mail comments to 
[email protected]. Please submit internet comments as a text file and 
avoid the use of special characters and any form of encryption. Please 
put in the subject line ``Elk Management Plan,'' and include your name 
and return address in your message. If you do not receive a 
confirmation from the system that we have received your message, 
contact Tom Farrell, Public Information Officer, at the number listed 
above.
    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 addresses 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 name and/or 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: August 20, 2004.
Ernest Quintana,
Regional Director, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 04-27611 Filed 12-16-04; 8:45 am]
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