[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 28, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76862-76863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-7888]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for 
the General Management Plan/Wilderness Study, Sleeping Bear Dunes 
National Lakeshore

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 
U.S.C. 4332 (2)(C), and the Wilderness Act of 1964, 16 U.S.C. 1131 et 
seq., the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an environmental 
impact statement (EIS) for a general management plan/wilderness study 
(GMP/WS) for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan. The EIS 
will be approved by the Regional Director, Midwest Region. This 
planning effort is a new start, not a restart of the planning effort 
that ended in 2002. With the publication of this notice of intent, the 
earlier planning effort has been terminated.
    The GMP 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. The wilderness study will evaluate portions of 
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (Lakeshore) for possible 
designation as wilderness. The study will be included as a part of the 
general management plan.
    A range of reasonable alternatives for managing the Lakeshore 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 access to the Lakeshore, wilderness, management of 
areas new to

[[Page 76863]]

the Lakeshore since the current 1979 general management plan, changes 
in visitor use patterns, adequacy and sustainability of existing 
visitor facilities and park operations, and management of natural and 
cultural resources. The environmental impact statement will evaluate 
the potential environmental impacts of the alternative management 
approaches and the possible designation of wilderness within the 
Lakeshore.
    As the first phase of the planning process, the NPS is beginning to 
scope the issues to be addressed in the GMP/WS/EIS. All interested 
persons, organizations, and agencies are encouraged to submit comments 
and suggestions on issues and concerns that should be addressed in the 
GMP/WS/EIS, and the range of appropriate alternatives that should be 
examined.

DATES: The NPS is planning to begin public scoping with 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 GMP/WS/EIS. Specific dates, times, and locations 
will be announced through a variety of media, including on the Internet 
at the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website (http://parkplanning.nps.gov/). In addition to attending the scoping meetings, 
people wishing to provide input to this initial phase of developing the 
GMP/WS/EIS may mail or email comments to the Superintendent at the 
addresses below.
    Written comments concerning the scope of the GMP/WS/EIS will be 
accepted for 60 days from the publication of this notice.

ADDRESSES: General park information requests or requests to be added to 
the project mailing list should be directed to: Dusty Shultz, 
Superintendent, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 9922 Front 
Street, Empire, Michigan 49630-9797, telephone 231-326-5134. E-mail: 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dusty Shultz, Superintendent, Sleeping 
Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, 9922 Front Street, Empire, Michigan 
49630-9797, telephone 231-326-5134. E-mail: [email protected]. General 
information about Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is available 
on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/slbe.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: If you wish to comment on any issues 
associated with the plan, you may submit your comments by several 
methods. You may mail comments to Sleeping Bear Dunes National 
Lakeshore, 9922 Front Street, Empire, Michigan 49630-9797. You may also 
comment via the Internet at [email protected]. Finally, you may hand-
deliver comments to the Lakeshore at 9922 Front Street, Empire, 
Michigan.
    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: November 29, 2005.
Ernest Quintana,
Regional Director, Midwest Region. 1
 [FR Doc. E5-7888 Filed 12-27-05; 8:45 am]
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