[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 139 (Thursday, July 20, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41234-41236]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-11520]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Abbreviated Final Environmental Impact Statement and General 
Management Plan; Minidoka Internment National Monument; Jerome County, 
ID; Notice of Availability

    Summary: Pursuant to section 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 (NPS), Department of the Interior, has 
prepared an abbreviated final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for 
the proposed General Management Plan (GMP) for Minidoka Internment 
National Monument located in southern Idaho. This FEIS describes and 
analyzes four GMP alternatives that respond to both NPS planning 
requirements and to the public's concerns and issues, identified during 
the extensive scoping and public involvement process. Each alternative 
presents management strategies for resource protection and 
preservation, education and interpretation, visitor use and facilities, 
land protection and boundaries, and long-term operations and management 
of the national monument. The potential environmental consequences of 
all the alternatives, and mitigation strategies, are identified and 
analyzed in the FEIS. In addition to a ``no-action'' alternative, an 
``environmentally preferred'' alternative is identified.

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    Background: A Notice of Intent formally initiating the conservation 
planning and environmental impact analysis process was published in the 
Federal Register on April 24, 2002. Early public involvement methods 
included news releases, public meetings and workshops, presentations 
and meetings with interested publics, newsletter mailings, and Web site 
postings. This strong public outreach was deemed necessary for 
successful planning, given the nature and sensitivity of the national 
monument's history, the speed in which the national monument was 
established, as well as its remote location.
    Preceding the formal planning process, NPS staff conducted 
informational meetings about the national monument with Japanese 
American organizations, community organizations, various governmental 
entities, potential stakeholder groups, and individuals during the 
spring, summer and early fall of 2002. Approximately 50 meetings were 
held in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska during this time, and 
approximately 2,000 people were contacted. The purpose of these initial 
meetings was to provide information about the establishment of Minidoka 
Internment National Monument as a new unit of the National Park System 
and to help characterize the scale and extent of the conservation 
planning process.
    The NPS encouraged public involvement during three phases of the 
EIS process. The initial scoping phase was intended to elicit issues, 
concerns, and suggestions deemed necessary to address during the 
overall planning. Nine public workshops were held in Idaho, Washington, 
and Oregon in November 2002 (250 people provided comments in workshops, 
and another 225 people provided written comments). In the second phase 
the NPS engaged the public in developing preliminary alternatives; 
these alternatives were intended to address the specific issues and 
concerns that surfaced during the public scoping. Eleven public 
workshops were held in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon in July and August 
2003 (215 people provided comments in the workshops, and another 50 
people provided written comments). The third phase of involvement 
afforded the opportunity for public review of the Draft EIS/GMP, which 
was released on June 21, 2005. Government entities and the public were 
invited to submit comments by regular mail, e-mail, fax, and online. In 
addition, the NPS held ten public meetings in Idaho, Washington, 
Oregon, and California in July and August 2005 to provide further 
opportunity to learn about the proposed plan and to offer comments; 
over 200 people attended these meetings. During the formal public 
comment period, which closed on September 19, 2005, the NPS received 
comments from over 365 individuals and organizations, including 150 
written responses (all substantive comments, and responses, are 
documented in the abbreviated Final EIS).
    Throughout the planning process, the public's comments and 
recommendations have provided the foundation for the new GMP, 
represented in the national monument's purpose, significance, 
interpretive themes, alternatives, and particularly as incorporated in 
the proposed action.
    Proposed Plan and Alternatives: Alternative A is the ``no-action'' 
alternative and would continue current management practices, 
maintaining general management guidance for incremental and minimal 
changes in park operations, staffing, visitor services, and facilities 
to accommodate visitors. While the historic resources of the site would 
continue to be protected, only minor additional site work would be 
anticipated. The ``no-action'' alternative is the baseline for 
evaluating and comparing the changes and impacts of the three 
``action'' alternatives.
    Alternative B emphasizes the development and extensive use of 
outreach and partnerships to assist NPS staff in telling the Minidoka 
story to the American people. Off-site visitor education and 
interpretation would be conducted through diverse comprehensive 
programs developed in cooperation with partners, including school 
districts, museums, and educational and legacy organizations and 
institutions. Alternative B would focus on identifying off-site 
facilities for education and interpretation with minimal new 
development at the national monument site. Historic structures would be 
adaptively reused for visitor and monument functions and for minimal 
administrative and operational needs. Key historic features would be 
delineated, restored, or rehabilitated. On-site education and 
interpretation would be accomplished through a range of self-
exploratory visitor experiences.
    Alternative C, the NPS's proposed action, emphasizes on-site 
education and interpretation and the extensive treatment and use of 
cultural resources in telling the Minidoka story. On-site education and 
interpretation would be accomplished through a wide range of visitor 
experiences, including immersion into the historic scene, interaction 
with a variety of educational and interpretive media and personal 
services, and participation in creative and self-directed activities. 
Off-site visitor education and interpretation would be conducted 
through diverse programs developed in cooperation with partners, 
including school districts, museums, and educational and legacy 
organizations and institutions.
    The proposed plan would use various preservation techniques to 
protect and enhance historic resources, such as delineation, 
stabilization, restoration, rehabilitation, and limited reconstruction. 
These historic resources would be used for interpretive purposes to 
accurately and authentically convey the history and significance of the 
national monument. The establishment of one complete barracks block 
exhibit in its original location and configuration would be the 
cornerstone of interpretive services and facilities at the national 
monument, essential for understanding and appreciation of the 
incarceration experience and the significance of the national monument. 
A visitor contact facility and maintenance area would be developed by 
adaptively reusing existing historic buildings. There would be minimal 
new development. Alternative C is also the ``environmentally 
preferred'' alternative.
    The proposed plan would require congressional legislation to 
authorize a boundary adjustment to include areas where barracks 
historically stood in order to reestablish a complete residential block 
in an original historic location. Additionally, the NPS would request 
congressional legislation to transfer the historic Minidoka Relocation 
Center landfill, located 1 mile north of the national monument, from 
the BLM to the NPS. Alternative C recommends a name change to Minidoka 
National Historic Site, to be more reflective of its historic value.
    Alternative D identifies several actions that would focus on 
education and interpretation on-site, specifically through the 
development of new visitor facilities. The east end site would be used 
to develop new facilities and to provide space for a new visitor 
center, education and research functions, along with a new Issei 
memorial and garden. On-site education and interpretation would be 
accomplished through a wide range of visitor experiences, including 
interaction with a variety of educational and interpretive media, 
participation in creative and self-guided activities, and limited 
access of the historic scene. Visitor education programs, adaptive 
reuse of historic structures for park use, and the establishment of 
formal

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partnerships for education and outreach purposes would complement the 
new construction. Alternative D would focus on sound cultural resource 
management through preservation, restoration, rehabilitation, and 
reconstruction of certain historic features. Several actions would 
provide for the protection and enhancement of natural and scenic 
resources. Other actions would establish administrative and operational 
capabilities in terms of facilities and staffing. Most national 
monument staff activities would be on-site to manage resources and 
provide for visitor understanding and appreciation of the national 
monument. However, some off-site educational programs would complement 
the on-site programs through partnerships.
    Copies: The Abbreviated Final EIS/GMP is now available. This 
document's abbreviated format requires that the material presented 
therein be integrated with the Draft EIS to fully describe the proposed 
GMP, potential environmental impacts, and public comments that have 
been received and evaluated. Interested persons and organizations 
wishing to express any concerns or provide relevant information may 
obtain the Abbreviated Final EIS/GMP by contacting the Superintendent, 
Minidoka Internment National Monument, P.O. Box 570, Hagerman, Idaho 
83332-0570, or via telephone at (208) 837-4793 (copies of the Draft EIS 
are also available, if needed). This document may also be reviewed at 
area libraries, or obtained electronically via the following Web site 
at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/miin. Please note that names and 
addresses of all respondents will become part of the public record. It 
is our practice to make comments, including names, home addresses, home 
phone numbers, and email addresses of respondents, available for public 
review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold their names 
and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider withholding 
this information you must state this prominently at the beginning of 
your comments. In addition, you must present a rationale for 
withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that 
disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. 
Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of 
exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be 
released. We will always make submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives of or officials of organizations or businesses, 
available for public inspection in their entirety.
    Decision Process: Following release of the Abbreviated Final GMP/
EIS, a Record of Decision will be prepared and approved not sooner than 
30 days after the EPA has published its notice of filing of the 
document in the Federal Register. A notice of the approved GMP would be 
similarly published. As a delegated EIS, the official responsible for 
the final decision is the Regional Director, Pacific West Region, 
National Park Service. Subsequently, the official responsible for 
implementing the approved GMP would be the Superintendent, Minidoka 
Internment National Monument.

    Dated: July 12, 2006.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. E6-11520 Filed 7-19-06; 8:45 am]
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