[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 230 (Thursday, November 30, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69216-69217]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-9464]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Scoping for Commercial Services Plan; Haleakala 
National Park, Maui, HI

    Summary: Pursuant to requirements of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (Pub. L. 91-190), the National Park Service is 
initiating the conservation planning and environmental impact analysis 
process regarding a commercial services plan proposed for Haleakala 
National Park. This Notice initiates scoping for the process that is 
expected to result in changes to the types of commercial services 
offered in the park and the way they are managed by the park. Haleakala 
National Park proposes to develop a long-term Commercial Services Plan 
(CSP) so that increasing visitor use may be accommodated in a manner 
compatible with the park's mission; and to assure that a full range of 
necessary and appropriate commercial services are developed and managed 
so that potential impacts to cultural and natural resources and visitor 
experience would be minimized. The CSP will be consistent with the 
park's mission and purpose statements and management goals as specified 
in legislation and as outlined in the Strategic Plan for Haleakala 
National Park (fiscal year 2005-2008).
    Background and Preliminary Issues: Thus far, topics considered 
necessary to address in developing the CSP include: Assessing if, or 
the degree to which, commercial service uses of the park and 
overcrowding are contributing to the degradation of natural and 
cultural resources, as well as adversely affecting visitor use and 
appreciation of the park; determining whether public health and safety 
are being compromised through uncontrolled uses of the park; and 
evaluating whether commercial services are operated in a manner that is 
consistent with the mission of the park and/or whether there is a 
consistent portrayal by commercial service operators of the park 
message.
    Information from the public and interested groups is desired so 
that all pertinent issues and concerns which should be addressed in the 
conservation planning and environmental impact analysis for the CSP may 
be identified. At this time, the preliminary range of issues and public 
concerns deemed necessary to consider include the following:
    Sunrise atop Haleakala is one of the most promoted tourist 
activities offered by the visitor industry on Maui. The Summit area of 
the park frequently receives over 1,300 visitors at sunrise. The 
concentration of visitor use has resulted in trampling of threatened 
and endangered plant species, increased social trailing resulting in 
accelerated erosion, and introduction of non-native species. Sunrise 
visitation has increased over the past decade to a point that visitors 
in private vehicles are turned away from parking areas filled beyond 
capacity on a regular basis by commercial vehicles. Members of the 
park's Kipuna Groups on Maui indicated that the sacredness of the 
Haleakala Summit area is diminished by too many people visiting the 
site, and opportunities to conduct cultural practices in peace are 
limited. More than one in five visitors to the Haleakala Visitor Center 
before 8 a.m. felt moderately or more crowded; more than one third of 
the visitors surveyed before 8 a.m. saw more people than they think the 
park should allow.
    Throughout the day, there are other significant peaks of visitation 
that result in facilities at many park destinations being filled beyond 
capacity by visitors arriving in private vehicles or on commercial 
tours (often with simultaneous arrival of several commercial 
operators). When the parking areas are filled, health and safety 
concerns result due to inability of emergency vehicles (ambulance, law 
enforcement, and fire apparatus) to rapidly access these areas.
    Other NPS concerns include degradation of various park trails 
resulting partially from commercial horse tour activities. In the 
Summit Area, trails are used jointly by hikers and by horse riders. The 
trails are located in fragile ecosystems where the

[[Page 69217]]

trail tread does not hold up well to excessive use resulting in un-
natural erosion. At the trailheads and along the first three to five 
miles into the backcountry and designated Wilderness, trail crowding 
from multiple users including commercial horse and hiking tours is 
diminishing the experience of solitude in Wilderness. The mixed use 
also leads to conflicts and off-trail damage as hikers seek to move 
away from dust, manure, and smell of horses. Current permits allow for 
limited sizes of groups but do not regulate numbers of trips per day or 
per week.
    Presently commercial use activities in the Kipahulu area includes 
guided and unguided hikes along the park's existing visitor trails and 
horse tour guided trips on a separate trail designated for horses only. 
Commercial tours typically leave from the same pick-up points and 
arrive at generally the same time at Kipahulu; this combined with tour 
vans and buses of various sizes crowd into the parking area causing 
traffic congestion and crowded hiking (which in turn prompts trampling 
of vegetation and unsafe off-trail use). Visitor injuries and deaths 
have occurred in these stream areas and the park discourages visitors 
from entering these pools and narrow areas.
    Privately guided hiking activities in the Kipahulu area may also be 
contributing to formation of social (unauthorized) trails that follow 
the stream corridor and lead to upstream pools. All park visitors and 
service providers should be using NPS authorized and maintained trail 
to minimize resource; the deep trail substrate combined with very high 
average rainfall causes erosion, deep trenching, and very slippery and 
dangerous conditions.
    Scoping Process: At this time, the NPS invites the public, other 
Federal agencies, Native Hawaiian groups, state and local governments, 
and all other interested parties to participate in the initial scoping 
and in the alternative development process. For initial scoping and 
alternatives development, the most useful comments are those that 
provide the NPS with assistance in identifying environmental issues, 
suitable range of alternatives, and other concerns that should be 
considered early in the commercial services and environmental planning 
process for these projects. At this time it has not been determined if 
an Environmental Assessment or an Environmental Impact Statement will 
be prepared. Although it is anticipated that an Environmental 
Assessment will be the appropriate level of environmental compliance, 
this scoping process will aid in the preparation of either document 
(and responses during this scoping period will be helpful in making 
this determination).
    All respondents to this Notice will be included in a mailing list 
to be used to invite review and comment on the subsequent environmental 
document. The public scoping period for the commercial services plan 
has been initiated--all written comments must be postmarked or 
transmitted not later than 60 days from the date of publication of this 
Notice (as soon as this date can be confirmed it will be announced on 
the park's Web site). Interested individuals, organizations, and 
agencies wishing to provide written comments may respond by regular 
mail to Commercial Services Plan, c/o Superintendent, Haleakala 
National Park, P.O. Box 369, Makawao, Maui, HI 96768 (or via e-mail c/o 
[email protected]).
    Our practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses, 
home phone numbers, and e-mail 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.
    Public Meetings: The NPS will also conduct a public scoping meeting 
and open house to provide information about this project, to discuss 
issues and concerns informally with NPS representatives and to receive 
written comments. These scoping activities will be conducted on October 
17 and 18, 2006. The October 17th meeting will be at 6 p.m. at Helene 
Hall in Hana. The October 18th meeting will be at 6 p.m. at the Mayor 
Hanibal Tavares Community Center in Pukulani.
    Future Information and Decision Process: Future information about 
this conservation planning and environmental impact analysis process 
for the proposed commercial services plan will be distributed via 
direct mailings and announcements in regional and local news media, and 
updates will be regularly posted on the park's Web site (http://www.nps.gov/hale). Availability of the forthcoming environmental 
document for review and written comment will be announced by local and 
regional news media, the above listed Web site, direct mailing (or in 
the case of an EIS, also by formal Notice of Availability of a Draft 
EIS published in the Federal Register). At this time the document is 
anticipated to be available for public review and comment in late 
summer, 2007. Comments on the document will be fully considered in the 
environmental decision-making process and responded to as appropriate. 
The official responsible for the decision is the Regional Director, 
Pacific West Region, National Park Service; subsequently the official 
responsible for implementation would be the Superintendent, Haleakala 
National Park.

    Dated: August 31, 2006.
Patricia L. Neubacher,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 06-9464 Filed 11-29-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-50-M