[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 248 (Wednesday, December 27, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77790-77791]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-22113]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Burr Trail Modifications, Final Environmental Impact Statement, 
Capitol Reef National Park, Utah

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Record of Decision on the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement for the Burr Trail Modifications, 
Capitol Reef National Park.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Sec.  102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969, 83 Stat. 852, 853, codified as amended at 42 U.S.C. 
4332(2)(C), the National Park Service announces the availability of the 
Record of Decision for the Burr Trail Modifications, Capitol Reef 
National Park, Utah. On October 23, 2006 the Director, Intermountain 
Region approved the Record of Decision for the project. As soon as 
practicable, the National Park Service will begin to implement the 
Preferred Alternative contained in the FEIS issued on July 14, 2006.
    The following course of action will occur under the preferred 
alternative. In areas with high bentonite clay content, a gravel 
surface course will be constructed to increase safety. Geotextile 
fabric may be used between the aggregate and subbase to prevent gravel 
loss into the subgrade.
    Without altering the overhanging rock, a narrow section of the road 
at mile point 0.65 will be widened by 6 feet to 10 feet. This will be 
accomplished by moving the northern roadside ditch toward the 
overhanging rock. A rock embankment will be added to the southern side 
of the road (the north bank of Sandy Creek) to provide structural 
stability for a portion of the road as well as slope protection.
    The road bank in the vicinity of mile points 0.75 and 0.85 will be 
stabilized using slope protection to reduce erosion and maintain the 
natural contours of the existing stream channel. Up to 530 linear feet 
of slope protection will be placed along the base and 6 feet or more up 
the sides of the road embankment. The base width of the protection will 
remain aligned with the slope to minimize placement of rock within the 
existing stream channel.
    Two paved fords, impassable whenever water flows across the 
roadway, will be constructed at mile points 0.10 and 0.20. Two vented 
paved fords will be constructed at mile points 0.50 and 0.60. These 
crossings will be passable during 2-year storm events; floodwaters will 
be conveyed through two 24-inch-diameter corrugated metal pipe 
culverts. The paved fords (vented and unvented) will be relatively 
consistent with the existing topography, and their length will be 
sufficient to contain overtopping 10-year storm event floodwaters 
within the paved area. Each of the fords will include slope protection 
to protect the upstream and downstream banks and inlet and outlet 
protection to reduce and minimize erosion and scour.
    Paved fords, similar to those that will be constructed at mile 
points 0.10 and 0.20, will be constructed at each of the two minor 
drainage channels. The upstream channel (i.e., inlet) will be 
recontoured to direct surface flow over the paved ford, and inlet and 
outlet protection will be installed to minimize erosion and scour. 
Slope protection will be added to portions of the downstream road 
embankment to minimize erosion.
    A vented paved ford will be constructed to facilitate crossing 
Halls Creek. This ford will include four 36-inch-diameter corrugated 
metal pipe culverts. The roadway at the crossing will be shifted a 
short distance downstream (i.e., to the south) from the Halls Creek/
Burr Canyon drainage confluence so that the culverts in the paved ford 
can accommodate flows from the two drainages. Inlet and outlet 
protection will be added to minimize scouring and erosion. Slope 
protection will also be placed on the stream banks both upstream and 
downstream of the crossing if necessary to reduce the potential for 
erosion of the stream banks.
    An existing culvert near the base of the switchbacks in Burr Canyon 
will be replaced by three 36-inch-diameter

[[Page 77791]]

corrugated metal pipe culverts. Inlet protection will be installed 
while the outlet will use the existing rock channel as erosion 
protection. An approximately 50-foot length of road just east of the 
existing culvert will be widened 6 to 10 feet by adding a rock 
embankment and backfilling to widen the road on the south slope of the 
Burr Canyon drainage.
    A cattle guard will be placed at the park boundary by the National 
Park Service to prevent cattle from entering the park from adjacent 
Bureau of Land Management-administered lands, and the existing cattle 
guard at mile point 0.55 will be removed when the current grazing 
allotment expires.
    This course of action and three alternatives were analyzed in the 
Draft and Final Environmental Impact Statements. The full range of 
foreseeable environmental consequences was assessed, and appropriate 
mitigating measures were identified.
    The Record of Decision includes a statement of the decision made, 
synopses of other alternatives considered, the basis for the decision, 
a description of the environmentally preferable alternative, a finding 
on impairment of park resources and values, a listing of measures to 
minimize environmental harm, and an overview of public involvement in 
the decision-making process.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Albert J. Hendricks, Superintendent, 
Capitol Reef National Park, HC70, Box 15, Torrey Utah 84775, 435-425-
3791.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Copies of the Record of Decision may be 
obtained from the contact listed above or online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov.

    Dated: October 23, 2006.
Michael D. Snyder,
Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. E6-22113 Filed 12-26-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-DL-P