[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 78 (Tuesday, April 24, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20364-20365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-2020]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Prepare a General Management Plan and 
Environmental Impact Statement for the South Unit of Badlands National 
Park, South Dakota.

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.), the National Park Service (NPS) in

[[Page 20365]]

cooperation with the Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux, is preparing an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a General Management Plan 
(GMP) for the South Unit of Badlands National Park. The GMP will 
prescribe the resource conditions and visitor experiences that are to 
be achieved and maintained in the South Unit over the next 15 to 20 
years.
    To facilitate sound planning and environmental assessment, the NPS 
intends to gather information necessary for the preparation of the EIS 
and obtain suggestions and information from other agencies and the 
public on the scope of issues to be addressed in the EIS. Comments and 
participation in this scoping process are invited. Participation in the 
planning process will be encouraged and facilitated by various means, 
including newsletters and open houses or meetings. The NPS will conduct 
public scoping meetings to explain the planning process and to solicit 
opinion about issues to address in the GMP/EIS.
    Notification of all such meetings will be announced in the local 
press and in the NPS newsletters.

ADDRESSES: Additionally, if you wish to comment on any issues 
associated with GMP, you may submit your comments by any one of several 
methods. You may mail or hand-deliver comments to Superintendent, 
Badlands National Park, 25216 Ben Reifel Road, Interior, South Dakota 
57740. You may provide comments electronically by entering them into 
the NPS's Planning, Environment and Public Comment Web site http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Information will be available for public review 
and comment from the Office of the Superintendent at the above address.
    Requests to be added to the project mailing list should be sent to 
Ms. Pamela Livermont, Badlands National Park, 25216 Ben Reifel Road, 
Interior, South Dakota 57750; telephone 605-433-5281; or e-mail 
[email protected].
    Before including your address, telephone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comments, you should be 
aware that your entire comment (including your personal identifying 
information) may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so. We will make all submissions from organizations or 
businesses, from individuals identifying themselves as representatives 
or officials, or organizations or businesses available for public 
inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent Paige Baker, Badlands 
National Park, 25216 Ben Reifel Road, Interior, South Dakota 57750, 
telephone 605-433-5280.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Composed of two largely undeveloped and 
remote tracts of land totaling 140,000 acres, the South Unit lies 
entirely within the Pine Ridge Oglala Sioux Reservation. The South Unit 
is administered to provide for the care, maintenance, and preservation 
of prehistoric, historic, scientific, and scenic interest, and to 
develop facilities that will provide for public use and enjoyment.
    As stated above, the GMP will prescribe the resource conditions and 
visitor experiences that are to be achieved and maintained in the South 
Unit over the next 15 to 20 years. The clarification of what must be 
achieved according to law and policy will be based on review of the 
unit's purpose, significance, special mandates, and the body of laws 
and policies directing park management. Based on determinations of 
desired conditions, the GMP will outline the kinds of resource 
management activities, visitor activities, and appropriate future 
development. A range of reasonable management alternatives will be 
developed through this planning process and will include, at minimum, a 
no-action alternative and a preferred alternative. To facilitate sound 
analysis of environmental impacts, the NPS is gathering information 
necessary for the preparation of an associated EIS.
    A GMP for the North Unit was completed in 2006; the South Unit GMP 
will be the equivalent of Volume 2. Together, the two volumes will 
constitute the GMP for Badlands National Park.

    Dated: January 29, 2007.
Ernest Quintana,
Regional Director, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 07-2020 Filed 4-23-07; 8:45 am]
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