[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 159 (Friday, August 17, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46244-46245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 07-3877]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


General Management Plan, Environmental Impact Statement, 
Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
for a General Management Plan amendment, Petrified Forest National 
Park.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service is preparing 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a General Management Plan 
(GMP) amendment for Petrified Forest National Park.
    The park is currently managed under a GMP that was completed in 
1993. This plan describes a proposed boundary expansion for the park of 
approximately 93,000 acres. However, the 1993 GMP does not prescribe 
management for the proposed expansion lands. The GMP was revised in 
2004 to address specific aspects of the park's management; this GMP 
Revision also does not address management activities for proposed 
expansion lands.
    Public Law 108-430 was passed by congress and signed by the 
President in December 2004. This Act expanded Petrified Forest National 
Park boundaries by approximately 125,000 acres, and directed the NPS to 
prepare a management plan for the new park lands within three years. 
Planning for the new lands is the focus of this GMP amendment and its 
associated EIS.
    The GMP amendment will establish the overall direction for park 
expansion lands, setting broad management goals for the area for the 
next 15 to 20 years. Among the topics that will be addressed are 
protection of natural and cultural resources, protection of riparian 
resources, appropriate range of visitor uses, impacts of visitor uses, 
adequacy of park infrastructure, visitor access to the park expansion 
area, education and interpretive efforts, and external pressures on the 
park. Management zones that were established in the current GMP will be 
applied to expansion lands. These zones outline the kinds of resource 
management activities, visitor activities, and developments that would 
be appropriate in the expansion lands.
    A range of reasonable alternatives for managing the park, including 
a no-action alternative and a preferred alternative, will be developed 
through the planning process and included in the EIS. The EIS will 
evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the alternatives.
    As the first phase of the planning and EIS process, the National 
Park Service is beginning to scope the issues to be addressed in the 
GMP amendment. All interested persons, organizations, and agencies are 
encouraged to submit comments and suggestions regarding the issues or 
concerns the GMP amendment should address, including a suitable range 
of alternatives and appropriate mitigating measures, and the nature and 
extent of potential environmental impacts.

DATES: Written comments on the scope of the GMP amendment/EIS will be

[[Page 46245]]

accepted for 60 days beyond the publication of this Notice of Intent. 
In addition, a public scoping session will be held in Holbrook, Arizona 
in the fall of 2007. The location, date, and time of this meeting will 
be provided in local and regional newspapers, and on the Internet at 
http://www.nps.gov/pefo.

ADDRESSES: Written comments or requests to be added to the project 
mailing list should be directed to: Brad Traver, Acting Superintendent, 
Petrified Forest National Park, P.O. Box 2217, Petrified Forest, AZ 
86028; telephone (928) 524-6228; e-mail: http://parkplanning/nps.gov/
pefo.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brad Traver, Acting Superintendent, 
Petrified Forest National Park, P.O. Box 2217, Petrified Forest, AZ 
86028; telephone (928) 524-6228. General information about Petrified 
Forest National Park is available on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/pefo.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Please submit Internet comments as a text 
file, avoiding the use of special characters and any form of 
encryption.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, 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.

    Dated: July 13, 2007.
Michael D. Snyder,
Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 07-3877 Filed 8-16-07; 8:45 am]
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