[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 19 (Tuesday, January 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5210-5211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 08-374]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


General Management Plan/Environmental Assessment, Finding of No 
Significant Impact, for Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Oklahoma

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of a Finding of No Significant Impact 
for the General Management Plan/Environmental Assessment, Chickasaw 
National Recreation Area.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to 40 CFR 1501.4(e), the National Park Service has 
prepared, and hereby announces the availability of, a Finding of No 
Significant Impact for the General Management Plan/Environmental 
Assessment, Chickasaw National Recreation Area, Oklahoma.
    The Findings of No Significant Impact 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 of no impairment of park resources and values, a 
listing of measures to minimize environmental harm, an overview of 
public involvement in the decision-making process, and a floodplains 
statement of findings.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The preferred alternative, Alternative B, is

[[Page 5211]]

the selected alternative for implementation. The primary focus of this 
alternative will be on improving selected natural and cultural 
resources while enhancing visitor facilities and interpretive 
opportunities. The following actions, among others, will be taken under 
the preferred alternative: The National Park Service will actively 
encourage a partnership to identify approaches to managing the 
Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer; the Vendome Well will be managed to reduce 
the discharge of groundwater when it is not being used by the public; 
additional preservation and protection will be provided to the cultural 
resources within the proposed Platt National Park Historic District; 
the bison pasture will be restored to prairie and a study will be 
completed on possibly introducing bison to the Upper Guy Sandy; 
improvements will be made to the Cold Springs, Central, Point, 
Buckhorn, and Guy Sandy campgrounds; the trails system in the Rock 
Creek Corridor will be upgraded; additional day use picnic shelters and 
shower facilities will be added to the Platt District and new restrooms 
and fishing dock facilities will be built at Veterans Lake, new 
restrooms and picnic tables will be added at Lake of the Arbuckles, and 
a horse camp, staging area, group campsite, and commercial operations 
(e.g., boat rentals and bus tours) may be provided, additional formal 
interpretive programs will be provided at the Travertine Nature Center; 
and maintenance and administrative operations will be relocated outside 
of the national recreation area or within the area but outside the 
historic district.
    Two other alternatives were considered for Chickasaw National 
Recreation Area. Under alternative A (no action) the National Park 
Service would have continued to manage Chickasaw National Recreation 
Area as it is since the approval of the 1979 General Management Plan 
Supplement and the 1994 amendment. There would have been no major 
change in the management of Chickasaw National Recreation Area under 
this alternative. Management under alternative C would have focused on 
the protection and restoration of natural and cultural resources. There 
would have been fewer facilities and a narrower range of visitor 
opportunities, although there would have been a better opportunity to 
experience resources in relatively natural or recovering conditions. 
Some roads or trails would have been removed and revegetated. Some new 
facilities would have been built, but generally they would have been 
placed outside Chickasaw National Recreation Area or in previously 
developed areas.

ADDRESSES: The Finding of No Significant Impact will be available for 
public review for 30 days online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/chic 
and in the office of the Superintendent, 1008 West Second Street, 
Sulphur, OK 73086, (580) 622-3161.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bruce Noble, Superintendent, Chickasaw 
National Recreation Area, 1008 West Second Street, Sulphur, OK 73086, 
(580) 622-3161, x7200 [email protected].

    Dated: December 11, 2007.
Bob Moon,
Acting Regional Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 08-374 Filed 1-28-08; 8:45 am]
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