[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 245 (Friday, December 19, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Page 77838]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-30135]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


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

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Termination of Environmental Impact Statement for the 
General Management Plan, Petrified Forest National Park, in favor of an 
Environmental Assessment.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) is terminating preparation of 
an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the General Management Plan 
amendment, Petrified Forest National Park, Arizona. A Notice of Intent 
to prepare the EIS for the Petrified Forest National Park General 
Management Plan Amendment was published at 72 FR 159, pages 46244 and 
46245, August 17, 2007. The National Park Service has since determined 
that an Environmental Assessment (EA) rather than an EIS is the 
appropriate level of environmental documentation for the plan.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Petrified National Park Expansion Act of 
2004 (Pub. L. 108-430) added approximately 125,000 acres in private and 
other agency ownership to the existing Petrified Forest National Park, 
and directed the National Park Service to develop a plan to manage the 
addition lands. A general management plan amendment will establish the 
overall management direction of the addition lands for the next 15 to 
20 years. The plan amendment was originally scoped as an EIS. 
Publication of the Federal Register Notice was followed with a 
newsletter to affected agencies and interested parties, and a public 
meeting in Holbrook, Arizona. However, few comments were received 
during the scoping process. The NPS planning team has developed two 
alternative management concepts for the addition lands. The ``No-
Action'' concept would allow for the continuation of existing 
conditions, and the addition lands would remain a mix of private, 
state, and NPS ownership, with a small proportion of those lands owned 
and managed by the NPS. Current land uses, activities, and structures 
would remain, and resources would not necessarily be well protected.
    The ``Preferred'' concept would allow for cautious NPS management 
of addition lands within NPS jurisdiction, while gathering as much 
information about them as possible. Resource inventories, condition 
assessments, and research would be conducted to increase understanding 
of the addition lands. This concept provides for a higher level of 
resource protection than the No-Action concept. These management 
concepts will be expanded upon and refined through the planning/
environmental assessment process.

DATES: The NPS will notify the public by mail, Web site, and other 
means, of public review periods and meetings associated with the draft 
GMP amendment/EA. All public review and other written public 
information will be made available online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/pefo.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cliff Spencer, Superintendent, 
Petrified Forest National Park, P.O. Box 2217, Petrified Forest, 
Arizona 86028; telephone, (928) 524-6228, extension 225; e-mail [email protected].

    Dated: December 8, 2008.
Michael D. Snyder,
Regional Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.
 [FR Doc. E8-30135 Filed 12-18-08; 8:45 am]
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