[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 18 (Thursday, January 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5180-5181]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-1887]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Availability for the Draft White-Tailed Deer Management 
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, 
IN

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of Availability for the Draft White-tailed Deer 
Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Indiana Dunes National 
Lakeshore, Indiana.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the National Park Service 
(NPS) announces the availability of a draft White-tailed Deer 
Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Indiana 
Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana (Lakeshore).

DATES: The draft EIS will remain available for public review for 60 
days following the publishing of the notice of availability in the 
Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A public 
meeting will be held during the 60-day review period, but the specific 
date and location will be announced in local and regional media sources 
of record and on the Lakeshore Web site.
    You may submit your comments by any one of several methods. You may 
comment via the Internet through the NPS Planning, Environment, and 
Public Comment Web site (http://parkplanning.nps.gov/indu); simply 
click on the link to the White-tailed Deer Management Plan. You may 
mail comments to Superintendent Constantine Dillon, Indiana Dunes 
National Lakeshore, 1100 North Mineral Springs Road, Porter, Indiana 
46304. You may send comments by facsimile to 219-395-1550. Finally, you 
may hand-deliver comments to the Lakeshore headquarters at the address 
above.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft EIS are available from the 
Superintendent, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, 1100 North Mineral 
Springs Road, Porter, Indiana 46304.

[[Page 5181]]


SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This EIS and plan describes four 
alternatives for the management of deer at the Lakeshore. Action is 
needed at this time to ensure that the local deer population does not 
become a dominant force that negatively influences ecosystem components 
within the Lakeshore, such as sensitive vegetation or other wildlife. 
Impacts to these Lakeshore resources would compromise the Lakeshore's 
purpose to preserve the exceptional biodiversity found within its 
boundaries. The Lakeshore staff currently implements resource 
management actions to protect other resources but no specific deer 
management plan exists.
    Under Alternative A (no action), current deer management actions 
(including limited fencing, limited use of repellents, and inventorying 
and monitoring efforts) would continue; no new deer management actions 
would be taken. Alternative B would include all actions described under 
alternative A, but would also incorporate non-lethal actions to 
possibly reduce deer numbers in the Lakeshore. The additional actions 
would include the construction of additional small- and new large-scale 
exclosures, more extensive use of repellents in areas where fenced 
exclosures would not be appropriate or feasible, and phasing in 
reproductive control of does when there is a federally approved 
fertility control agent for application to free-ranging populations 
that provides multi-year (more than four years) efficacy for does. 
Alternative C would include all actions described under alternative A, 
but would also incorporate a direct reduction of the deer herd size 
through sharpshooting and capture/euthanasia, where appropriate. 
Alternative D would also include all the actions described under 
alternative A, but would incorporate a combination of specific lethal 
and non-lethal actions from alternatives B and C. These actions would 
include the reduction of the deer herd through sharpshooting, in 
combination with capture/euthanasia and phasing in reproductive control 
of does (as described in alternative B) for longer-term maintenance of 
lower herd numbers when there is a federally approved fertility control 
agent for application to free-ranging populations that provides multi-
year (more than four years) efficacy for does.
    The potential environmental consequences of the alternatives are 
addressed for vegetation, soils and water quality, white-tailed deer, 
other wildlife and wildlife habitat, sensitive and rare species, 
archeological resources, cultural landscapes, visitor use and 
experience, social values, visitor and employee health and safety, 
soundscapes, socioeconomic conditions, and national Lakeshore 
management and operations.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Superintendent Dillon at the 
address above or by telephone at 219-926-7561.
    Before including your address, telephone number, electronic 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 comments 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, of organizations or businesses, available 
for public inspection in their entirety.

    Dated: October 20, 2008.
Ernest Quintana,
Director, Midwest Region.

    Editorial Note: This document was received in the Office of the 
Federal Register on January 26, 2009.
[FR Doc. E9-1887 Filed 1-28-09; 8:45 am]
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