[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 124 (Tuesday, June 30, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31305-31306]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-15429]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


New Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan; 
Yosemite National Park; Mariposa and Madera Counties, CA; Notice of 
Intent To Prepare Environmental Impact Statement

    Summary: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (Pub. L. 
91-190) and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (Pub. L. 90-542), the 
National Park Service is reopening public scoping for planning and 
environmental impact analysis for a new Merced Wild and Scenic River 
Comprehensive Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (NMRP/
EIS) in Yosemite National Park. The NMRP/EIS

[[Page 31306]]

will serve as a comprehensive ``blueprint'' sufficient to guide future 
management of the Merced River corridor in Yosemite National Park.
    Background: In 1987, Congress designated 122 miles of the Merced 
River and its South Fork as Wild and Scenic, including the 81 miles 
within Yosemite National Park and the El Portal Administrative Site. 
The National Park Service (NPS) completed the Merced Wild and Scenic 
River Comprehensive Management Plan/Final Environmental Impact 
Statement in August 2000. Soon after, two citizens' groups filed suit 
in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, 
resulting in the production of the Merced Wild and Scenic River Revised 
Comprehensive Management Plan/Supplemental Environmental Impact 
Statement (MCMP/SEIS) in 2005. Subsequent court proceedings culminated 
in a 2006 U.S. District Court decision that invalidated the park's 
MCMP/SEIS and ordered the NPS to prepare a new comprehensive management 
plan. On January 9, 2007, the NPS proposed a 33-month timeline to the 
court for the preparation of the NMRP/EIS, which would result in a 
Record of Decision on September 30, 2009. The NPS initiated public 
scoping for the NMRP on March 28, 2007; a Notice of Intent to prepare 
an Environmental Impact Statement was published on April 11, 2007 in 
the Federal Register (public scoping lasted 74 days, closing on June 
10, 2007). Concurrently, the NPS appealed U.S. District Court's 
decision that the 2005 MCMP/SEIS was invalid. On March 27, 2008 the 
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (Ninth Circuit) issued an 
opinion affirming the judgment of the District Court and expanding the 
scope of what the NPS had previously understood must be included in a 
legally valid Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management 
Plan. Consequently the NPS is reopening public scoping for the NMRP/EIS 
so as to provide additional opportunity for public involvement in 
developing a new plan.
    The NMRP/EIS will address: resource protection; existing and 
potential development of lands and facilities; user capacities; and the 
kinds and amounts of use which the river area can sustain without 
impacting values for which it was designated. It will identify specific 
management measures that will be used to protect and enhance the 
outstandingly remarkable values (ORVs) for each of the river segments, 
including the scenic, recreational, geological, fish and wildlife, 
historic, cultural or other similar values. In addition, the NMRP/EIS 
will address the quantity and mixture of recreation and other public 
uses that may be permitted without adverse impact to the ORVs, 
including a discussion of the maximum number of people that may be 
received at the river while protecting and enhancing the values for 
which the Merced and South Fork Merced were included in the Wild and 
Scenic Rivers system.
    Scoping and Public Meetings: The purpose of re-opening scoping is 
to receive any new public comments about issues and concerns that 
should be addressed in the New MRP/EIS, including a suitable range of 
alternatives, appropriate mitigation measures, and the nature and 
extent of potential environmental impacts. Given that all prior scoping 
comments remain under consideration, at this time only pertinent 
information or concerns not previously provided need to be submitted. 
Broad participation of interested individuals and organizations is 
important to the planning and analysis process. During this concluding 
phase, the public is invited to share new concerns that should be 
considered in the development of the draft NMRP/EIS. Yosemite National 
Park will also further consult tribal, federal, state, and local 
governments. The renewed opportunity for scoping will be posted on the 
park Web site, and press releases will be distributed to local and 
regional media. Dates, times, specific locations, and additional 
information will be released through regional and local news sources, 
and updates will be posted at www.nps.gov/yose/planning/mrp. In 
addition, updates regarding future public involvement opportunities, 
including workshops for alternatives formulation and later release of 
the draft NRMP/EIS for public review, will be similarly announced in 
regional news media and on the park's Web site, and through direct 
mailings.
    Written comments should be addressed to the Superintendent, Attn: 
Merced River Plan, Yosemite National Park, PO Box 577, Yosemite 
National Park, CA 95389, or faxed to (209) 379-1294, and must be 
postmarked or transmitted not later than 60 days from the publication 
date of this NOI in the Federal Register (immediately upon confirmation 
of this date it will be posted on the park's Web site and announced via 
local and regional press). Before including your address, phone number, 
e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your 
comment, be advised 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 from public review 
your personal identifying information, we cannot guarantee that we will 
be able to do so.
    Decision Process: At this time it is expected that following due 
consideration of all comments on the draft NRMP/EIS as may be received, 
the final NMRP/EIS would be made available during spring-summer 2012, 
with preparation of a Record of Decision anticipated during September, 
2012. As a delegated EIS the official responsible for final approval of 
the NMRP/EIS is the Regional Director, Pacific West Region. 
Subsequently the official responsible for implementing the approved new 
Merced Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive Management Plan would be the 
Superintendent, Yosemite National Park.

    Dated: March 10, 2009.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. E9-15429 Filed 6-29-09; 8:45 am]
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