[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 4417]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1567]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR


Wind Cave National Park, Custer County, SD

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of Availability for the Record of Decision on the Final 
Elk Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement, Wind Cave 
National Park, Custer County, South Dakota.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental 
Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4332(C)), the National Park Service (NPS) 
announces the availability of the Record of Decision (ROD) for the 
Final Elk Management Plan and Final Environmental Impact Statement 
(Plan), Wind Cave National Park, Custer County, South Dakota. On 
December 3, the Midwest Regional Director approved the ROD for the 
project. As soon as practicable, the NPS will begin to implement the 
Preferred Alternative contained in the final EIS.
    The NPS will implement the preferred alternative, Alternative B, as 
described in the final Plan issued on October 30, 2009. The emphasis of 
this alternative is to make maximum use of hunting on public and 
private lands outside the park to reduce and maintain the population of 
elk utilizing the park. This will be accomplished cooperatively with 
the South Dakota Department of Game Fish and Parks through managed 
annual public hunting on lands surrounding Wind Cave National Park. 
Initial reduction activities are expected to occur over a period of 1 
to 5 years, with annual maintenance activities conducted thereafter. 
Because this may not be sufficient to reduce the elk population park-
wide alone, a monitoring and adaptive management approach is inherent 
in the alternative. If hunting outside the park does not fully 
accomplish initial reduction goals within a prescribed timeframe, 
reduction methods described in other alternatives such as roundup and 
live shipping to a slaughterhouse or sharpshooting may be used to reach 
the target population range. The same would be true for maintenance.
    The ROD 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 on 
impairment of park resources and values, a listing of measures to 
minimize environmental harm, and an overview of public involvement in 
the decisionmaking process.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent Vidal Davila, Wind Cave 
National Park, 26611 U.S. Highway 385, Hot Springs, SD 57747-9430. You 
may also view the document via the Internet through the NPS Planning, 
Environment, and Public Comment Web site (http://parkplanning.nps.gov); 
simply click on the link to Wind Cave National Park.

    Dated: December 3, 2009.
Ernest Quintana,
Regional Director, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-1567 Filed 1-26-10; 8:45 am]
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