[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 27, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4413-4414]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-1568]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for
a General Management Plan Amendment/Wilderness Study, for Gates of the
Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska
AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement
for a General Management Plan Amendment/Wilderness Study, for Gates of
the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Alaska.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C)), the National Park Service (NPS) is preparing an
environmental impact statement for a general management plan amendment,
including a wilderness study, for Gates of the Arctic National Park and
Preserve, Alaska. The environmental impact statement will be approved
by the Regional Director, Alaska Region.
A notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for
a backcountry management plan/general management plan amendment for
Gates of the Arctic was published in the September 23, 2002, Federal
Register 67(184). However, that plan was never completed. This notice
of intent replaces the September 23, 2002, notice.
The general management plan amendment will establish the overall
direction for both the park and preserve (referred to hereafter as
park), setting broad management goals for managing the area during the
next 15 to 20 years. The plan will prescribe desired resource
conditions and visitor experiences that are to be achieved and
maintained throughout the park based on such factors as the park's
purpose, significance, special mandates, the body of laws and policies
directing park management, resource analysis, and public input. The
plan also will outline the kinds of resource management activities,
visitor activities, and developments that would be appropriate in the
park in the future. In addition, the plan will generally address
visitor-use related issues and provide management direction for the six
designated wild rivers within the park. The wilderness study will
evaluate portions of Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve for
possible recommendation for wilderness designation. The wilderness
study will be included as part of the general management plan
amendment.
A range of reasonable alternatives for managing the park will be
developed through this planning process and will include, at a minimum,
a no-action and a NPS preferred alternative. Major issues the plan
amendment will address include visitor access and use of the park,
level of administrative and scientific research activities, management
of natural and cultural resources, protection of the wilderness
character, management adaptations to climate change, external threats
the park is or will be facing, partnership opportunities, and
collaboration with other land managers to address regional issues. The
environmental impact statement will evaluate the potential
environmental impacts of the alternative management approaches and the
possible proposal for additional wilderness designation within the
park.
As the first phase of the planning process, the National Park
Service is identifying the issues to be addressed in the general
management plan amendment/wilderness study/environmental impact
statement. All interested persons, organizations, and agencies are
encouraged to submit comments and suggestions on issues and concerns
that should be addressed in the general management plan amendment/
wilderness study/environmental impact statement, and the range of
appropriate alternatives that should be examined.
DATES: The National Park Service is planning to begin public scoping in
January 2010 via a newsletter to State and Federal agencies; associated
native corporations; neighboring communities; borough; local
organizations, researchers and institutions; the congressional
delegation; and other interested members of the public. In addition,
the National Park Service will hold public scoping meetings regarding
the general management plan amendment in the winter of 2010 in
Anchorage, Fairbanks, and many of the resident zone communities of
Gates of the Arctic. Specific dates, times, and locations will be
announced in the local media, on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/gaar, and will also be available by contacting the park headquarters.
In addition to attending the scoping meetings, people wishing to
provide input to this initial phase of developing the general
management plan/wilderness study/environmental impact statement may
mail or e-mail comments to the park at the address below.
Written comments concerning the scope of the general management
plan/wilderness study/environmental impact statement will be accepted
for 60 days from the publication of this notice.
ADDRESSES: If you wish to comment on any issues and opportunities
associated with the plan, you may submit your comments by any one of
several methods. You may comment via the Internet to http://parkplanning.nps.gov/gaar. You may also mail comments to Gates of the
Arctic National Park and Preserve, 4175 Geist Road, Fairbanks, Alaska
99709. Finally, you may hand-deliver comments to the park at the above
address.
General park information and requests to be added to the project
mailing list should be directed to: the Superintendent, Gates of the
Arctic National Park and Preserve, 4175 Geist Road, Fairbanks, Alaska
99709.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Greg Dudgeon, Superintendent, at the
address above. Telephone: 907-457-5752. General information about Gates
of the Arctic National Park and Preserve is available on the Internet
at http://www.nps.gov/gaar.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Before including your address, phone number,
e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your
comment, 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 comment to withhold your personal
identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we
will be able to do so.
[[Page 4414]]
Dated: January 11, 2010.
Sue E. Masica,
Regional Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2010-1568 Filed 1-26-10; 8:45 am]
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