[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 101 (Wednesday, May 26, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29574-29575]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-12608]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement for the Harvest 
of Glaucous-Winged Gull Eggs by the Huna Tlingit in Glacier Bay 
National Park

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Final Legislative Environmental 
Impact Statement for the Harvest of Glaucous-Winged Gull Eggs by the 
Huna Tlingit in Glacier Bay National Park.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of 
a final Legislative Environmental Impact Statement (LEIS) for the 
harvest of glaucous-winged gull eggs by the Huna Tlingit in Glacier Bay 
National Park. The document describes and analyzes the environmental 
impacts of a preferred alternative and one additional action 
alternative for managing a limited harvest of glaucous-winged gull 
eggs. A no action alternative is also evaluated. This notice announces 
the availability of the final LEIS.

DATES: A Record of Decision will be made no sooner than 30 days after 
the date the Environmental Protection Agency's Notice of Availability 
for this final LEIS appears in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: The final LEIS may be viewed online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov. Hard copies of the final LEIS are available on 
request from the address below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mary Beth Moss, Project Manager, 
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Telephone: (907) 723-1777.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NPS has prepared an LEIS to analyze the 
effects of authorizing the limited collection of glaucous-winged gull 
eggs within Glacier Bay National Park by Hoonah Indian Association 
(HIA; the federally recognized government of the Huna Tlingit) tribal 
members. Glacier Bay is the traditional homeland of the Huna Tlingit 
who traditionally harvested eggs there prior to park establishment. The 
practice was curtailed in the 1960s, as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act 
and federal regulations prohibit it. In the late 1990s, at the behest 
of tribal leaders, the NPS agreed to explore ways to authorize this 
important cultural tradition. Section 4 of the Glacier Bay National 
Park Resource Management Act of 2000 directed the Secretary of 
Interior, in consultation with local residents, to assess whether gull 
eggs could be collected in Glacier Bay National Park on a limited basis 
without impairing the biological sustainability of the gull population. 
The Act further requires that the Secretary submit recommendations for 
legislation to Congress if the study determines that gull egg harvest 
could occur without impairing the biological sustainability of the 
park's gull population. NPS commissioned ethnographic and biological 
studies to inform the analysis included in this LEIS.
    The NPS outlined a range of alternatives based on project 
objectives, park resources and values, and public input and analyzed 
the impacts each would have on the biological and human environment.
    Alternative 1: No Action: This alternative serves as a baseline for 
evaluating the impacts of the action alternatives. This alternative 
would not authorize the harvest of glaucous-winged gull eggs in Glacier 
Bay National Park. Glaucous-winged gulls would continue to breed in 
Glacier Bay without human disturbance.
    Alternative 2: This alternative would propose legislation to 
authorize the annual harvest of glaucous-winged gull eggs at up to two 
designated locations on a single pre-selected date on or before June 9 
of each year.
    Alternative 3: NPS Preferred Alternative: Alternative 3 would 
propose legislation to authorize the annual harvest of glaucous-winged 
gull eggs at up to five designated locations in Glacier Bay National 
Park on two separate dates. A first harvest visit would be authorized 
to occur at each of the open sites on or before the 5th day following 
onset of laying as determined by NPS staff monitoring a reference site. 
A second harvest at the same sites

[[Page 29575]]

would be authorized to occur within nine days of the first harvest.
    Both action alternatives would manage harvest activities under the 
guidelines of a harvest management plan cooperatively developed by the 
NPS and the HIA. NPS would conduct monitoring activities to ensure that 
park resources and values were not impacted. The Superintendent would 
retain the authority to close gull colonies to harvest.

Victor W. Knox,
Acting Regional Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2010-12608 Filed 5-25-10; 8:45 am]
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