[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 167 (Monday, August 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52967-52969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21550]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Final Environmental Impact Statement and South Florida and 
Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability of a final environmental impact 
statement for the South Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant 
Management Plan.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations 
(40

[[Page 52968]]

CFR part 1500-1508), the National Park Service (NPS), Department of the 
Interior, announces the availability of the final environmental impact 
statement (FEIS) in abbreviated form for the proposed South Florida and 
Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan. This plan guides the 
management and control of exotic plants and restoration of native plant 
communities in nine national parks: Big Cypress National Preserve, 
Biscayne National Park, Canaveral National Seashore, Dry Tortugas 
National Park, Everglades National Park, Buck Island Reef National 
Monument, Christiansted National Historic Site, Salt River Bay National 
Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, and Virgin Islands National 
Park. The FEIS identifies and evaluates the proposed plan and two 
alternatives and their potential environmental consequences and 
identifies and analyzes appropriate mitigation strategies.
    In accordance with the Plant Protection Act of 2000, (7 U.S.C. 7701 
et seq.), the United States Government has designated certain plants as 
noxious weeds; many of these are exotic plant species. Approximately 
1,200 exotic plant species in Florida and the Caribbean have become 
established in natural areas, and as many as 4 percent of those exotic 
plant species have displaced native species. Exotic plants compete 
aggressively with native plants and are often at an advantage because 
they have little or no predatory control. Among other problems, exotic 
plants displace native species, alter native species proportion, 
degrade or reduce available habitat for threatened and endangered 
species, consume nutrients, alter fire patterns, reduce recreational 
opportunities, and clog waterways.
    The purpose of the plan/FEIS is to (1) provide a programmatic plan 
to manage and control exotic plants in nine parks in south Florida and 
the Caribbean; (2) promote restoration of native species and habitat 
conditions in ecosystems that have been invaded by exotic plants; and 
(3) protect park resources and values from adverse effects resulting 
from exotic plant presence and control activities.

DATES: In December 2003, the NPS met with various Federal, territorial, 
State, and local government agencies to share information among 
agencies and elicit issues, concerns, and other relevant information to 
address during the planning process. Agency representatives 
participated in meetings in the Virgin Islands, (one on St. John and 
one on St. Croix), and in a meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida. A 
Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for 
South Florida and Caribbean parks exotic plant management was published 
in the Federal Register on January 22, 2004 (69 FR 3174). Public 
scoping open houses were held in March 2004 in Cruz Bay, St. John; 
Christiansted and Frederiksted, St. Croix; and Naples and Homestead, 
Florida. A project newsletter was also distributed and 40 letters or e-
mails were received and used by the interdisciplinary planning team to 
refine the issues to be addressed in the plan/EIS. The Environmental 
Protection Agency published its notice of filing of the Draft EIS in 
the Federal Register on September 22, 2006 (71 FR 55463). The NPS 
notice of availability was published in the Federal Register on 
September 27, 2006 (71 FR 56549).
    Following a 60-day public comment period, NPS considered carefully 
the agency and public comments received, and prepared the FEIS. Not 
sooner than 30 days from the date of publication of the Notice of 
Availability for the FEIS in the Federal Register by the Environmental 
Protection Agency the NPS will sign a Record of Decision on the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement/South Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic 
Plant Management Plan. After the Record of Decision is signed, the NPS 
will publish a Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision on the 
Final Environmental Impact Statement/South Florida and Caribbean Parks 
Exotic Plant Management Plan in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the final document will be available 
online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/EVER. To request a copy contact 
Sandra Hamilton, Environmental Quality Division, National Park Service, 
Academy Place, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, Colorado 80225, 303-969-2068. 
While supplies last, the document can also be picked up in person at 
the participating parks' headquarters: Big Cypress National Preserve, 
33100 Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee, Florida 34141; Biscayne National 
Park, 9700 SW 328 Street, Homestead, Florida 33033; Canaveral National 
Seashore, 212 S. Washington Avenue, Titusville, Florida 32796; Dry 
Tortugas National Park 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, Florida 33034; 
Everglades National Park, 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, Florida 
33034; Buck Island Reef National Monument, Danish Custom House, Kings 
Wharf, 2100 Church Street 100, Christiansted, St. Croix, 
Virgin Islands 00820; Christiansted National Historic Site; Salt River 
Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, and Virgin Islands 
National Park, 1300 Cruz Bay Creek, St. John, Virgin Islands 00830.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Three alternatives are identified and 
potential impacts analyzed in the plan/FEIS. Alternative C, New 
Framework for Exotic Plant Management: Increased Planning, Monitoring, 
and Mitigation, with an Emphasis on Active Restoration of Native 
Plants, is the environmentally preferable alternative and the NPS 
preferred alternative. Alternative C would augment the systematic 
approach integral to alternative B, described below, and would add an 
active restoration program to enhance the return of native species to 
treated areas in selected high-priority areas. Under Alternative C, a 
decision tool would be applied to determine areas that are appropriate 
for active restoration, which would occur in park areas that have been 
previously disturbed and in areas with potential threatened and 
endangered species habitat or sensitive vegetation communities where a 
more rapid recovery would be desirable. The active restoration approach 
for a given treatment area would be determined based on a site-specific 
evaluation. Other areas in the parks would recover passively. Under 
Alternative B, New Framework for Exotic Plant Management: Increased 
Planning, Monitoring, and Mitigation, the parks would apply a 
systematic approach that would prioritize exotic plants for treatment, 
monitor effects of those treatments on exotic plants and park 
resources, and mitigate any adverse effects to park resources, as 
determined through the monitoring program. Alternative B would employ 
an adaptive management strategy, using the results of monitoring to 
adjust treatment methods or mitigation methods to reach the desired 
future condition of treated areas in the parks. The effectiveness of 
efforts to control exotic plant invasion of native habitats would 
increase as a result of uniform recording and storage of information 
acquired during monitoring and of sharing that information among the 
nine park units. Under Alternative A, Continue Current Management, the 
parks would continue to manage exotic plants under the existing 
management framework.
    The parks would continue to treat infestations of exotic plants on 
an ad hoc basis using a variety of physical, mechanical, chemical, and 
biological methods and through currently available funding sources.

    Authority:  The authority for publishing this notice is 40 CFR 
1506.6.

[[Page 52969]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Hamilton, Environmental Quality 
Division, National Park Service, Academy Place, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, 
Colorado 80225, 303-969-2068.
    The responsible official for this final EIS is the Regional 
Director, Southeast Region, National Park Service, 100 Alabama Street, 
SW., 1924 Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.

    Dated: August 16, 2010.
Gordon Wissinger,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-21550 Filed 8-27-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P