[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 243 (Monday, December 20, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79388-79389]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-31902]


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

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Record of Decision

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision on the Final 
Environmental Impact Statement/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 CFR part 1500-1508), the Department of the Interior, National Park 
Service (NPS) has prepared and approved a Record of Decision (ROD) for 
the Final Environmental Impact Statement (Final EIS) for the South 
Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan. The nine 
parks included in this Plan are: 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 ROD documents the decision by the NPS to implement Alternative 
C (New Framework for Exotic Plant management: Increased Planning, 
Monitoring, and Mitigation, with an Emphasis on Active Restoration of 
Native Plants) as the selected action for the South Florida and 
Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan. Alternative C was also 
identified in the Final EIS as the environmentally preferable 
alternative.
    The selected action is necessary to promote restoration of native 
species and habitat conditions in ecosystems that have been invaded by 
exotic plants and to protect park resources and values from adverse 
effects resulting from exotic plant presence and control activities. 
The intended effects or objectives of this action are to:
     Establish priorities for exotic plants to be treated and 
treatment locations in parks;

[[Page 79389]]

     Reduce the number of individual targeted exotic plants to 
minimize the threat to natural resources (native habitat, plants, and 
wildlife);
     Reduce to the greatest extent possible the introduction of 
new exotic plants into parks;
     Ensure that park exotic plant management programs support, 
and are consistent with, south Florida ecosystem restoration goals;
     Reconcile potential conflicts between preservation of 
significant cultural landscapes and removal of exotic plants;
     Preserve plants and sites valued by native Americans and 
other traditional cultures and protect archeological and historic 
resources, while reducing the spread of exotic plant species;
     Conduct the exotic plant management plan so it is 
continually monitored and improved, environmentally safe, incorporates 
best management practices, and supports and is supported by science and 
research;
     Minimize unintended impacts of control measures on park 
resources, visitors, employees, and the public;
     Use Federal resources with increased efficiency;
     Ensure that control measures are consistent with the 
Wilderness Act and NPS wilderness policy;
     Increase visitor and public awareness of the impacts 
exotic plants have on native habitat and species and on cultural 
resources, building support for NPS management efforts;
     Coordinate NPS efforts with partners and neighbors 
(nationally and internationally) to establish compatible goals and 
provide assistance to achieve them; and
     Restore and protect native plant communities in ways that 
allow natural processes, function, cycles, and biota to be re-
established and maintained in perpetuity.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Hamilton, Environmental Quality 
Division, National Park Service, Academy Place, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, 
CO 80225. Telephone: (303) 969-2068 for questions about the EIS process 
or Tony Pernas, Southeast Regional Office, National Park Service (305) 
252-0347 for questions about technical aspects of the Plan.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under the selected action, the NPS will 
apply a systematic approach that will 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. The NPS will 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. A decision tool will be 
applied to determine areas that are appropriate for active restoration, 
which will 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 is 
desirable. The active restoration approach for a given treatment area 
will be determined based on a site-specific evaluation. Other areas in 
the parks will recover passively after treatment.
    The ROD briefly discusses the selected action, two other 
alternatives considered, the basis for the decision, and measures to 
minimize impacts and address public concerns.
    The requisite no-action ``wait period'' before approval of the ROD 
was initiated on 3 September 2010, with the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency's Federal Register notification of the filing of the 
Final EIS. As soon as practical after the publication of this Notice in 
the Federal Register, the nine parks included in the Plan will begin to 
implement treatment and control, monitoring, adaptive management of 
exotic plants and restoration of native plant communities as described 
and analyzed in the Preferred Alternative (Alternative C) presented in 
the Final EIS.
    Interested parties desiring to review the ROD may access it on the 
NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WASO or may obtain a copy by contacting the 
participating parks' headquarters: Big Cypress National Preserve, 33100 
Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee, FL 34141; Biscayne National Park, 9700 SW 
328 Street, Homestead, FL 33033; Canaveral National Seashore, 212 S. 
Washington Avenue, Titusville, FL 32796; Dry Tortugas National Park, 
40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, FL 33034; Everglades National Park, 
40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, FL 33034; Buck Island Reef National 
Monument, Danish Custom House, Kings Wharf, 2100 Church Street 
100, Christiansted, St. Croix, VI 00820; Christiansted 
National Historic Site, Danish Custom House, Kings Wharf, 2100 Church 
Street 100, Christiansted, St. Croix, VI 00820; Salt River Bay 
National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, Danish Custom House, 
Kings Wharf, 2100 Church Street 100, Christiansted, St. Croix, 
VI 00820; and Virgin Islands National Park, 1300 Cruz Bay Creek, St. 
John, VI 00830.

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

    The responsible official for this ROD is the Regional Director, 
Southeast Region, NPS, 100 Alabama Street, SW., 1924 Building, Atlanta, 
Georgia 30303.

    Dated: December 2, 2010.
David Vela,
Regional Director, Southeast Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2010-31902 Filed 12-17-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-V6-P