[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 135 (Thursday, July 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41516-41517]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17761]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[2031-A153-422]


Vegetation and Deer Management Plan/Environmental Impact 
Statement, Morristown National Historical Park, New Jersey

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
for a Vegetation and Deer Management Plan, Morristown National 
Historical Park, New Jersey.

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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 is preparing an 
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for a Vegetation and Deer 
Management Plan at Morristown National Historical Park (NHP), New 
Jersey. The purpose of this plan is to provide the framework for 
managing vegetation and deer browsing in order to promote a naturally 
regenerating hardwood forest with mixed-aged classes of trees that 
reflect the historic and naturally diverse character of the park. 
Action is needed now to meet the Congressional intent and the direction 
in the park's general management plan (GMP) of maintaining a naturally 
regenerating and sustainable forested landscape.

DATES: The National Park Service will accept comments from the public 
through August 15, 2011. The National Park Service intends to hold two 
public scoping meetings within the park at Washington's Headquarters 
Museum during the scoping period. Details regarding the exact dates and 
times of these meetings will be announced in the scoping newsletter, on 
the Internet (at http://www.nps.gov/morr and http://parkplanning.nps.gov/morr), and through local media at least 15 days in 
advance of the meetings.

ADDRESSES: Information will be available for public review and comment 
online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/morr and at Washington's 
Headquarters Museum in Morristown National Historical Park, 30 
Washington Place, Morristown, NJ 07960.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent, Morristown National 
Historical Park (973-539-2016, ext. 200).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Morristown NHP was established and is 
managed to reflect an 18th-century landscape pattern of field, forest, 
orchard and clearings that was present during the winter encampments of 
the Continental Army under General George Washington. The park's 
General Management Plan (GMP) further indicates that rather than 
recreate an exact replica of the encampment period, Morristown NHP will 
protect and foster the landscape to include a broader cultural and 
ecological context. The GMP also specifies that an important piece of 
this landscape and both its cultural and ecological contexts is a 
naturally regenerating mixed hardwood forest that reflects historic 
character, natural diversity, and natural processes. However, this 
critical element of the landscape is currently threatened, as native 
species show little or no regeneration.
    Studies and ongoing monitoring show that the loss of regeneration 
appears to be primarily due to two forces: current levels of deer 
feeding and browsing, which contribute to lower tree seedling 
regeneration rates; and the expansion of non-native invasive species, 
which are outcompeting native species and depressing or eliminating 
native tree seedling regeneration rates over much of the forest.
    Over time, the absence of regeneration will result in either: (1) 
Replacement of forest stands with species that do not reflect the 
forest's historic character or natural diversity, or (2) the 
disappearance of mixed hardwoods altogether.
    The National Park Service will prepare a scoping newsletter which 
will present the issues and statements of purpose, need, and objectives 
of the Vegetation and Deer Management Plan that the NPS has identified 
to date during its internal scoping meetings. The newsletter also will 
provide information on upcoming public scoping meetings that will be 
held to gather feedback on these topics. Copies of that information 
will be available

[[Page 41517]]

online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/morr or at Morristown NHP's 
Washington's Headquarters Museum, 30 Washington Place, Morristown, New 
Jersey.
    If you wish to comment on the purpose, need, objectives, or on any 
other issues associated with the plan, you may submit your comments by 
one of several methods: Via the Internet at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/morr (preferred method); at upcoming public 
scoping meetings; and by mailing or hand-delivering comments to 
Superintendent, 30 Washington Place, Morristown, NJ 07960. 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.

Dennis R. Reidenbach,
Regional Director, Northeast Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-17761 Filed 7-13-11; 8:45 am]
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