[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71826-71827]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-29381]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 National Park Service

[NPS-PWR-PWRO-11822; PPWODIRED0]


Designation of Potential Wilderness as Wilderness, Point Reyes 
National Seashore

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice informs the public that all uses in Point Reyes 
National Seashore that are prohibited by the Wilderness Act (Pub. L. 
88-577) have ceased and certain Federal lands that were previously 
designated as potential wilderness are, upon publication of this 
notice, designated as wilderness.

DATES: The designation is effective December 4, 2012.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public Law 94-567, approved October 20, 
1976, designated 25,370 acres in Point Reyes National Seashore as 
wilderness and further identified 8,003 acres as potential wilderness 
additions in maps entitled ``Wilderness Plan, Point Reyes National 
Seashore'', numbered 612-90,000-B and dated September 1976. The maps 
showing the wilderness area and potential wilderness additions are on 
file at the headquarters of Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes 
Station, CA 94956. Although Section 1 of Public Law 94-567 identified 
the number of acres of wilderness and potential wilderness, the maps 
filed with the committee as required under Section 2 of the legislation 
confirms that the actual acreage of the lands and waters was 24,200 
acres of wilderness and 8,530 acres of potential wilderness.
    Section 3 of Public Law 94-567 provided a process whereby potential 
wilderness additions within the Point Reyes National Seashore would 
convert to designated wilderness upon publication in the Federal 
Register of a notice that all uses of the land prohibited by the 
Wilderness Act (Pub. L. 88-577) have ceased. On November 18, 1999, a 
notice was published in the Federal Register that 1,752 acres of 
potential wilderness had converted to designated wilderness as a result 
of the cessation of prohibited uses. 64 FR 63057.
    Public Law 94-567 identified much of Drakes Estero as potential 
wilderness, and not as designated wilderness, due to the presence of a 
commercial shellfish operation in the estero. The authorizations for 
the commercial shellfish business operating in Drakes Estero expire on 
November 30, 2012.

[[Page 71827]]

Accordingly, all uses prohibited under the Wilderness Act within Drakes 
Estero have ceased as of 11:59 p.m. on November 30, 2012. Drakes Estero 
is entirely in federal ownership. Pursuant to Section 3 of Public Law 
94-567, publication of this notice hereby effects the change in status 
of 1,363 acres of Drakes Estero, more or less, from potential 
wilderness to designated wilderness. A map showing this change is on 
file at the headquarters of Point Reyes National Seashore, Point Reyes 
Station, CA 94956.
    With publication of this notice, the total designated wilderness 
within Point Reyes National Seashore encompasses 27,315 acres, more or 
less. The potential wilderness remaining within the national seashore 
consists of 5,415 acres, more or less. The remaining potential 
wilderness will remain as such until publication of a notice that uses 
conflicting with the provisions of the Wilderness Act have ceased.
    Note that the total wilderness acreage cited in the November 18, 
1999, notice was based on the acreage reported in Section 1 of Public 
Law 94-567. The total wilderness acreage cited in this notice is based 
on the maps filed with the committee under Section 2 of Public Law 94-
567 and the May 1978 survey of the Point Reyes Wilderness. The National 
Park Service believes that the acreage calculation based on the maps 
and survey is more accurate than the acreage reported in Section 1 of 
the Act.
    Note further that in Public Law 99-68, approved on July 1985, 
Congress designated that the wilderness area of Point Reyes National 
Seashore was to be known as the ``Phillip Burton Wilderness.'' Drakes 
Estero is hereby added to the Phillip Burton Wilderness.

    Dated: November 30, 2012.
Jonathan B. Jarvis,
Director, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2012-29381 Filed 12-3-12; 8:45 am]
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