[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5455-5457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01675]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-PWR-PWRO-14060;PPPWSAMO00/PX.DSAMO0003.00.1]


Notice of Intent to Prepare a Joint Environmental Impact 
Statement/Environmental Impact Report for Trail Management Plan, Santa 
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Ventura and Los Angeles 
Counties, California

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent.

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SUMMARY: The original Notice of Intent to prepare the Trail Management 
Plan was published in the Federal Register on January 16, 2003, with an 
estimated completion date of 2004 for the joint EIS/EIR. The National 
Park Service (NPS) and state of California partner agencies conducted 
public scoping meetings in 2005 and gathered public comments on 
conceptual trail policies and map alternatives needed to prepare the 
Draft EIS/EIR. Owing to lack of funding, the NPS and partner agencies 
were unable to continue preparation of the EIS/EIR after the 2005 
public scoping effort. State and federal funding for the EIS/EIR has 
now been secured, and the agencies are reinitiating joint preparation 
of the Trail Management Plan (TMP) and combined EIS/EIR. The NPS is the 
lead agency responsible for preparing the EIS, and the California 
Department of Parks and Recreation (CDPR) is the lead agency 
responsible for preparing the EIR. The Santa Monica Mountains 
Conservancy (SMMC) and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation 
Authority (MRCA) will be cooperating agencies in the EIS/EIR effort. 
Following publication of this Notice, CDPR will reissue a Notice of 
Preparation to initiate the preparation of a joint EIS/EIR pursuant to 
the requirements of the California Environmental Policy Act (CEQA).

DATES: All written public scoping comments must be postmarked or 
transmitted not later than April 1, 2014.
    Further Information: Periodically updated materials about the 
integrated EIS/EIR process will be made available via mailings, 
regional and local news

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media, and at the SMMNRA TMP project Web site (http://parkplanning.nps.gov/smmnra-tmp) and the SMMNRA Web page (http://www.nps.gov/samo/parkmgmt/tmp-index.htm). For further information, 
contact Melanie Beck, Outdoor Recreation Planner, Santa Monica 
Mountains National Recreation Area, National Park Service, 401W. 
Hillcrest Dr., Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (805) 370-2346.
    Background: The Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area 
(SMMNRA) encompasses 153,250 acres, with approximately 84,000 acres of 
public parkland and protected open space, with the rest in private or 
other government ownership. Within the SMMNRA, there is a 500-mile 
public trail network made up of trails and dirt service roads. The 
greater Santa Monica Mountains trail network adjacent to the national 
recreation area features over 80 additional miles of public trails, 
several of which feed into the recreation area. Public lands and the 
trails in the national recreation area are managed by federal, state, 
and local agencies with varying management policies. Additionally, much 
of the trail network consists of utility and old ranch roads that were 
inherited with the land and are not necessarily constructed to public 
trail management standards. After almost 35 years of continuous land 
acquisition, the public trail network has grown significantly, and 
several trails now cross parkland jurisdictional boundaries. There is 
the need to formulate an interagency trail plan to compile trail 
management policies to facilitate a seamless recreational experience 
for a variety of trail users and to prepare a vision for the final 
trail network and development of trail-related facilities, ranging from 
trail network signs to backcountry trail camps.
    The NPS, CDPR, SMMC, and MRCA will jointly prepare a TMP and 
integrated EIS/EIR intended to establish the overall, coordinated, 
long-range direction of future management and development and 
completion of the trail network. Based on identified desired conditions 
for park natural, cultural, and recreational resources, the TMP will 
prescribe actions to support interagency management of the trail 
network throughout the national recreation area. The TMP will include a 
trail map depicting the planned trail network use designation and 
management actions. The planning and environmental analysis associated 
with the TMP could result in a program that would modify current trail 
policies, recreational use patterns, and future trail openings and 
closures.
    Scope of EIS/EIR: The Draft TMP EIS/EIR will address environmental 
and social impacts associated with the national recreation area's 
existing and proposed trail network and related facilities. 
Environmental issues will include, but not be limited to, sensitive 
plant and animal habitat, cultural and archaeological resource sites, 
erosion and water resources; soils and geology, and visitor safety. 
Social issues will include, but not be limited to, allowable uses and 
user conflicts on trails; trail network public access; compatibility 
with gateway communities and local neighborhoods; trail network and 
facilities compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act 
requirements. Feasibility of trail network management and operation 
will also be considered.
    The Draft TMP EIS/EIR will evaluate alternative trail network 
designs and supportive interagency practices to manage the network. In 
addition to ``no action'' and ``agency preferred'' alternatives, at 
this time it is expected that other alternatives may be needed to 
address contrasting recreational use patterns. All foreseeable 
environmental impacts of the alternatives will be evaluated, and an 
``environmentally preferred'' alternative will be identified. The 
alternatives will be based on input from the community, an evaluation 
of environmental constraints using current environmental condition 
information, trail network maintenance feasibility, and visitor 
recreational use surveys conducted in the national recreation area.
    Public Engagement: Public scoping for a proposed interagency trail 
plan began with the community-based Santa Monica Mountains Area 
Recreational Trails (SMMART) project that culminated in the 1997 SMMART 
Report (available for review at www.nps.gov/samo/trails). The SMMART 
Report contains community and user group recommendations regarding 
missing links in the trail network, backcountry camps along the 
regional Backbone Trail System, trail network sign guidelines, multiple 
use trail guidelines, and trail system design. The report also put 
forth a list of priority coordination issues not addressed in the 
SMMART project, including interagency cooperation, volunteer 
commitment, and multi-agency trail crew and equipment sharing.
    In addition, numerous trail network-related comments were received 
during public scoping and the Draft EIS comment period for the 2003 
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area General Management 
Plan. All relevant information derived from these two processes will be 
considered while preparing the Draft TMP EIS/EIR.
    Following the January 2003 publication of the original Notice of 
Intent in the Federal Register, the NPS conducted a series of public 
scoping sessions in September 2005 to solicit comments on conceptual 
trail map alternatives. Three conceptual alternative trail network maps 
were presented at seven meetings held throughout the SMMNRA area. 
Relevant information received from 320 participants mostly concerned 
trail use designations, trail networks, new trailhead locations, modes 
of access, and amenities needed. Respondents also recommended 
equestrian backcountry camps along the Backbone Trail, and supported 
plans for managing mountain biking and the need for additional patrol 
and educational outreach. This information will continue to be 
considered while preparing the Draft TMP EIS/EIR.
    Presently, the NPS anticipates hosting several public scoping 
meetings within SMMNRA to conclude the public scoping efforts for the 
Draft TMP EIS/EIR. These will be scheduled not later than two weeks 
prior to the end of the 60 day scoping period--confirmed details will 
be posted on the project Web sites, and announced via local and 
regional media. In addition, a scoping newsletter will be distributed 
to publicize meeting details and provide a summary of issues and 
concerns developed through past scoping efforts, as well as to present 
information about the overall TMP planning process. The scoping summary 
newsletter will be available on both the SMMNRA Web site http://www.nps.gov/samo/parkmgmt/tmp-index.htm and the TMP project Web site 
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/smmnra-tmp, and will mailed to the current 
TMP contact list.
    How to Comment: The NPS encourages comments about new issues and 
concerns that can inform the conservation planning and environmental 
impact analysis for the proposed TMP. The most useful comments are 
those that provide new environmental information, and suggest 
reasonable design alternatives the park should consider while 
initiating TMP EIS/EIR preparation. Comments submitted previously for 
the 1997 SMMART project, the 2003 SMMNRA GMP, or the original TMP 
scoping process will also be fully considered, with no need to resubmit 
those comments.

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    All written comments must be transmitted, postmarked, or hand-
delivered as follows. You may provide your response electronically at 
the TMP Web site http://parkplanning.nps.gov/smmnra-tmp, or you may 
mail or fax your written comments to Superintendent David Szymanski, 
Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, Attn: Trail Management 
Plan, 401 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks, CA 91360, Fax (805) 370-
1850. Written comments may also be hand-delivered at the public scoping 
meetings or to the address noted above.
    Before including your address, phone number, email 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.
    Also, comments in any format (written or electronic) submitted by 
an individual or organization on behalf of another individual or 
organization will not be accepted.
    Decision Process: After analysis of all responses and information 
received during the scoping period, a Draft EIS/EIR will be prepared 
(at this time, release of the document is expected to occur in mid-
2014). Availability of the Draft EIS/EIR for review and written comment 
will be officially announced in the Federal Register, through local and 
regional news media, the above-listed Web sites, and direct mailing. 
Comments on the draft TMP EIS/EIR will be duly considered in preparing 
the Final EIS/EIR. Thereafter, but not sooner than 30 days after the 
release of the Final EIS/EIR, a Record of Decision will be prepared for 
the EIS and the final steps for the EIR Notice of Determination will be 
followed in accordance with CEQA. As a delegated EIS, the official 
responsible for approving the Record of Decision is the Regional 
Director, Pacific West Region, National Park Service; subsequently the 
official responsible for NPS implementation of the approved Trail 
Management Plan will be the Superintendent, Santa Monica Mountains 
National Recreation Area.

    Dated: November 13, 2013.
Christine S. Lehnertz,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2014-01675 Filed 1-30-14; 8:45 am]
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