[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26086-26089]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-10528]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-PWR-PWRO-17596]; [PX.PR113509L.00.1]


Draft General Management Plan/Wilderness Study/Environmental 
Impact Statement Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) has prepared a Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the General Management Plan 
(GMP) for Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (Hawaii Volcanoes NP) in the 
State of Hawaii. The proposed GMP also includes a wilderness study (WS) 
which analyzes wilderness suitability of park lands and includes a 
recommendation for wilderness designation. This DEIS describes and 
analyzes three GMP alternatives that respond to both NPS planning 
requirements and to public concerns and issues identified during the 
scoping and public involvement process. Each alternative presents 
management strategies for resource protection and preservation, 
education and interpretation, visitor use and facilities, land 
protection and boundaries, and long-term operations and management of 
Hawaii Volcanoes NP. The potential environmental consequences of all 
the alternatives, and mitigation strategies, are analyzed, and the 
``environmentally preferred'' alternative is identified. The wilderness 
study recommends wilderness designation of lands found eligible in the 
Kahuku Unit. This GMP will replace the 1975 Master Plan for the park.

DATES: All written comments must be postmarked or transmitted not later 
than July 6, 2015 of the Environmental Protection Agency's notice of 
filing and release of the DEIS. Upon publication of this notice, the 
date will be immediately posted on the park's Web site (www.nps.gov/havo) and on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) 
Web site (http://parkplanning.nps.gov/havo), and publicized via local 
and regional press media.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cindy Orlando, Superintendent, Hawaii 
Volcanoes National Park, P.O. Box 52, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718-
0052 or via telephone at (808) 985-6026.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    A Notice of Intent announcing preparation of the DEIS and GMP was

[[Page 26087]]

published in the Federal Register on April 13, 2009. The NPS also 
publicized the public scoping period and invited public comment through 
newsletters, correspondence, press releases, public workshops, informal 
meetings, and the PEPC Web site. During the spring of 2009 the NPS 
produced an initial newsletter describing the start of the planning 
process and soliciting feedback on issues to be addressed in the plan 
(approximately 8,500 newsletters were distributed overall). A 
comprehensive scoping outreach effort elicited early public comment 
regarding issues and concerns, the nature and extent of potential 
environmental impacts, and possible alternatives that should be 
addressed in the preparation of the GMP. Agencies, organizations, 
governmental representatives, and Native Hawaiian organizations were 
sent letters of invitation to attend the public workshops or individual 
meetings. Press releases were distributed to local and regional news 
media. The project was launched on the PEPC Web site, providing access 
to information about the GMP and a method for taking public comments. 
News articles featuring the public open house meetings were written in 
the West Hawaii Today, Hawaii Tribune Herald, and the Kau Calendar, as 
well as public service announcements on local radio stations.
    The NPS held seven public open house meetings on the islands of 
Hawaii, Oahu and Maui in April and May 2009 to provide the public with 
an opportunity to learn about the general management planning project 
and to offer comments. The meetings began with a brief welcome and 
introduction to the GMP planning process, and transitioned into an open 
house format where attendees could visit six stations featuring 
tabletop poster displays. A total of 95 people attended the meetings. 
The park also conducted several stakeholder meetings to obtain input 
from representatives of city, county, and federal agencies, business 
and community organizations, Native Hawaiian organizations, and 
research permit holders. Park staff also gave poster presentations at 
local meetings of the Kau Chamber of Commerce, Volcano Community 
Association, and Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. Altogether 
during the 2009 scoping phase, the park planning team spoke with 
approximately 400 people at public and stakeholder meetings and 
approximately 1,500 people at park and community tabling events. 
Correspondence received from over 130 individuals and organizations 
engendered approximately 1,250 specific comments. All comments were 
carefully reviewed and considered by the planning team to inform 
preparation of this GMP, and are preserved in the project 
administrative record.
    Expanding the scope of the EIS was announced in the Federal 
Register on December 2, 2011. The EIS was expanded to include a 
wilderness study needed to evaluate foreseeable effects associated with 
possible designation of wilderness within the park. This Notice of 
Intent also formally extended the GMP preliminary alternatives comment 
period through January 2, 2012, in order to gain additional comments 
about wilderness and the recently evaluated wilderness-eligible lands 
within the Kahuku Unit.
    The NPS conducted an additional round of public involvement at the 
draft alternatives phase of the planning process to ensure that the 
planning team fully comprehended the public's concerns and preferences 
with regard to the range of draft alternatives and to assist the 
planning team in refining the draft alternatives and identifying a 
preferred alternative. In addition, this engagement afforded 
opportunity for formal scoping for the wilderness study. During scoping 
for the wilderness study the NPS described the wilderness eligibility 
analysis that had been completed for the Kahuku Unit and elicited 
public comments specifically focused on the wilderness study.
    During August 2011 the NPS produced and mailed the Draft 
Alternatives Newsletter to approximately 955 contacts on the GMP 
mailing list. The newsletter fully outlined the concepts and actions in 
the draft alternatives and proposed management zones, and included 
information on the wilderness eligibility that was completed and the 
wilderness study that would be included in the DEIS/GMP. The newsletter 
also contained a business reply questionnaire to facilitate public 
comments on the four draft alternatives. In addition to the planning 
schedule included in the Newsletter, information was distributed to 
local media in advance of the public meetings and articles were printed 
in three local papers: West Hawaii Today, Hawaii Tribune Herald, and 
the Kau Calendar.
    The NPS held a public open house meeting and two stakeholder 
meetings in the park, and two additional public meetings were held in 
the towns of Pahoa and Naalehu. A total of 66 people participated. 
Overall the NPS received 72 written responses in the form of letters, 
emails, comment forms, and comments submitted on the PEPC Web site. A 
total of 709 individual comments were received. All comments received 
were again reviewed by the GMP planning team to inform preparation of 
the Draft GMP/WS. A summary of public comments on the preliminary 
alternatives and wilderness study was created and made available to the 
public in February, 2012, on the park's Web site, in PEPC, and through 
830 mailers sent to the GMP project mailing list.

Proposed Plan and Alternatives

    Alternative 1 (No Action Alternative)--Existing programming, 
facilities, staffing, and funding would generally continue at current 
levels to protect the values of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. There 
would be no major changes in current management or visitor use. 
Implementation of currently approved plans would continue as funding 
allows. This alternative provides the baseline for evaluating actions 
and impacts in other alternatives.
    Alternative 2 (Preferred Alternative)--Strengthens and expands 
opportunities to connect people with the volcanic world treasure, 
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and provide a wide range of high 
quality visitor experiences based on different geographic areas. 
K[imacr]lauea summit would continue to be the most actively visited 
area of the park with the greatest concentration of services and 
amenities for park visitors. Along Chain of Craters Road and Mauna Loa 
Road, the park would strive to provide visitors with improved 
opportunities to experience and connect with park resources and values, 
including new opportunities at places like Mauna Ulu and 
Kealakomowaena, while dispersing use to create a less congested and 
more tranquil experience. At Kahuku, although visitor access and 
recreation opportunities would be expanded from what is currently 
offered, infrastructure and development would be minimal, gradually 
phased in over time, and remain rustic in design to allow for a 
primitive visitor experience.
    Natural and cultural resources would continue to be managed and 
protected with a high degree of integrity, consistent with direction 
provided by existing laws and policies. The preferred alternative 
emphasizes the park's role as a refuge and haven for native biota, 
people, and cultures in a world constantly adapting to volcanic 
activity and island building processes. The preferred alternative would 
honor the Native Hawaiian people and culture by recognizing Native 
Hawaiian values such as malama aina (nourishing or taking care of the 
land) and kuleana (responsibility) and perspectives from

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Native Hawaiian land management such as ahupuaa management (managing 
land from mauka (mountains) to makai (sea) as important concepts in 
park stewardship of resources. Native Hawaiian traditional ecological 
knowledge would be used to enhance current scientific understanding to 
protect park resources and provide additional interpretive and 
educational opportunities for visitors. Alternative 2 is also 
considered to be the ``environmentally preferred'' course of action.
    Alternative 3--Emphasizes building new connections with the park 
primarily through expanded education and hands-on stewardship 
opportunities. Traditional visitor opportunities would continue and 
capacity could be expanded at some existing sites to allow for 
increased visitation, but new development would be very limited and a 
suite of management tools would be used to disperse visitors and manage 
congestion throughout the park. A greater focus would be placed on 
science and learning opportunities for visitors from mauka (mountains) 
to makai (sea). The park would immerse visitors in the protection and 
restoration of native species and ecosystems by maximizing 
opportunities to participate in restoration activities and additional 
emphasis would be placed on providing opportunities for visitors to 
engage in research, scientific investigation, and projects associated 
with natural and cultural resources management, notably in Kahuku.
    Similar to Alternative 2, natural and cultural resources would 
continue to be managed and protected with a high degree of integrity, 
consistent with direction provided by existing laws and policies. This 
alternative also emphasizes the park's role as a refuge and haven for 
native biota, people, and cultures in a world constantly adapting to 
volcanic activity and island building processes. This alternative would 
honor the Native Hawaiian people and culture, by recognizing Native 
Hawaiian values such as malama aina and kuleana, and perspectives from 
Native Hawaiian land management such as ahupuaa management (managing 
land from mauka to makai) as important concepts in park stewardship of 
resources. Native Hawaiian traditional ecological knowledge would be 
used to enhance current scientific understanding to protect park 
resources and provide additional interpretive and educational 
opportunities for visitors.

Actions Common to All Alternatives

    Many aspects of natural and cultural resources management (such as 
an emphasis on restoring native ecosystems, preservation of wilderness 
character, and continued support for research), visitor use and 
experience (such as providing access to the iconic places and volcanic 
processes), and collaboration with partners on a variety of issues 
(including coastal and shoreline management) are common to all 
alternatives. The park would continue to operate Volcano House as a 
concession operation for lodging, retail, and food and beverage 
services in all alternatives. Guidance for Kilauea Military Camp (KMC) 
and use of the 1877 Volcano House should conditions change also applies 
to all alternatives. The park would continue to provide interpretation 
at the Jaggar Museum, with improved exhibits, and the Hawaiian Volcano 
Observatory would continue to operate adjacent to Jaggar Museum. The 
park would also continue to implement recently approved initiatives 
including: Fire Management Plan (2007), Crater Rim Drive Rehabilitation 
(2010), Archeological Preservation Plan for Kealakomo Ahupuaa (2011), 
and Protecting and Restoring Native Ecosystems by Managing Non-native 
Ungulates (2013).
    Flexibility in managing Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is necessary 
given the park is situated between two active volcanoes, and volcanic 
eruptions are possible at any time. Park management is influenced by 
the magnitude of individual events. Rather than provide specific 
recommendations in the GMP for how the park may respond to a given 
event, the planning team has developed some general ``adaptive 
management'' guidance for managers facing volcanic activity in the 
future, notably with respect to facilities and infrastructure in the 
park. This guidance is also common to all alternatives.
    Finally, in 1989 a 5.5 mile segment of the historic Chain of 
Craters Road through the park towards Kalapana and Pahoa was buried by 
lava flows. Due to a change in the direction of other lava flows above 
this area, in 2014 the remaining access to the Pahoa area became 
threatened. Consequently, an unpaved emergency access route was 
constructed following the historic road alignment. This route is for 
emergency access only, in the event of access to Pahoa being cut off. 
Under all of the alternatives, when this route is no longer needed for 
emergency access, it would be used as an equestrian, biking, and hiking 
trail (similar in character and functionality to the Escape Road from 
the summit to Mauna Ulu) to provide a quality non-motorized visitor use 
opportunity and future emergency route without compromising natural 
values and avoiding the management complexity of managing a new coastal 
entrance to the park.

Wilderness Study

    The NPS proposes wilderness designation of certain lands found 
eligible in the Kahuku Unit (121,015 acres) as a natural extension of 
the existing wilderness within the park. This proposed designation 
would further a conservation vision for high-elevation protection of 
natural and cultural resources and would create connectivity for park 
wilderness that would span from the summit of Mauna Loa Volcano all the 
way down its massive Southwest Rift. This rugged and remote environment 
offers outstanding opportunities for solitude and potential for high-
challenge recreational hiking. Nearly all of this mauka area of Kahuku 
is a place where the imprint of humans is scarcely noticeable, 
overpowered by the vast lava expanse and aura of wildness. Consistent 
with NPS policy, the park would continue to manage these proposed 
eligible lands for their wilderness qualities prior to formal 
designation.
    Public Review and Comment: A limited number of printed copies of 
the Draft GMP/WS/EIS are available for review at local public 
libraries, and by request to the park (address below). The document is 
also available on the GMP project Web site. Comments are encouraged to 
be submitted electronically at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/havo. The 
postage paid comment response form included in the Draft General 
Management Plan/Wilderness Study/EIS Newsletter #4 may be used 
(additional pages can be attached as necessary). Written comments can 
be mailed to: Superintendent, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, P.O. Box 
52, Hawaii National Park, HI 96718-0052. Comments may also be submitted 
at one of the open house meetings to be conducted by the NPS--complete 
details including dates, time, and locations will be posted on the GMP 
Web site (and announced via local and regional press media). In 
addition, a formal hearing on the wilderness study will also be held in 
conjunction with one of the open house meetings. The hearing will occur 
not later than two weeks before the conclusion of the 60 day public 
review and comment period.

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    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.
    Decision Process: Following the 60 day opportunity for public 
review of the DEIS/WS/GMP, all comments received will be carefully 
considered in preparing the final document. The FEIS document is 
anticipated to be completed during the fall of 2015 and its 
availability will be announced in the Federal Register and via local 
and regional press media. As a delegated EIS, the official responsible 
for the final decision is the Regional Director, Pacific West Region; 
subsequently the official responsible for implementation will be the 
Superintendent, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

    Dated: February 2, 2015.
Christine S. Lehnertz,
Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-10528 Filed 5-5-15; 8:45 am]
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