[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 52 (Friday, March 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11788-11789]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-05409]


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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-MWR-KNRI-23883; PPMWMWROW0, PMP00UP05.YP00000]


Notice of Availability of the Final Archeological Resources 
Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Knife River Indian 
Villages National Historic Site, North Dakota

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of 
the Final Archeological Resources Management Plan/Environmental Impact 
Statement (Final Plan/EIS), Knife River Indian Villages National 
Historic Site, North Dakota.

DATES: The NPS will execute a Record of Decision no sooner than 30 days 
from the date that the US Environmental Protection Agency publishes the 
Notice of Availability of the Final Plan/EIS in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: A limited number of hard-copies of the Final Plan/EIS may be 
picked up in-person or may be obtained by making a request in writing 
to Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site, PO Box 9, 
Stanton, North Dakota 58571. The document is also available on the 
internet at the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website 
at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/KNRIfinalEIS.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent, Brenda Todd, may be 
reached at this address above, by telephone at (701) 745-3300 or via 
email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NPS announces the availability of the 
Final Plan/EIS. This process has been conducted pursuant to the 
National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) (42 United States Code 4321 et 
seq.) and the regulations of the US Department of the Interior (43 Code 
of Federal Regulations [CFR] part 46). The purpose of the plan is to 
provide a management framework for proactive, sustainable archeological 
resource protection for the next 30 years. The NPS has identified four 
major threats to the park's archeological resources: Riverbank erosion, 
burrowing mammals, vegetation encroachment and the location of park 
infrastructure. Over the past few decades, village remnants and 
archeological sites adjacent to the Knife River have experienced 
measurable erosion. In addition, northern pocket gophers and the 
encroachment of woody and overgrown vegetation have displaced soil and 
artifacts from chronologically stratified deposits. Under the preferred 
alternative, these threats would be addressed following an adaptive 
management framework designed to detect changes to important indicators 
and provide park managers tools to manage them.
    The preferred alternative also calls for the relocation of the park 
maintenance facility. The maintenance facility is located on the edge 
of the Big Hidatsa Village site, a designated National Historic 
Landmark and sacred site of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation 
(MHA Nation). If off-site space is available and cost effective, the 
maintenance facility would be relocated outside the park. If suitable 
property outside the park is unavailable or cost prohibitive the NPS 
intends to relocate and construct the maintenance facility within the 
park.
    Similarly, the preferred alternative calls for the relocation of 
the museum collections storage facility if current efforts to stop 
water infiltration are unsuccessful. The museum collections storage 
facility, located in the basement of the visitor center, has 
experienced water leaks since construction was completed in 1992. A 
project is underway to waterproof the exterior of the building. If 
efforts fail, the museum collections storage facility would be moved to 
a suitable location in consultation with the MHA Nation.
    Notice of availability of the Draft Plan/EIS was published in the 
Federal Register on November 4, 2016 (81 FR 214), and the NPS provided 
the public with 60 days to review and comment on the draft document. 
The NPS also held public meetings in Stanton, North Dakota, and 
Bismarck, North Dakota, to facilitate public understanding of the 
document and provide opportunity for public comment. Public comments 
informed the NPS analysis of alternatives in the Final Plan/EIS. A 
summary of the public comments received, and NPS responses to those 
comments are addressed in chapter 5 of the Final Plan/EIS.

[[Page 11789]]

Authority

    The authority for publishing this notice is 40 CFR 1506.6.

    Dated: March 8, 2018.
Cameron H. Sholly,
Regional Director, Midwest Region, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 2018-05409 Filed 3-15-18; 8:45 am]
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