[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 184 (Monday, September 23, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 49759-49760]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-20559]
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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-SERO-BISO-NPS0027182; PPSESEROC3, PPMPSAS1Y.YP0000]
Determination of Eligibility for Consideration as Wilderness
Areas, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of determination of wilderness eligibility for lands in
Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the Wilderness Act of 1964, and in accordance with
National Park Service (NPS) Management Policies (2006), Section 6.2.1,
the NPS has completed a Wilderness Eligibility Assessment to determine
if lands within Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area (Big
South Fork NRRA) meet criteria indicating eligibility for preservation
as wilderness. The lands subject to the assessment were those
identified in the park's General Management Plan as being within the
Natural Environment Recreation Zone and the Sensitive Resource
Protection Zone. All other zones in the plan are development zones.
Based on the assessment, the NPS has concluded that the assessed lands:
(1) Are not predominantly roadless and undeveloped; (2) are not greater
than 5,000 acres in size or of sufficient size as to make practicable
their preservation and use in an unimpaired condition; and (3) do not
meet the wilderness character criteria listed in the Wilderness Act and
NPS Management Policies (2006). As a result of these findings, the NPS
has determined that lands within Big South Fork NRRA do not warrant
further study for possible designation as wilderness at this time. An
updated eligibility assessment may be warranted in the future as lands
in the park recover from past human disturbance.
ADDRESSES: A map of the lands assessed is on file at Big South Fork
National River and Recreation Area Headquarters, 4564 Leatherwood Road,
Oneida, Tennessee 37841.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Superintendent Niki Stephanie
Nicholas, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, by phone
at 423-569-9778, via email at [email protected], or by mail
at Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, 4564 Leatherwood
Road, Oneida, Tennessee 37841.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Big South Fork NRRA comprises 125,310 acres
on the Cumberland Plateau of eastern Tennessee and southern Kentucky.
Of this total, 116,309 acres are in Federal ownership. Big South Fork
NRRA has been affected by past extractive activities, including
farming, logging, sub-surface coal mining, and drilling for oil and
gas.
Staff of the Big South Fork NRRA reviewed the Primary Eligibility
Criteria found in Section 6.2.1.1 of NPS Management Policies to
evaluate the park's wilderness eligibility. The eligibility assessment
initially identified seven areas in the park that are undeveloped,
appear to have been affected primarily by the forces of nature, and
offer opportunities for solitude and an unconfined type of recreation.
These areas range in size from 279.2 acres to 3,655.7 acres. None is
over 5,000 acres in size, or, given the nature of adjacent recreational
and management activities, of sufficient size to make practicable its
preservation and use as wilderness in an unimpaired condition.
Furthermore, none of these areas is untrammeled. Due to their small
size, each must be actively managed to control the effects of fire,
deal with invasive species, and ameliorate the impacts of prior human
disturbance. Accordingly, the NPS has determined that none of the
acreage administered by the NPS at Big South Fork NRRA is eligible for
designation as wilderness.
A public notice announcing the NPS's intention to conduct this
eligibility assessment was placed in the Federal Register on December
20, 2016. A previous press release had been issued to local media on
March 6, 2007
[[Page 49760]]
informing the public of the assessment process. The NPS received no
comments on either the press release or the subsequent notice.
Given that no lands at Big South Fork NRRA currently eligible for
wilderness consideration, no wilderness study will be undertaken
pursuant to Management Policies Section 2.2.2 to develop a
recommendation to Congress for wilderness designation.
Dated: August 5, 2019.
Robert A. Vogel,
Regional Director.
[FR Doc. 2019-20559 Filed 9-20-19; 8:45 am]
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