[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]
BILLING CODE 4312-52-P