+------------+-----------------------------------------------+--------+
| !          | # United States Department of the Interior    | ![     |
| [](media/i |                                               | ](medi |
| mage1.png) | ##                                            | a/imag |
|            |                                               | e2.png |
|            | ## NATIONAL PARK SERVICE                      | ){widt |
|            |                                               | h="0.7 |
|            | ### Zion National Park                        | 631944 |
|            |                                               | 444444 |
|            | ##### Springdale, Utah 84767                  | 444in" |
|            |                                               | height |
|            |                                               | ="0.99 |
|            |                                               | 861111 |
|            |                                               | 111111 |
|            |                                               | 11in"} |
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IN REPLY REFER TO: L7617 & Y1823 (ZION RM&R)

> August 8, 2007

Dear Interested Party:

Zion National Park is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) to
assess the impacts of the aerial application of herbicide on the area
burned in the Dakota Hill Fire Complex. The fire complex included two
lightning-caused fires that started on July 15, 2007 and burned 5,890
acres within the park. The west fire burned about 2,000 acres on the
southern end of Horse Pasture Plateau and the east fire burned 3,890
acres north of Orderville Canyon. The EA will also analyze additional
herbicide treatments to approximately 10,000 acres burned in June 2006
Kolob Fire. Because of the remote and rough terrain in the burn area,
helicopter application of the herbicide is proposed.

The proposed aerial application of herbicide is intended to interrupt
the grass-fire cycle that is perpetuated by cheatgrass, a non-native,
highly flammable grass. Cheatgrass increases in abundance and density
after fire. As cheatgrass continues to invade and increase after each
fire, the time between fires becomes shorter. Since the native shrubs
and trees are slower to re-establish after fire and need many years
between fire events to complete their lifecycles, the increased fire
frequency fueled by cheatgrass eventually eliminates the native shrubs
and trees from the landscape.

A treatment is needed to interrupt the grass-fire cycle that has already
been established, but has not yet eliminated the native seed from the
soil. The National Park Service (NPS) proposes to treat the burned area
with a mixture of the herbicides Plateau and Roundup. Plateau targets
cheatgrass seed before germination: reducing the growth of cheatgrass
which reduces the fine fuels that carry wildland fires. Plateau has
shown a very low toxicity to humans, fish and wildlife, and does not
remain in the soil. Roundup is a non-selective post-emergence herbicide
which works by foliar uptake and completely biodegrades within 21 days.
It is practically non-toxic to humans and wildlife and moderately toxic
in the first 96 hours to aquatic life forms.

The NPS welcomes your comments, suggestions, and other input concerning
this project to help us identify issues of concern and to ensure that
the EA thoroughly addresses potential impacts from the proposal. Please
submit written comments by August 22, 2007 to: Dakota Hill Fire Complex
Rehabilitation, Zion National Park, Springdale, UT 84767.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail 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.

Sincerely,

Jock F. Whitworth

Superintendent