# Presentation: 391215

## Cape Lookout National SeashoreWELCOME to Public Scoping

**Cape Lookout ORV Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement**

## Purpose and Objectives of Public Scoping Meeting

- Explain planning process and timeline
- Share information about the plan:  purpose, need, objectives, and issues
- Receive your comments

## The National Environmental Policy Act   (NEPA)

- Became law in 1969, and is a legal requirement.
- 6 goals of NEPA
- Imposes analysis and public review requirements on federal decision makers.
- Requires that we analyze the effects of federal actions to the “human environment – the natural and physical environment and the relationship of people with that environment.”

## The National Environmental Policy Act   (NEPA)

- Governs National Park Service planning, since plans are federal actions.
- Is an umbrella statute, meaning that the environmental impact statement for the plan must also describe the federal agency’s compliance with other relevant laws, regulations, executive orders, and policies.

## Executive Orders Relevant to ORV Planning

**Executive Order 11644 **established policies and procedures to ensure that off-road vehicles on public lands will be controlled and directed to protect the resources of those lands, promote the safety of all users of those lands, and minimize conflicts among those users.

## Executive Orders Relevant to ORV Planning

**Executive Order 11644, Section 3 (a) **
- Each agency must issue regulations to designate the specific areas where ORV’s will be located, which will meet the following criteria:
**(1) **Area and trails shall be located to minimize damage to soil, watershed, vegetation, or other resources of public lands.

## Executive Orders Relevant to ORV Planning

**Executive Order 11644, Section 3 **
**(a) (2):** Areas and trails shall be located to minimize harassment of wildlife or significant disruption of wildlife habitats.

## Executive Orders Relevant to ORV Planning

**Executive Order 11644, Section 3 **
**(a) (3):** Areas and trails shall be located to minimize conflicts between off-road vehicle use and other existing or proposed recreational uses of the same or neighboring public lands, and to ensure the compatibility of such uses with existing conditions in populated areas, taking into account noise and other factors.

## Executive Orders Relevant to ORV Planning

**Executive Order 11644, Section 3 **
**(a) (4):** Areas and trails shall be located in areas of the National Park system only if the respective agency head determines that off-road vehicle use in such locations will not adversely affect their natural, aesthetic, or scenic values.

## Executive Order 11644, as amended by Executive Order 11989, states that the Agency head shall immediately close ORV areas or trails if he determines that the use of these vehicles will cause or is causing considerable adverse effects on the soil, vegetation, wildlife, wildlife habitat or cultural or historic resources until these adverse effects have been eliminated and that measures have been implemented to prevent future recurrence. 

**Executive Orders relevant to ORV planning**

## Executive Order 11989 Section 9(b):  provided that each agency head is authorized to adopt a policy that portions of the lands in his jurisdiction be closed to off-road vehicles except those areas or trails which are suitable and specifically designated as open to such use...

**Executive Orders relevant to ORV planning**

## Executive Orders – when signed by the President?

- 1st Executive Order – 1973 (Nixon)
- 2nd Executive Order – 1979 (Carter)
- So why is the National Park Service just now acting on this?
- Park committed to the long-range planning process.
- Settlement of nationwide ORV lawsuit
- Because if we did not act, ORV use on the Seashore would be illegal.

## WHY IS NPS MAKING AN ORV PLAN/EIS AND REGULATION?We are required to by law:  Executive Orders and 36 C.F.R. 4.10  -  Travel on park roads and designated routes.

- Subsection (b):  Routes and areas designated for off-road motor vehicle use ***shall be promulgated as special regulations***.  The designation of routes and areas shall comply with 36 C.F.R. 1.5 and E.O. 11644.  Routes and areas may be designated only in national recreation areas, national seashores, national lakeshores and national preserves.

**Internal Scoping**
- Identify purpose, needs, objectives, and issues

**Public Scoping**
- Solicit public input, especially on issues and ideas for alternatives

**Create Alternatives**
- NPS reviews comments received from the public and other agencies; develops a full range of reasonable alternatives

**Impact Analysis**
- NPS analyzes the impacts of alternatives on the affected environment, including socioeconomic impacts and impacts on park visitors

_**Long-Range ORV Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement Planning Process**_

**May 2007**
**September 2007**
**Spring 2008**
**Spring 2008**
**Fall 2008**
**Spring 2009**

**WE ARE HERE**

**Preparation of Draft Plan / EIS and draft regulation**

**Public scoping on the alternatives**

## Record of Decision 

**Record of Decision **
- NPS prepares this document to substantiate a decision based on an EIS. It includes a statement of the decision made, a detailed discussion of decision rationale, and the reasons for not adopting all mitigation measures analyzed, if applicable.

_**Long-Range ORV Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement Planning Process**_

**Fall 2009**
**Fall / Winter 2009**
**Winter 2009**
**Spring 2010**
**Summer 2010**
**Fall 2010**

**Notice of Availability of Draft Plan / EIS and draft regulation**
- NPS publishes a notice of availability in the federal register, as well as a press release and brochure advising that the plan/EIS and draft regulation is ready for public review.

**60 day Public Comment Period on the Draft Plan / EIS and draft regulation**

**Preparation of Final Plan / EIS**

**Notice of Availability of Final Plan / EIS and waiting period**

**Prepare final regulation and publish in the Federal Register**

## National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) Planning Process

- First step is to develop the Purpose, Need, and Objectives for taking action and to Identify Issues
- You can find the Purpose, Need, Objectives, and Issues for the Cape Lookout ORV Management Plan/EIS in the flyer for this meeting and on the posters around the room.

## Why is an ORV Plan/EIS needed?

- Comply with Executive Orders 11644 and 11989 regarding ORV use, and with NPS laws, regulations (36 CFR 4.10), and policies to minimize impacts to Seashore resources and values.
- Establish an approved plan incorporating public input that reduces the potential for inconsistent management of ORV use, user conflicts, and safety concerns.
- Provide for sustainable recreational use.

## Why is an ORV Plan/EIS needed?

- Protect natural and cultural resources from potential effects of ORV use.
- Provide for protected species management in relation to ORV and other uses that replaces the Cape Lookout National Seashore Interim Protected Species Management Plan/EA and associated Biological Opinion.

## Interaction between Cape Lookout National Seashore General Management Plan/EIS and the ORV Management Plan/EIS

- ORV use is identified as an acceptable use in the Seashore by the General Mgmt Plan.
- Question remains:  how to manage this use?

## Purpose of ORV Plan/EIS(What the plan should accomplish)

- The purpose of this Plan/EIS is to manage ORV use in compliance with the Seashore’s enabling legislation, NPS management policies, and other laws and regulations to ensure protection of the natural, cultural, and recreational values of the Seashore’s dynamic coastal barrier island environment for present and future generations.

## Objectives

- Objectives are smaller goals that must all be met in large part for the plan to be considered a success.
- We’ve developed 9 categories of Objectives for the plan, posted around the room.

## Examples of the draft Objectives Identified for the CALO ORV management plan/EIS (Objectives are posted around the room)

- Management Methodology
- Natural Physical Resources
- Threatened, Endangered, and Other Protected Species
- Vegetation
- Other Wildlife and Wildlife Habitat
- Cultural Resources
- Visitor Use and Experience
- Visitor Safety
- Park Operations

## Management                                                                                                       Methodology 	

- Identify criteria to designate ORV use areas and routes.
- Establish ORV management practices and procedures that have the ability to adapt in response to changes in the Seashore’s dynamic physical and biological environment.
- Continue an ongoing and meaningful dialogue with the multiple public groups interested in/affected by ORV management.

## Natural Physical Resources

- Minimize impacts from ORV use to soils and topographic features, e.g. dunes, oceans, beach, wetlands, tidal flats, etc.

## Threatened, Endangered, and other Protected Species

- Provide protection for threatened, endangered, and other protected species (e.g., state-listed species) and their habitats from adverse impacts related to recreational uses as required by state and federal laws and policies, such as the Endangered Species Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and NPS laws and management policies.

## Visitor Use and Experience

- Manage ORV use to allow for a variety of appropriate visitor use experiences.
- Minimize conflicts between ORV use and other uses.
- Ensure that ORV operators are informed about the rules and regulations regarding ORV use at the park.

## Visitor Safety

- Ensure that ORV management promotes the safety of all visitors.

## Park Operations

- Identify operational needs and costs to fully implement an ORV management plan.

## Issues

- In NPS NEPA planning, “issues” often describe concerns or obstacles to accomplishing the objectives.
- Issue statements describe the relationship between actions that could be taken and the environmental (natural, cultural, and socioeconomic) resources.

## Examples of the Issues Identified for the CALO ORV management plan/EIS (Issues are posted around the room)

**Federally Listed Threatened and Endangered Species:** Management and use of ORVs could impact federally threatened or endangered species and their habitat on both the ocean and soundside of the Seashore. Conflicts between the listed species and ORV use could create direct or indirect losses to the species.

## Locally Sensitive Species: Management and use of ORVs at the Seashore may impact habitat for the American oystercatcher, colonial beach nesters, and other locally sensitive species, as well as species listed by the State of North Carolina, that may be vulnerable to such use.

**Issues Identified**

## Issues Identified

**Economy of the Communities around the Seashore:** Management and use of ORVs could affect the local economy as the demand for goods and services in these communities could be influenced by the level of ORV use at the Seashore.
**Seashore Management and Operations:** Management and use of ORVs may impact Seashore operations by requiring additional staff and funds.

## Issues Identified

**Visitor Use and Experience:** Management and use of ORVs could result in user conflicts and changes to visitor use and experience. For some visitors ORV use is an integral component of their visitor experience, for others the presence of ORVs may detract from their visitor experience.

## Where do issues and objectives come from?  Why are there so many natural resource issues and objectives?

- NEPA requires analysis of the human environment – this focuses primarily on the natural and physical environment.
- The National Park Service Organic Act of 1916: “preserve resources unimpaired for the enjoyment of *future* generations.”
- The Executive Orders specifically require that we make findings on some of these issues.
- Internal scoping:  NPS staff identified some of these topics as issues and objectives in a preliminary meeting.
- Public scoping:  Issues and objectives can potentially change based on your comments.
- Finally, some issues will be dismissed in the environmental impact statement, but the rationale for why we dismiss them has to be discussed.  This requires that we identify them first.

## Alternatives

- Alternatives are the “heart” of the NEPA environmental planning process.
- A full range of reasonable alternatives is required in an Environmental Impact Statement.
- Where Purpose and Need define “the problems,” Alternatives are different ways to solve them, i.e. they meet the purpose and objectives while resolving need and issues.
- They are all within stated constraints, including NPS policies.

## .  
Each should minimize impacts to all or several resources. 

Alternatives provide real options for decision makers.  There are not “straw” alternatives.

They require a creative approach.

They are based on environmental, rather than technical, logistic or economical differences.

They must be reasonable.

- Each should minimize impacts to all or several resources.
- Alternatives provide real options for decision makers.  There are not “straw” alternatives.
- They require a creative approach.
- They are based on environmental, rather than technical, logistic or economical differences.
- They must be reasonable.

**Alternatives**

## Reasonable Alternatives

- Economically feasible
- Display common sense
- Meet the objectives of the ORV Plan/EIS
- Technically feasible
- Not necessarily the cheapest or easiest solution

## How Alternatives Are Developed

**Review of NPS Organic Act, NPS Management Policies, Other Related **
**Federal Requirements**

**Review of Park's Enabling Legislation, Cape Lookout Purpose and its **
**Significance**

**Develop Purpose, Need, and Objectives for the ORV Management Plan/EIS**

-  **Develop Range of Alternatives based on Federal Laws and Policies,**
**            ****Public Input, Science, and Practical Management Experience**

## How Alternatives Are Developed

## All Reasonable Alternatives?

- When there are many alternatives that could be analyzed, choose a few that cover the **full spectrum** of options.
- It is the range of alternatives that is most important, rather than the number.

## Alternatives

- Must include: “**No Action”; **which means our current management actions.  In other words, alternatives are compared to the no action (the baseline) to determine both beneficial and adverse effects.

## How to Provide Comments during Public Scoping

- Accepting comments tonight via open house and public hearing.
- Comments must be received by _**October 26, 2007**_
- You can submit comments directly on-line on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website at _**http://parkplanning.nps.gov/CALO**_** **
** *****this website is not on the flyer...***

## How to Provide Comments during Public Scoping

- _Written comments may be be submitted to:_
**	****Cape Lookout National Seashore**
**	****Attn: Wouter Ketel**
**	****131 Charles Street**
** ****	****Harkers Island, NC 28531**
- Please include your full name, mailing address, and e-mail address so that we may add you to the project mailing list.  Comments must be received by October 26, 2007.