62076 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 204 / Friday, October 22, 2004 / Notices 

changes, the NPS determined that the 

appropriate National Environmental 

Policy Act documentation for the 

update and review of Bandelier’s Fire 

Management Plan is an EA. 

Through the EA process, Bandelier 

will revise and update the Fire 

Management Plan to include the 

following goals: (1) Provide the means 

for staff and the public to preserve, 

protect, understand, and enjoy the 

natural and cultural resources of 

Bandelier National Monument through 

an integrated program where 

management activities support naturally 

functioning ecosystems consistent with 

cultural resource preservation needs. (2) 

Educate, inform, consult, collaborate, 

and maintain cooperative fire planning 

with other land agencies, landowners, 

and local communities. (3) Achieve 

ecologically sustainable vegetative 

conditions across broad vegetation 

communities by restoring a natural 

range of variability and bio-diversity. (4) 

Identify and mitigate hazards related to 

the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) 

through coordination and collaboration 

with neighboring agencies and 

landowners over time and across 

boundaries. 

The following fire management 

objectives support these goals: (1) 

Protect life, property, and Bandelier’s 

natural and cultural resources from the 

effects of unwanted fire. (2) Prevent or 

mitigate impacts due to fire suppression 

activities. (3) Institute and maintain a 

comprehensive Fire Information and 

Education Program. (4) Restore and 

maintain fire-dependent ecosystems 

with the appropriate use of fire. (5) Use 

prescribed fire to meet fire and resource 

management goals and objectives. (6) 

Allow natural fires to function in fire 

dependent ecosystems. The new Fire 

Management Plan will emphasize the 

importance of mitigating measures to 

reduce effects in the Wildland/Urban 

Interface and maintaining a 

comprehensive Fire Information and 

Education Program.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jim 

Whittington, Fire Information Officer, 

HCR 1, Box 1, Suite 15, Los Alamos, NM 

87544. Telephone (505) 672–3861 x512.

Dated: August 20, 2004. 

Stephen P. Martin, 

Director, Intermountain Region.

[FR Doc. 04–23743 Filed 10–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–EW–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service 

Final General Management Plan/

Wilderness Study, Final Environmental 

Impact Statement, Pictured Rocks 

National Lakeshore, MI

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of Availability of the 

Final General Management Plan/

Wilderness Study/Final Environmental 

Impact Statement, Pictured Rocks 

National Lakeshore. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42 

U.S.C. 4321 et seq., the National Park 

service (NPS) announces the availability 

of a final general management plan/

wilderness study/environmental impact 

statement (FEIS) for Pictured Rocks 

National Lakeshore, Michigan.

DATES: The draft general management 

plan/wilderness study/environmental 

impact statement was on public review 

from August 29, 2003 through 

November 23, 2003. Public hearings 

were held on the draft wilderness study 

on August 26 at Munising, Michigan, 

and on August 27 at Grand Marais, 

Michigan. Responses to substantive 

public comments are addressed in the 

final general management plan/

wilderness study/environmental impact 

statement. The NPS will execute a 

record of decision (ROD) no sooner than 

30 days following publication of the 

Environmental Protection Agency’s 

notice of availability of the final 

environmental impact statement in the 

Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Copiers of the final general 

management plan/wilderness study/

environmental impact statement are 

available upon request by writing Karen 

Gustin, Superintendent, Pictured Rocks 

National Lakeshore, P.O. Box 40, 

Munising, Michigan 49862–0040, by 

phone 906–387–2607, or by e-mail 

message at pirolgmp@nps.gov. The 

document can be picked up in person at 

the park’s headquarters at N8391 Sand 

Point Road, Munising, Michigan.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Karen Gustin, Superintendent, Pictured 

Rocks National Lakeshore, or by calling 

906–387–2607.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The final 

general management plan/wilderness 

study/environmental impact statement 

combines two planning elements and an 

environmental analysis that covers both 

the plan and the wilderness study. The 

general management plan (GMP) 

provides a framework for making 

decisions about and managing the 

national lakeshore’s resources and 

visitor use for the next 15 years. The 

wilderness study explores options for 

wilderness designation in the national 

lakeshore from no wilderness to 26 

percent of the park. The environmental 

impact statement (EIS) includes 

information and analysis on the 

potential effect of the alternatives 

explored in the final general 

management plan/wilderness study 

both within the national lakeshore 

boundaries as well as regionally. Five 

alternatives are examined that address 

wilderness as well as other visitor use 

and resource issues. The NPS preferred 

alternative would expand visitor 

services on the west and east ends of the 

park, recommend upgrading of county 

Road H–58, and propose the Beaver 

Basin (16% of the lakeshore) be 

designated as wilderness. 

Based on the findings of the 

wilderness study, a formal wilderness 

proposal will be submitted to the 

Director of the NPS for approval and 

subsequent consideration by the 

Department of the Interior, President, 

and Congress.

Dated: July 9, 2004. 

Ernest Quintana, 

Regional Director, Midwest Region.

[FR Doc. 04–23745 Filed 10–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–52–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service 

Fire Management Plan, Final 

Environmental Impact Statement, 

Whiskeytown National Recreation 

Area, Shasta County, CA; Notice of 

Approved Record of Decision 

Summary: Pursuant to § 102(2)(C) of 

the National Environmental Policy Act 

of 1969 (Pub. L. 91–190, as amended) 

and the implementing regulations 

promulgated by the Council of 

Environmental Quality (40 CFR part 

1505.2), the Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service has prepared and 

approved a Record of Decision 

concerning the revision of the Fire 

Management Plan for Whiskeytown 

National Recreation Area. The purpose 

of the fire management plan is to 

provide comprehensive direction for 

park fire management activities over the 

next 10 years. The selected plan 

prescribes goals to be achieved and the 

methods for achieving them during this 

period. The formal no-action period was 

officially initiated June 18, 2004, with 

the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency’s Federal Register notification 

of the filing and availability of the Final 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 204 / Friday, October 22, 2004 / Notices 62077

Decision: As soon as practical the 

park will begin to implement as its 

updated Fire Management Plan the 

‘‘multiple strategy’’ alternative 

(identified and analyzed in the Draft 

and Final EIS as Alternative IV). The 

selected plan will focus on restoring 

high elevation logged plant 

communities and reducing the risk of 

high severity wildland fire by 

decreasing forest stand density, 

reducing surface fuels, and attempting 

to restore fire as a natural disturbance 

process to the greatest extent feasible. 

Implementation of these strategies 

combines use of prescribed fire and 

mechanical treatment, and includes 

both pile and broadcast burns. 

Project sizes may range from 0.5 to 

1,000 acres, and will occur in all 

vegetation types. Up to 2,200 acres 

could be treated in each year of 

implementation. To facilitate these 

operations, the park’s fire operations 

cache will be centrally located at the 

Oak Bottom area. 

An additional component of the Draft 

and Final EIS was the amending of the 

2001 General Management Plan (GMP), 

to allow for future consideration of 

replacing or modernizing the existing 

park administrative center within the 

park. Under the selected alternative, the 

park’s GMP is amended to allow the 

park to consider construction a new 

administrative building at the existing 

park headquarters site on Kennedy 

Memorial Drive (subsequent 

environmental compliance, with 

opportunity for public involvement, 

would be necessary to address this 

option within a full range of 

alternatives). 

The selected plan was determined to 

be the ‘‘environmentally preferred’’

alternative. Since the Fire Management 

Plan/Final Environmental Impact 

Statement is programmatic in nature, 

project- or site-specific mitigations may 

need to be developed and implemented 

to ensure resource protection efforts 

reduce or avoid adverse effects. During 

the fire management planning phase, 

subject matter experts will review 

evaluate existing databases and maps, 

and, if necessary, conduct additional 

surveys to field verify natural or cultural 

resource conditions. Additional 

consultation with the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service, the California State 

Historic Preservation Officer, the 

Redding Rancheria, and others may be 

required and will be documented in the 

project planning phase. 

This selected plan and three 

alternatives were identified and 

analyzed in the Draft and Final EIS. In 

addition to the selected alternative, the 

environmental analysis addressed: 

Alternative/No Action (the current fire 

management program); Alternative II 

Prescribed Fire Dominated (the fire 

program would have focused on the 

intentional use of fire through the 

application of prescribed fire to meet 

ecological restoration and maintenance 

objectives, and to reduce hazardous 

fuels throughout the park); and 

Alternative III Suppression Dominated 

(all natural and human-ignited wildland 

fires would have been suppressed). The 

full spectrum of foreseeable 

environmental consequences was 

assessed, and appropriate mitigation 

measures identified for each alternative. 

Conclusion: The selected plan 

(Alternative IV) provides the most 

comprehensive and effective method 

among the alternatives considered for 

meeting the NPS purposes, goals, and 

criteria for managing fire and fire risks 

in Whiskeytown National Recreation 

Area and for meeting national 

environmental and fire policy goals. The 

selection of Alternative IV, as detailed 

in the Fire Management Plan/Final 

Environmental Impact Statement, will 

not result in the impairment of park 

resources nor violate the Organic Act of 

1916, and will allow the park to most 

effectively conserve park resources and 

provide for the long term enjoyment of 

visitors. 

Interested parties desiring to review 

the Record of Decision may obtain a 

complete copy by contacting the 

Superintendent, Whiskeytown National 

Recreation Area, P.O. Box 188, 

Whiskeytown, CA 96095 (530) 242–

3400.

Dated: August 25, 2004. 

Jonathan B. Jarvis, 

Regional Director, Pacific West Region.

[FR Doc. 04–23742 Filed 10–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–52–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service 

Committee for the Preservation of the 

White House; Notice of Public Meeting

AGENCY: Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given in 

accordance with the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act that a meeting of the 

Committee for the Preservation of the 

White House will be held at the White 

House at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 

November 17, 2004.

DATES: November 17, 2004.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Executive Secretary, Committee for the 

Preservation of the White House, 1100 

Ohio Drive, SW., Washington, DC 

20242. (202) 619–6344.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is 

expected that the meeting agenda will 

include policies, goals, and long range 

plans. The meeting will be open, but 

subject to appointment and security 

clearance requirements. Clearance 

information, which includes full name, 

date of birth and social security number, 

must be received by November 10, 2004. 

Due to the present mail delays being 

experienced, clearance information 

should be faxed to (202) 619–6353 in 

order to assure receipt by deadline. 

Inquiries may be made by calling the 

Committee for the Preservation of the 

White House between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. 

weekdays at (202) 619–6344. Written 

comments may be sent to the Executive 

Secretary, Committee for the 

Preservation of the White House, 1100 

Ohio Drive, SW., Washington, DC 

20242.

Dated: October 8, 2004. 

Ann Bowman Smith, 

Executive Secretary, Committee for the 

Preservation of the White House.

[FR Doc. 04–23741 Filed 10–21–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–54–M

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service 

Announcement of Gates of the Arctic 

National Park Subsistence Resource 

Commission (SRC) Meeting

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given in 

accordance with the Federal Advisory 

Committee Act that a meeting of the 

Gates of the Arctic National Park 

Subsistence Resource Commissions will 

be held at Fairbanks, Alaska. The 

purpose of the meeting will be to 

continue work on currently authorized 

and proposed National Park Service 

subsistence hunting program 

recommendations including other 

related subsistence management issues. 

The meeting will be open to the public. 

Any person may file with the 

Commission a written statement 

concerning the matters to be discussed. 

The Subsistence Resource 

Commission is authorized under Title 

VIII, Section 808, of the Alaska National 

Interest Lands Conservation Act, Pub. L. 

96–487, and operates in accordance 

with the provisions of the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act.

DATES: The meeting times are, 1. 

Tuesday, November 9, 2004, from 9 a.m. 

to approximately 5 p.m. 2. Wednesday,