[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 151 (Monday, August 7, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44706-44707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-6734]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Intent To Expand the Scope of the General Management 
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement Being Prepared for Everglades 
National Park

SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) is expanding the scope of the 
General Management Plan (GMP)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 
being prepared for Everglades National Park. As part of this planning 
effort, the NPS will include a wilderness study to determine if any 
portions of the East Everglades Expansion Area should be

[[Page 44707]]

recommended for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation 
System as defined in the Wilderness Act of 1964. The study will be 
included as part of the GMP/EIS currently in preparation. The 
wilderness study will only address East Everglades, the 109,000 acres 
which were added to the park by the Everglades National Park Protection 
and Expansion Act of 1989.
    A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for the GMP was originally 
published in the Federal Register of October 25, 2002 (Volume 67, 
Number 207). That EIS now will be expanded to include an evaluation of 
the impacts associated with possible designation of wilderness in East 
Everglades. This notice is being furnished under the National 
Environmental Policy Act regulations, 40 CFR 1501.7 and 1506.6.
    To facilitate sound planning and analysis of environmental impact, 
the NPS is gathering information necessary for the preparation of the 
GMP, the wilderness study, and the associated EIS and is obtaining 
suggestions and information from other agencies and the public on the 
scope of issues to be addressed. Comments and participation in this 
scoping process are invited.

DATES: Open house meeting places and times will be announced by press 
release to print, radio and television organizations throughout South 
Florida including The Miami Herald, Naples Daily News and the South 
Florida Sun-Sentinel and on the park Web site at: www.nps.gov/ever.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to comment may do so by any one of several 
methods. They may attend open houses noted above. They may mail 
comments to Everglades National Park, Attention: Fred Herling, 40001 
State Road 9336, Homestead, Florida 33034. They also may comment via 
the internet at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/. Finally, they may hand-
deliver comments to the Everglades National Park headquarters in 
Homestead, Florida.
    Our practice is to make comments, including names, home addresses, 
home phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of respondents, available for 
public review. Individual respondents may request that we withhold 
their names and/or home addresses, etc., but if you wish us to consider 
withholding this information, you must state this prominently at the 
beginning of your comments. In addition, you must present a rationale 
for withholding this information. This rationale must demonstrate that 
disclosure would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of privacy. 
Unsupported assertions will not meet this burden. In the absence of 
exceptional, documentable circumstances, this information will be 
released. We will always make submissions from organizations or 
businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as 
representatives of or officials of organizations or businesses, 
available for public inspection in their entirety.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Everglades National Park, 40001 State 
Road 9336, Homestead, FL 33034, 305-242-7704.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Persons who previously submitted comments on 
the scope of the EIS as it relates to the GMP need not resubmit those 
comments. The NPS already is considering that input as planning 
continues. However, persons who have not previously submitted comments 
on the scope of the EIS, or who wish to submit additional comments 
related to the scope of the EIS in consideration of the wilderness 
study are encouraged to do so.
    The environmental review of the GMP, wilderness study, and EIS for 
Everglades National Park will be conducted in accordance with 
requirements of NEPA (42 U.S.C. 4371 et seq. and 40 CFR parts 1500-
1508), other appropriate Federal regulations, and NPS procedures and 
policies for compliance with those regulations.

    Authority: The authority for publishing this notice is 40 CFR 
1506.6.

    The responsible official for this draft GMP/EIS is the Regional 
Director for the Southeast Region, Patricia A. Hooks.

Patricia A. Hooks,
Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 06-6734 Filed 8-4-06; 8:45 am]
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