Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 63 / Monday, April 2, 2012 / Notices 19685 

public interested in a particular agenda 

item or discussion should schedule 

their arrival accordingly. 

Written comments may be filed in 

advance of the meeting for the 

California Desert District Advisory 

Council, c/o Bureau of Land 

Management, External Affairs, 22835 

Calle San Juan de Los Lagos, Moreno 

Valley, CA 92553. Written comments 

also are accepted at the time of the 

meeting and, if copies are provided to 

the recorder, will be incorporated into 

the minutes. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Briery, BLM California Desert 

District External Affairs, (951) 697– 

5220. 

Dated: March 19, 2012. 

Raymond Lee, 

Acting Associate District Manager, California 

Desert District. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7785 Filed 3–30–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–40–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[NPS–NCRO–MONO–0811–7948; 3130–SZM] 

Notice of a Record of Decision; 

Monocacy National Battlefield 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of a Record of Decision 

on the Final Environmental Impact 

Statement for the General Management 

Plan, Monocacy National Battlefield. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National 

Environmental Policy Act of 1969 

(NEPA), 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the 

National Park Service (NPS) announces 

the availability of the Record of 

Decision for the General Management 

Plan, Monocacy National Battlefield. 

Maryland. As soon as practicable, the 

NPS will begin to implement the 

preferred alternative as contained in the 

Final Environmental Impact Statement 

issued by the NPS on August 27, 2010, 

and summarized in the Record of 

Decision. Copies of the Record of 

Decision may be obtained from the 

contact listed below or online at 

www.nps.gov/mono. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

David Hayes, National Park Service, 

1100 Ohio Drive SW, Washington, DC 

20242, (202) 619–7277, 

DavidHayes@nps.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Record of Decision includes a statement 

of the decision made, synopses of other 

alternatives considered, the basis for the 

decision, a description of the 

environmentally preferable alternative, 

a finding on impairment of park 

resources and values, a listing of 

measures to minimize environmental 

harm and an overview of public 

involvement in the decision-making 

process. 

Alternative 4 is the Selected 

Alternative. The following course of 

action will occur under Alternative 4: 

All historic structures will be 

preserved and maintained, and the 

historic farmlands will continue to be 

leased to retain their use in agriculture. 

The outbuildings on the Best Farm will 

remain open. The Worthington House 

will be rehabilitated inside and be open 

to visitors with exhibits. 

Monocacy National Battlefield 

administration will be moved into the 

rehabilitated Thomas House. The stone 

tenant house on the Thomas farm will 

contain exhibits and restrooms. 

Monocacy National Battlefield 

maintenance will continue to operate 

from its current location in a 

nonhistoric structure near the Gambrill 

Mill and be redesigned to meet the 

needs for office, vehicle storage, and 

work space. 

Three nonhistoric structures will be 

removed from the landscape—two 

structures are houses constructed of 

cinderblocks, and the third is a historic 

toll house that was moved to the site 

from its original location. It is in 

severely deteriorated condition and 

lacks integrity, and its proximity to the 

intersection of Araby Church Road and 

Maryland Highway 355 (MD–355) 

makes it a safety concern. 

The entrance to the 14th New Jersey 

Monument will be shifted south to 

allow better sight distances entering and 

exiting MD–355. An existing informal 

parking area on the east side of MD–355 

used by fishermen will be closed and 

the area relandscaped. River access will 

continue from the 14th New Jersey 

Monument parking area. A landscaped 

commemorative area will be created at 

the site of the Pennsylvania and 

Vermont Monuments as a location for 

any new memorials that may be added 

to the Monocacy National Battlefield in 

the future. 

Visitors will use their own vehicles to 

drive around the Monocacy National 

Battlefield using existing roadways 

(Baker Valley Road, Araby Church Road, 

and MD–355). The possibility of a 

pedestrian deck spanning Interstate 270 

(I–270) is being evaluated in 

consultation with the Maryland 

Department of Transportation (MDOT) 

as mitigation for MDOT widening of I– 

270 through the Monocacy National 

Battlefield. If the deck proves feasible 

and if an agreement can be worked out, 

it will provide a trail spanning I–270 

that connects the Worthington and 

Thomas farms. 

A new trail extension of the Gambrill 

Mill Trail will enable visitors to walk to 

the railroad junction and on to the sites 

of the Union entrenchments and 

Wallace’s headquarters, all important 

interpretive locations within the 

Monocacy National Battlefield. 

Upgraded interpretation using new 

signs, wayside markers and brochures 

will be developed. Natural resource 

areas along rivers and drainages and 

along the heights behind the 

Worthington farmhouse will remain 

undeveloped and protected. 

This course of action and three 

alternatives were analyzed in the Draft 

and Final Environmental Impact 

Statements. Three actions were key in 

the decision to make Alternative 4 the 

selected alternative. 

First, moving the maintenance and 

administrative functions from the park 

into rental space in nearby Frederick, as 

would have occurred in Alternative 2, 

would have allowed the removal of the 

existing metal maintenance structure 

from the battlefield landscape and the 

commercial leasing of the Thomas 

House. However, this would have 

increased the amount of driving by park 

staff on busy MD–355 and would have 

unduly separated park staff from the 

resources managed and interpreted. It 

would also have placed a commercial 

use within the heart of the national 

battlefield (the lease of the Thomas 

House). 

Second, an alternative transportation 

system in Alternative 2 would have 

decreased visitor driving within the 

park, made visitor access to park areas 

safer by obviating the use of busy MD– 

355, and decreased the size of parking 

areas at each site. This system weighed 

heavily in the selection of Alternative 2 

as the environmentally preferable 

alternative. However, current visitation 

does not make such a system financially 

feasible as a commercial operation and 

there is no guarantee that such a system 

would be financially feasible in the 

future. Both Alternatives 3 and 4 utilize 

personal vehicles to access the park. 

Third, Alternatives 2 and 4 include a 

connection of the Thomas and 

Worthington farms via a deck over I– 

270, while Alternative 3 does not. A 

connection of the two farms is an 

important interpretive tool allowing 

visitors and park staff to easily move 

back and forth between the two 

properties. 

As a result Alternative 4 was selected 

to better connect park staff to the 

resource, (2) to more fully consider the 

financial feasibility of alternative 

transportation at this time, and (3) to 

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19686 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 63 / Monday, April 2, 2012 / Notices 

ensure the connection of the Thomas 

and Worthington farms both physically 

and interpretively. 

The full range of foreseeable 

environmental consequences was 

assessed, and appropriate mitigating 

measures were identified. 

The Regional Director, National 

Capital Region approved the Record of 

Decision for the project on November 

16, 2010. The official primarily 

responsible for implementing the 

General Management Plan is the 

Superintendent of Monocacy National 

Battlefield. 

Dated: July 22, 2011. 

Stephen E. Whitesell, 

Regional Director, National Capital Region. 

[FR Doc. 2012–7719 Filed 3–30–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4312–57–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

[2253–665] 

Notice of Inventory Completion: U.S. 

Department of Defense, Army Corps of 

Engineers, Walla Walla District, Walla 

Walla, WA, and Alfred W. Bowers 

Laboratory of Anthropology, University 

of Idaho, Moscow, ID 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The United States Department 

of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers, 

Walla Walla District, has completed an 

inventory of human remains and 

associated funerary objects, in 

consultation with the appropriate 

Indian tribe, and has determined that 

there is a cultural affiliation between the 

human remains and associated funerary 

objects and a present-day Indian tribe. 

Representatives of any Indian tribe that 

believes itself to be culturally affiliated 

with the human remains and associated 

funerary objects may contact the U.S. 

Department of Defense, Army Corps of 

Engineers, Walla Walla District. 

Repatriation of the human remains and 

associated funerary objects to the Indian 

tribe stated below may occur if no 

additional claimants come forward. 

DATES: Representatives of any Indian 

tribe that believes it has a cultural 

affiliation with the human remains and 

associated funerary objects should 

contact the U.S. Department of Defense, 

Army Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla 

District, at the address below by May 2, 

2012. 

ADDRESSES: LTC David Caldwell, U.S. 

Department of Defense, Army Corps of 

Engineers, Walla Walla District, 201 

North Third Ave., Walla Walla, WA 

99362, telephone (509) 527–7700. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

here given in accordance with the 

Native American Graves Protection and 

Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 

3003, of the completion of an inventory 

of human remains and associated 

funerary objects under the control of the 

U.S. Department of Defense, Army 

Corps of Engineers, Walla Walla District 

(Corps), Walla Walla, WA, and in the 

physical custody of the Alfred W. 

Bowers Laboratory of Anthropology, 

University of Idaho (UI), Moscow, ID. 

The human remains and associated 

funerary objects were removed from 

Clearwater and Nez Perce Counties, ID. 

This notice is published as part of the 

National Park Service’s administrative 

responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 

U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The determinations in 

this notice are the sole responsibility of 

the museum, institution or Federal 

agency that has control of the Native 

American human remains and 

associated funerary objects. The 

National Park Service is not responsible 

for the determinations in this notice. 

Consultation 

A detailed assessment of the human 

remains was made by U.S. Department 

of Defense, Army Corps of Engineers 

and University of Idaho professional 

staffs in consultation with 

representatives of the Nez Perce Tribe, 

Idaho. 

History and Description of the Remains 

In 1963, human remains representing, 

at minimum, three individuals were 

removed from site 10CW1, an open 

fishing camp located on the east side of 

the North Fork of the Clearwater River 

at Bruce’s Eddy, in Clearwater County, 

ID. Site 10CW1 is located within the 

Dworshak Dam and Reservoir Project on 

the Clearwater River. The Dworshak 

Dam and Reservoir Project is managed 

by the Corps, who initiated the land 

acquisition processes for the Project in 

1963. Idaho State College surveyed site 

10CW1 in 1961, but did not collect 

anything. In 1963, the same institution, 

which had been renamed the Idaho 

State University (ISU), returned to the 

site for excavation, at which time three 

burials were discovered on the hills 

flanking the north end of the site. 

Burials 1 and 2 were marked by a semicircle of rocks measuring approximately 

12 feet in diameter and contained 

human remains and a large amount of 

copper funerary objects. Burial 3 was 

disturbed and contained human remains 

without funerary objects. The human 

remains and associated funerary objects 

were removed and transferred to the ISU 

Museum. In 1976, the collection was 

transferred to UI for study and analysis 

(UI accession number 76–2). 

The human remains from Burial 1 

include an adult female around 40 years 

old, placed on its left side in a loosely 

flexed position with the head positioned 

to the northwest, found with associated 

funerary objects. The human remains 

from Burial 2 include the remains of an 

infant under 1 year old, placed with its 

head oriented to the west and found 

with associated funerary objects. The 

human remains from Burial 3 were of an 

adolescent of indeterminate age or 

gender and did not contain associated 

funerary objects. No known individuals 

were identified. The 586 associated 

funerary objects are: 44 copper tubular 

beads; 1 antler digging stick handle; 222 

copper tubular beads with cordage; 1 

bracelet fragment; 16 copper bracelet 

fragments; 2 seed husks; 193 glass 

beads; 1 lot red ochre; 6 copper 

pendants; 7 copper tubular beads with 

cordage and dentalium; 9 copper bead 

fragments; 15 copper tubular beads with 

cordage, hair, fur, leather, and dentalia; 

7 copper tubular bead pieces with 

cordage, hair, fur, cloth, and dentalia; 4 

dentalium shell; 3 copper pendants with 

tubular beads and cordage; 1 chert flake; 

9 copper tubular beads with cordage 

and cut dentalium shell; 8 copper 

tubular beads with cordage and cut 

dentalium; 3 copper tubular beads with 

cordage and dentalium; 20 pieces 

mixture of soil, cord, beads, hair, fur, 

and copper; 12 copper tubular beads 

strung with a leather thong; 1 metal 

fragment; and 1 pestle. 

Burials 1 and 2 from site 10CW1 may 

date to the protohistoric period due to 

the presence of copper, glass and cloth. 

Based on an analysis of the copper 

objects, the burials likely date to A.D. 

1780–1810. Burial 3 may date to the 

prehistoric period based on the lack of 

funerary objects. The human remains 

have been examined by a physical 

anthropologist. One individual was 

noted to exhibit signs of fronto-occipital 

deformation, a common trait found in 

Native American remains. The 

archeological assemblage from site 

10CW1 indicates that it was continually 

occupied from the Tucannon Phase 

(B.C. 5000–3000) to the historic period. 

The site is located at the traditional Nez 

Perce salmon fishing weir called ti 

mi:mara wispayka:s. A petroglyph 

consisting of three parallel lines on a 

basalt boulder at the waters’ edge 

verifies this location as a Nez Perce 

fishing site, as these ‘‘lines served as 

guides to the construction of the fish 

trap.’’ According to Henry Wheeler, a 

Nez Perce informant consulted during 

the 1961 investigation at the site, 

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