[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 17, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22800-22801]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-9119]


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DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-AKR-WRST-0212-9428; 98651C01SZP]


Wilderness Eligibility Reclassifications, Wrangell-St. Elias 
National Park and Preserve

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Wilderness Eligibility Reclassification, Wrangell-St. 
Elias National Park and Preserve.

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SUMMARY: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve has completed an 
analysis per NPS Management Policies 2006 6.2.1 for the 
reclassification of lands currently deemed to be eligible wilderness 
based on the 1986 eligibility review conducted as part of the park's 
General Management Plan (GMP). National Park Service (NPS) solicited 
public comments on the proposed reclassification as part of the Nabesna 
Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement 
(DEIS) and as a part of the McCarthy Communications Sites Environmental 
Assessment (EA). The NPS Director approved the wilderness eligibility 
reclassifications. The reclassification resulted in the following. For 
the Nabesna District: (1) motorized trail corridors in existence prior 
to 1986 were classified as ineligible; and (2) a net gain in eligible 
acres within the analysis area of 16,929 acres. For the McCarthy Road 
corridor: (1) The reclassification of 667 acres of wilderness eligible 
lands in the analysis area to ineligible status; and (2) the 
construction of telecommunication facilities on lands now deemed to be 
ineligible.

ADDRESSES: Hard copies of the Nabesna Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan/
Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and the McCarthy 
Communications Sites Environmental

[[Page 22801]]

Assessment (EA) are available on the NPS Planning, Environment, and 
Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WRST. 
They can also be obtained at park headquarters (Wrangell-St. Elias 
National Park and Preserve, Mile 106.8 Richardson Highway, Copper 
Center, Alaska) or may be requested from Bruce Rogers, Project Manager, 
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 439, Copper 
Center, Alaska 99573. A detailed description, including maps, of the 
wilderness eligibility reclassifications can be found in the appendices 
of these documents.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The wilderness eligibility reclassification 
addresses inconsistencies between the eligibility criteria and mapping 
presented in the 1986 GMP:
    <bullet> Some areas mapped as ineligible meet the criteria for 
eligibility. For the Nabesna District, the large ineligible area 
between the Tanada Lake and Copper Lake trails has not been impacted by 
trail use nor was it in 1986. This area has been reclassified as 
eligible.
    <bullet> Some areas mapped as eligible do not meet the criteria for 
eligibility. In the Nabesna District, trails that were ``improved or 
regularly used'' or had impacts associated with them in 1986 should be 
reclassified as ineligible. Along the McCarthy Road corridor, the 
Gilahina Butte site was incorrectly determined to be eligible in 1986 
despite the fact that it was already ``improved or regularly used.''
    <bullet> ``Federal lands under application'' were listed as 
ineligible for wilderness in the 1986 GMP. Some lands in this category 
have been retained in federal ownership and now meet the criteria for 
eligibility.
    For the Nabesna District, the reclassification proposal was 
described in the Nabesna Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan/Draft 
Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) as part of the preferred 
alternative and again in the FEIS. For the McCarthy Road corridor, the 
reclassification proposal was included in the McCarthy Communications 
Sites Environmental Assessment (EA). Public comment was taken into 
consideration in the approval of these wilderness eligibility 
reclassifications.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Bruce Rogers, Project Manager, 
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 439, Copper 
Center, Alaska 99573. Telephone: 907-822-7276.

Sue E. Masica,
Regional Director, Alaska.
[FR Doc. 2012-9119 Filed 4-16-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4312-HC-P