64986 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 211 / Tuesday, October 31, 2000 / Notices

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Winter Use Plans, Final Environmental

Impact Statement for the Yellowstone

and Grand Teton National Parks and

John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial

Parkway, Wyoming

AGENCY: National Park Service,

Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Availability of the Winter Use

Plans, Final Environmental Impact

Statement for the Yellowstone and

Grand Teton National Parks and John D.

Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway.

SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c)

of the National Environmental Policy

Act of 1969, the National Park Service

announces the availability of the Winter

Use Plans, Final Environmental Impact

Statement for the Yellowstone and

Grand Teton National Parks and John D.

Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway,

Wyoming and Montana.

DATES: The DEIS was on public review

from July 30, 1999 to December 15,

1999. Responses to public comments are

addressed in the FEIS. The National

Park Service (NPS) will entertain

comments on the FEIS, although it is

not legally required to do so. All

comments must be received by October

31, 2000 and should be sent to: Clifford

Hawkes, PDS–P, National Park Service,

12795 West Alameda Parkway,

Lakewood, Colorado 80228 or the email

address: yell_winter_use@nps.gov.

Comments received after this date will

not be considered. Comments

transmitted by facsimile machine will

not be considered. To meet a deadline

in a court-approved settlement

agreement for this EIS, the NPS cannot

extend the comment period.

ADDRESSES: Copies of the FEIS are

available from Clifford Hawkes,

National Park Service, Denver Service

Center, 12795 West Alameda Parkway,

Lakewood, Colorado 80228. Public

reading copies of the plan are available

on the Internet (www.nps.gov/planning)

and will be available for review at the

following locations:

Office of the Superintendent,

Yellowstone NP, Yellowstone

National Park, Wyoming 82190,

Telephone: (307) 344–2010.

Office of the Superintendent, Grand

Teton NP, P.O. Drawer 170, Moose,

WY 83012–0170, Telephone: (307)

739–3452.

Planning and Environmental Quality,

Intermountain Support Office-Denver,

National Park Service, P.O. Box

25287, Denver, CO 80225–0287,

Telephone: (303) 969–2851.

Office of Public Affairs, National Park

Service, Department of Interior, 18th

and C Streets NW, Washington, DC

20240, Telephone: (202) 208–6843.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

This document presents and analyzes

7 alternatives for winter use

management in Yellowstone National

Park (YNP), Grand Teton National Park

(GTNP), and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr.,

Memorial Parkway (the Parkway).

Alternative G, the preferred

alternative, emphasizes clean, quiet

access to the parks using the

technologies available today. It would

allow over-snow access on all routes

currently available via NPS-managed

snowcoach only. Other key changes in

recreation opportunities are: eliminating

winter plowing on the Colter Bay to

Flagg Ranch route, making Flagg Ranch

a destination via over-snow transport,

and eliminating all winter motorized

use on Jackson Lake. This alternative

addresses the full range of issues

regarding safety, natural resource

impacts, visitor experience and access.

It addresses the issues in a way that

would make it necessary for local

economies to adapt, and for snowmobile

users to access the parks using a

different mode of transport. Under

alternative A-No Action, current use

and management practices in the parks

and Parkway continue. The concept

under alternative B provides a moderate

range of affordable and appropriate

winter visitor experiences. Air quality

and oversnow motor vehicle sound

would be addressed, and by the winter

of 2008–2009, strict emission and sound

requirements would be required by all

oversnow vehicles entering the parks.

This alternative also emphasizes an

adaptive approach to park resource

management, which would allow the

results of new and ongoing research and

monitoring to be incorporated.

Alternative C maximizes winter visitor

opportunities for a range of park

experiences. Alternative D stresses

visitor access to unique winter features

in the parks. This alternative

emphasizes clean, quiet modes of travel,

visitor activities focused near

destination areas, and a minimization of

conflicts between nonmotorized and

motorized users. Under alternative E the

protection of wildlife and natural

resources is emphasized while allowing

park visitors access to a range of winter

recreation experiences. Alternative E

uses an adaptive planning approach that

allows new information to be

incorporated over time. Alternative F

stresses the protection of wildlife

resources by focusing winter visitor

activities in YNP outside important

winter range for large ungulate species,

and closing north and west roads to

winter use. For GTNP and the Parkway,

this alternative emphasizes the

protection of all resources by focusing

developments, oversnow motorized

trails and zones, and nonmotorized

trails and zones in certain areas, while

still allowing park visitors opportunities

for a range of winter recreational

experiences.

The details and impacts of the

alternatives are described in this

document. They include major longterm beneficial improvements to the

protection of geothermal winter range

and other park resources, some adverse

effects from visitor use activities, and

major beneficial improvements to the

desired visitor experience for solitude,

clean air, and natural quiet. These

impacts vary by alternative.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Clifford Hawkes, National Park Service,

Denver Service Center, 12795 West

Alameda Parkway, Lakewood, Colorado

80228.

Dated: September 28, 2000.

Karen P. Wade,

Regional Director, Intermountain Region,

National Park Service.

[FR Doc. 00–27478 Filed 10–30–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4310–70–P

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

National Park System Advisory Board;

Meeting

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

Notice is hereby given in accordance

with the Federal Advisory Committee

Act, 5 U.S.C. Appendix (1994), that the

National Park System Advisory Board

will meet November 14–16, 2000. The

Board will tour Biscayne National Park

on November 14, and will convene its

business meeting on November 15 and

16 in the Crystal Ballroom of the

DoubleTree Hotel Miami Coconut

Grove, 2649 South Bayshore Drive,

Miami, Florida 33133.

On November 15, the Board will

convene from 8:15 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.

The Board will reconvene November 16

at 8:15 a.m. and adjourn at

approximately 5:30 p.m. National Park

Service Deputy Director Denis Galvin

will address the Board. The Board will

consider procedural matters relative to

its study of the future of the National

Park Service and the National Park

System, and will consider reports from

its Landmarks Committee, Cumberland