[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 81 (Wednesday, April 29, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19589-19590]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-9783]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Recreational and 
Subsistence Use of ORVs in the Nabesna District of Wrangell-St. Elias 
National Park and Preserve

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement 
(EIS).

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SUMMARY: This notice supplements the National Park Service (NPS) Notice 
of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement on Recreational 
Use of Off-Road Vehicles Along Nine Trails in the Nabesna Area of 
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve published in Federal 
Register, Vol. 72, No. 245 on Friday, December 21, 2007. The NPS 
intends to expand the scope of the EIS to include the use of Off-Road 
Vehicles (ORVs) for subsistence purposes.
    The NPS is preparing an EIS on the use of ORVs in the Nabesna area 
of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The purpose of the 
EIS is to evaluate a range of alternatives for managing recreational 
and subsistence

[[Page 19590]]

off-road vehicle use including use on the following trails: Caribou 
Creek, Lost Creek, Trail Creek, Reeve Field, Boomerang Lake, Soda Lake, 
Suslota Lake, Copper Lake and Tanada Lake. The EIS will be used to 
guide the management of all ORV use.
    In addition to the No Action alternative, the EIS will evaluate a 
proposed action that would authorize recreational ORV use on trails 
that can be maintained to a standard that minimizes resource impacts. 
Other alternatives include authorizing recreational ORV use on all nine 
trails without trail improvement, not authorizing recreational ORV use 
on any trails, and authorizing recreational ORV use on improved trails 
in the preserve but not the park. Public input is sought on this range 
of alternatives. In all action alternatives, subsistence ORV use would 
be monitored and measures taken to mitigate resource impacts.
    Scoping: This notice extends the scoping period for this EIS and 
solicits comments. The NPS requests input from the public including 
local rural residents and residents of the park's twenty-three resident 
zone communities who engage in subsistence activities within the park.
    Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or 
other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be 
aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us to withhold your personal identifying information from public 
review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so. We will 
always make submissions from organizations or businesses, and from 
individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of 
organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their 
entirety.

DATES: Comments should be received on or before June 29, 2009. 
Electronic comments may be submitted to the NPS Planning, Environment, 
and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WRST. 
Written comments also may be mailed or faxed to the address and phone 
number provided below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Meg Jensen, Park Superintendent, 
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve, P.O. Box 439, Copper 
Center, Alaska 99573. Telephone (907) 822-5234, Fax (907) 822-7259.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The December 21, 2007 Notice of Intent for 
the project was followed by scoping which included five public meetings 
in March and April of 2008. The meetings were held in Anchorage, 
Fairbanks, Tok, Slana, and Glennallen, Alaska. Scoping also included 
meetings with the Wrangell-St. Elias Park Subsistence Resource 
Commission, the Southcentral Alaska Federal Subsistence Regional 
Advisory Council, Ahtna Inc., and the villages of Mentasta and 
Chistochina. The public scoping process and the comments received were 
summarized in a scoping report posted on the park's Web site and on the 
NPS Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WRST.
    Based on comments received from the public, NPS developed a set of 
draft alternatives. An alternative package was sent out for public 
review and comment in December 2008. NPS received over 30 comments, 
nine of which requested that NPS consider reasonable regulation of 
subsistence ORV use within a range of alternatives.
    Public meetings will be held after the release of the Draft EIS, 
tentatively scheduled for Spring 2010. Public meetings will be held in 
Anchorage, Fairbanks, Tok, Glennallen, and Slana, Alaska. When public 
meetings have been scheduled, the dates, times, and locations will be 
announced in local newspapers and posted on the NPS Planning, 
Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) Web site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/WRST.

    Dated: March 25, 2009.
Sue E. Masica,
Regional Director, Alaska Region.
[FR Doc. E9-9783 Filed 4-28-09; 8:45 am]
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