Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 12, 2008 / Notices 46915 

To address these priority issues, four 

alternatives were developed and 

evaluated during the planning process. 

Alternative A continued current 

refuge management activities and 

programs. Under this alternative, the 

refuge would continue to maintain 550 

Florida scrub jay family groups across 

15,000 acres, 11–13 nesting pairs of bald 

eagles, and 6.3 miles of sea turtle 

nesting beaches. 

Alternative B expanded refuge 

management actions on needs of 

threatened and endangered species. The 

refuge would aggressively manage for 

Florida scrub jays, restoring and 

maintaining 19,000–20,000 acres in 

optimal condition to support 900 family 

groups. Habitat management activities 

would support the number of nesting 

pairs of bald eagles to expand to 20, 

with increased protection of nest sites, 

development of artificial nesting 

platforms, and increased cultivation of 

future nest areas and nesting trees. 

Alternative C focused refuge 

management actions on the needs of 

migratory birds. Current management 

activities for threatened and endangered 

species would remain the same or 

would be decreased. The refuge would 

manage intensively for waterfowl, 

increasing the acres of impounded 

wetlands managed to over 16,000 acres 

and annually supporting targets of 250 

breeding pairs of mottled duck, 60,000 

lesser scaup, 25,000 dabbling ducks, 

and 38,000 diving ducks. The refuge 

would also intensively manage for 

shorebirds, increasing to over 5,000 

acres managed in impounded wetlands. 

Alternative D, the Service’s preferred 

alternative, takes a more landscape view 

of the refuge and its resources, focusing 

refuge management on wildlife and 

habitat diversity. The refuge will 

support 500–650 Florida scrub jay 

family groups with 350–500 territories 

in optimal conditions across 15,000–

16,000 acres. With active management, 

the refuge will support 11–15 nesting 

pairs of bald eagles; maintain 6.3 miles 

of sea turtle nesting beaches; and 

maintain 100 acres of habitat for the 

southeastern beach mouse, while the 

refuge population will serve as a source 

for reintroduction of the beach mouse to 

other sites. Manatee-focused 

management will be re-established on 

the refuge. The refuge will manage 

15,000–16,000 acres in impounded 

wetlands with a waterfowl focus and 

will support targets of 250 breeding 

pairs of mottled ducks, 60,000 lesser 

scaup, 25,000 dabbling ducks, and 

38,000 other diving ducks. Visitor 

services, programs, and messages will 

be focused on wildlife and habitat 

diversity, while also including 

threatened and endangered species, 

migratory birds, and climate change. 

The actions outlined in the CCP and 

in two included step-down plans 

provide direction and guidance for 

management of Merritt Island National 

Wildlife Refuge. Successful 

implementation will depend on 

coordination and partnerships between 

the public, the Service, and other 

governmental agencies. 

Authority: This notice is published under 

the authority of the National Wildlife Refuge 

System Improvement Act of 1997, Public 

Law 105–57. 

Dated: June 29, 2007. 

Cynthia K. Dohner, 

Acting Regional Director. 

Editorial Note: This document was 

received in the Office of the Federal Register 

on August 5, 2008. 

[FR Doc. E8–18411 Filed 8–11–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–55–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

Denali Park Road Vehicle Management 

Plan Environmental Impact Statement 

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement. 

SUMMARY: The National Park Service 

(NPS) intends to prepare an 

Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) 

to develop and implement a plan to 

manage vehicles along the Denali park 

road, including carrying capacity (the 

maximum number of vehicles that can 

be accommodated on the Denali park 

road May–September). The goal of the 

plan is to provide a high quality 

experience for visitors while protecting 

wilderness resource values, scenic 

values, wildlife and other park 

resources, and maintaining the unique 

character of the park road. The plan will 

comprehensively evaluate the existing 

visitor transportation system to 

determine its effectiveness in protecting 

park resources and providing for visitor 

access and enjoyment. Demand for bus 

seats exceeds capacity in some cases 

and trends indicate that visitation will 

continue to increase. There is also a 

need to accommodate the changing 

demographics, interests, and needs of 

visitors. 

The EIS will evaluate a no action 

alternative of maintaining the existing 

vehicle management system on the 

Denali park road including current bus 

schedules, vehicle allocation, and 

carrying capacity. The effectiveness of 

the existing transportation system will 

be assessed and used to guide 

development of a range of action 

alternatives. 

Action alternatives will consider 

potential changes to transportation 

system components including carrying 

capacity, and allocation of vehicle use 

among shuttle buses, tours, inholders, 

professional photographers, and 

administrative vehicles. It will also 

consider changes to bus scheduling and 

spacing; the size and type of buses; tour 

services; educational opportunities and 

interpretive services; wildlife viewing 

opportunities; and possibly other 

factors. Alternatives may also consider 

operational improvements such as the 

quality of the buses, space for backpacks 

and bicycles, communications, 

accessibility and interpretive services 

(both on the buses or prior to departure). 

The NPS may consider utilizing an 

adaptive management approach based 

on a Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI) 

experimental design to implement any 

proposed changes. This BACI approach 

would increase the ability to detect and 

correct any future negative impacts on 

visitor experience or park resources and 

values caused by management actions. 

The NPS will consider a wide range 

of information including data collected 

from the 1930’s to the present. Intensive 

studies conducted over the last three 

years on wildlife populations and 

behavior, social science studies on 

visitor experience, and extensive 

modeling of traffic patterns on the park 

road will be considered in the 

development and analysis of 

alternatives. 

This EIS is being prepared in 

accordance with the requirements of the 

National Environmental Policy Act of 

1969, as amended (42 U.S.C. 4331 et 

seq.), and its implementing regulations 

at 40 CFR part 1500. 

Scoping: The planning team requests 

input from interested federal and state 

agencies, local governments, groups, 

organizations, park visitors, and the 

public. Written and verbal scoping 

comments are being solicited. Further 

information on this planning process 

will be available through public scoping 

meetings, press releases, and the park 

Web site. Public scoping meetings will 

be held in Anchorage, Denali Park, 

Susitna Valley, and Fairbanks, Alaska in 

2008. Additional locations may be 

added as appropriate. Specific dates, 

times, and locations of scoping meetings 

will be announced in local media and 

posted on the NPS Planning, 

Environment, and Public Comment 

(PEPC) Web site at http:// 

parkplanning.nps.gov/DENA. 

Before including your address, phone 

number, e-mail address, or other 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
46916 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 156 / Tuesday, August 12, 2008 / Notices 

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 in your comment 

to withhold your personal identifying 

information from public review, we 

cannot guarantee that we will be able to 

do so. 

DATES: Comments concerning the scope 

of this project should be received on or 

before September 30, 2008. The draft 

EIS is projected to be available in early 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be 

mailed to the address below. Electronic 

comments may be submitted to the NPS 

Planning, Environment, and Public 

Comment (PEPC) Web site: http:// 

parkplanning.nps.gov/DENA. To 

comment using PEPC, select the ‘‘Denali 

Park Road Vehicle Management Plan’’, 

then select ‘‘Open for Public Comment’’. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Adrienne Lindholm, Outdoor 

Recreation Planner, Denali Planning, 

240 West 5th Avenue, Anchorage, AK 

99501, (907) 644–3613. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Denali 

National Park contains one of the most 

intact predator-prey ecosystems in the 

world as well as one of the best 

opportunities in North America to view 

wildlife in its natural setting. Denali 

National Park was established in 1917 

as a game refuge and conserving wildlife 

and protecting opportunities to view 

wildlife remain its most important 

values. Key resources and values 

include: Wildlife populations, wildlife 

habitat, and the processes and 

components of the park’s natural 

ecosystem; wilderness character, 

wilderness resource values, and 

wilderness recreational opportunities; 

scenic and geologic values of Mount 

McKinley and surrounding mountain 

landscape; and visitor enjoyment and 

inspiration from observing wildlife in 

its natural habitat and other natural 

features. Denali is now one of the most 

visited subarctic national parks in the 

world, with the vast majority of 

visitation focused along the 90-mile 

park road. Park managers must ensure 

that Denali’s vehicle management plan 

protects these critical resource values. 

Before 1972, Denali visitation was low 

because travelers arrived either by train 

or by an arduous overland route on the 

unimproved Denali Highway. In 1972 

park visitation increased 100% in direct 

response to the opening of the George 

Parks Highway which created a direct 

corridor from Anchorage to the park. 

Anticipating this increase, park 

managers implemented a mandatory 

visitor transportation system that same 

year to minimize disturbances to 

wildlife and scenery. This was one of 

the first visitor transportation systems in 

the national park system and it set the 

standard for transportation systems in 

other park units. 

With the sustained growth in Alaska’s 

tourism industry, Denali continues to be 

a featured part of travelers’ itineraries. 

To better manage the park experience in 

light of increased pressures, the 1986 

General Management Plan (GMP) for the 

park established a limit of 10,512 motor 

vehicle trips annually on the park road. 

This limit, which affects the existing 

allocation of vehicle trips (among tour 

buses, shuttle buses, private vehicles, 

administrative vehicles, and private 

inholders and their guests) will be 

comprehensively evaluated in this EIS. 

The transportation system enabled 

Denali to maintain vehicle use levels 

below this figure while providing 

visitors the opportunity to travel the 

park road. However, visitation 

continues to increase and demand 

exceeds capacity in some cases. Trends 

indicate that visitation will continue to 

increase and that there will continue to 

be a demand for access to Denali. There 

is also a need to accommodate the 

changing demographics, interests, and 

needs of visitors. This will require a 

comprehensive review of the current 

system and evaluation of alternatives for 

developing a system to better serve the 

needs of visitors while protecting park 

resources. 

Dated: June 20, 2008. 

Victor Knox, 

Acting Regional Director, Alaska. 

[FR Doc. E8–18571 Filed 8–11–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4310–PF–P 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

National Park Service 

Notice of Intent To Prepare a General 

Management Plan and Environmental 

Impact Statement for the Ice Age 

National Scenic Trail Interpretive Site 

and Cross Plains Unit of the Ice Age 

National Scientific Reserve, WI 

AGENCY: National Park Service, 

Department of the Interior. 

ACTION: Notice of Intent to Prepare a 

General Management Plan and 

Environmental Impact Statement for the 

Ice Age National Scenic Trail 

Interpretive Site and Cross Plains Unit 

of the Ice Age National Scientific 

Reserve, Wisconsin. 

SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) 

of the National Environmental Policy 

Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the 

National Park Service (NPS) with the 

Wisconsin Department of Natural 

Resources (DNR), is preparing a General 

Management Plan/Environmental 

Impact Statement (GMP/EIS) for the Ice 

Age National Scenic Trail (NST) 

Interpretive Site and Cross Plains Unit 

of the Ice Age National Scientific 

Reserve in Wisconsin. The GMP/EIS 

will prescribe the resource conditions 

and visitor experiences that are to be 

achieved and maintained in these areas 

over the next 15 to 20 years. 

To facilitate sound planning and 

environmental assessment, the NPS 

intends to gather information necessary 

for the preparation of the GMP/EIS and 

obtain suggestions and information from 

other Agencies and the public on the 

scope of issues to be addressed in the 

GMP/EIS. Because the planning area 

involves a complex of public lands with 

different State and Federal designations, 

the NPS is partnering with the 

Wisconsin DNR in developing this plan. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will 

participate in the planning team. 

Comments and participation in this 

scoping process are invited. 

Participation in the planning process 

will be encouraged and facilitated by 

various means, including newsletters 

and open house meetings. The NPS will 

conduct public scoping meetings to 

explain the planning process and to 

solicit opinions about issues to address 

in the GMP/EIS. Notification of all such 

meetings will be announced in the local 

press and in the NPS newsletters. 

ADDRESSES: Additionally, if you wish to 

comment on any issues associated with 

the GMP/EIS, you may submit your 

comments by any one of several 

methods. You may mail or hand-deliver 

comments to Superintendent, Ice Age 

and North Country National Scenic 

Trails, 700 Rayovac Drive, Suite 100, 

Madison, Wisconsin 53711. You may 

provide comments electronically by 

entering them into the NPS’s Planning, 

Environment and Public Comment Web 

site http://parkplanning.nps.gov. 

Information will be available for public 

review and comment from the Office of 

the Superintendent at the above 

address. 

Requests to be added to the project 

mailing list should be sent to Manager, 

Ice Age NST, 700 Rayovac Drive, Suite 

100, Madison, Wisconsin 53711; 

telephone 608–441–5610. 

Before including your address, 

telephone number, e-mail address, or 

other personal identifying information 

in your comments, you should be aware 

that your entire comment (including 

your personal identifying information) 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES