Final Environmental Impact Statement for Wilderness Stewardship Plan, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Fresno and Tulare Counties, California, 18865-18866 [2015-08041]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 67 / Wednesday, April 8, 2015 / Notices
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
[LLOR–936000–L14300000–ET0000–
14XL1116AF; HAG–14–0109; WAOR–50706]
Public Land Order No. 7832 Extension
of Public Land Order No. 7133;
Washington
AGENCY:
Bureau of Land Management,
Interior.
Public Land Order.
ACTION:
This order extends the
duration of the withdrawal created by
Public Land Order 7133 for an
additional 20-year period. This
extension is necessary to continue
protection of the Brown Mountain, Pal
Moore Meadows, Teepee, Cedar Creek,
and Flowery Trail Seed Orchards,
located in the Colville and Kaniksu
National Forests, which will expire on
April 12, 2015, unless extended.
DATE: Effective Date: April 13, 2015.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Michael L. Barnes, Bureau of Land
Management Oregon/Washington State
Office, 503–808–6155, or Candice
Polisky, U.S. Forest Service Pacific
Northwest Region, 503–808–2479.
Persons who use a telecommunications
device for the deaf (TDD) may call the
Federal Information Relay Service
(FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the
above individual. The FIRS is available
24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to leave
a message or question with the above
individual. You will receive a reply
during normal business hours.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
purpose for which the withdrawal was
first made requires this extension to
continue protection of the investments
made in the Brown Mountain, Pal
Moore Meadows, Teepee, Cedar Creek,
and Flowery Trail Seed Orchards in
Colville and Kaniksu National Forests.
The withdrawal extended by this order
will expire on April 12, 2035, unless, as
a result of a review conducted prior to
the expiration date pursuant to Section
204(f) of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 43 U.S.C.
1714, the Secretary of the Interior
determines that the withdrawal shall be
further extended.
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
SUMMARY:
Order
By virtue of the authority vested in
the Secretary of the Interior by Section
204 of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 43 U.S.C.
1714, it is ordered as follows:
Public Land Order No. 7133 (60 FR
18777(1995)), which withdrew 496.22
acres of National Forest System lands
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:55 Apr 07, 2015
Jkt 235001
from location and entry under the
United States mining laws (30 U.S.C.
Ch. 2), but not from leasing under the
mineral leasing laws, to protect the
investment at the Brown Mountain, Pal
Moore Meadows, Teepee, Cedar Creek,
and Flowery Trail Seed Orchards, is
hereby extended for an additional 20year period until April 12, 2035.
Dated: March 23, 2015.
Janice M. Schneider,
Assistant Secretary—Land and Minerals
Management.
[FR Doc. 2015–08009 Filed 4–7–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410–11–P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS–PWR–PWRO–17645;
PX.P0206452B.00.1]
Final Environmental Impact Statement
for Wilderness Stewardship Plan,
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks, Fresno and Tulare Counties,
California
National Park Service, Interior.
Notice of Availability.
AGENCY:
ACTION:
The National Park Service
(NPS) has prepared a Wilderness
Stewardship Plan and Environmental
Impact Statement (Final WSP/EIS). The
Final WSP/EIS identifies and analyzes
five alternatives that will provide
direction for the NPS to make decisions
regarding the future use and protection
of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon and John
Krebs Wilderness within Sequoia and
Kings Canyon National Parks.
DATES: The NPS will execute a Record
of Decision not sooner than 30 days
from the date of publication of the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s
notice of availability for the Final EIS in
the Federal Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Nancy Hendricks, Environmental
Compliance and Planning Coordinator,
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks, 47050 Generals Highway, Three
Rivers, CA 93271, (559) 565–3102.
Electronic versions of the complete
document are available online at https://
parkplanning.nps.gov/sekiwild. Request
printed documents or CDs through
email (seki_planning@nps.gov) (type
‘‘Final WSP/EIS’’ in the subject line) or
telephone (559) 565–3102.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
purposes of the WSP/EIS include
implementing the long-term vision for
protecting wilderness character that is
contained in the parks’ Final General
Management Plan (GMP)/Final
SUMMARY:
PO 00000
Frm 00060
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
18865
Environmental Impact Statement (EIS),
as well as enhancing established
programs and actions for managing
these areas as wilderness. A variety of
controversial or long-standing issues are
addressed in the WSP/EIS, including
visitor capacity, wilderness permitting,
party (group) size limits for people and
stock, campfire regulations, camping
locations and regulations, food-storage
requirements, human-waste
management, stock access, stock
grazing, maintenance of facilities and
trails, and management of frontcountry
facilities that support wilderness use.
The WSP/EIS also analyzes and
determines the types and levels of
commercial services that may be
performed for activities that are proper
for realizing the recreational or other
wilderness purposes of the areas, as
required by § 4(d)(5) of the Wilderness
Act (Extent Necessary Determination).
The WSP/EIS considers five
alternatives that would manage the
overall character of the parks’
wilderness, including key aspects such
as wilderness use levels, access and
trails, stock use and grazing,
recreational and administrative
infrastructure, and the extent to which
those activities proper for realizing
wilderness purposes may be supported
by commercial services. The main
differences between these alternatives
lie in the key elements of wilderness
management—use levels, access and
trails, stock use and grazing, and
infrastructure, both recreational and
administrative. These differences are
driven by the different approach to
management that each alternative offers.
Each alternative serves visitor and/or
operational needs in different ways, and
would preserve natural resources in a
condition that is consistent with the
purposes of the Wilderness Act.
Alternative 1 (No-action/Status Quo)
would continue to implement the
existing Backcountry Management Plan
(BMP) and the Stock Use and Meadow
Management Plan (SUMMP) to guide
wilderness management. The BMP
establishes trailhead quotas, a
wilderness permit system, and
management objectives for campfires,
campsites, sanitation, food storage,
special-use limits, area closures, stock
use and grazing, education and
interpretation, trails and travel, signs,
commercial operations, ranger stations,
administrative policies, and monitoring
(e.g., meadows monitoring). The
SUMMP establishes the management
system and tools for stock use and
includes site-specific opening dates for
grazing, grazing management, use levels,
protection of Sierra Nevada bighorn
sheep ewe-lamb ranges, installation of
E:\FR\FM\08APN1.SGM
08APN1
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
18866
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 67 / Wednesday, April 8, 2015 / Notices
drift fences, stock and camp etiquette,
implementation of temporary variances,
and other closures. The SUMMP also
establishes a monitoring program to
inform and modify management as
necessary to reduce resource impacts.
Alternative 2 (NPS preferred
alternative) would protect wilderness
character by implementing site-specific
actions, incorporating much of the
current management strategies and tools
used by the parks to protect wilderness.
Wilderness would be managed by
evaluating conditions in specific areas
and mitigating impacts through targeted
actions. The goal is to encourage
wilderness use and minimize
restrictions while preserving wilderness
character. Alternative 2 acknowledges
that there are some challenges in the
most popular areas and in areas with
sensitive resources that can be mitigated
through targeted improvements in
management. Most wilderness trails in
the parks would remain open to stock
under this alternative. Stock would
continue to be allowed to travel up to
one-half mile off maintained trails to
reach campsites. Off-trail stock travel
would continue to be allowed in four
areas of the parks: On the Monarch
Divide, in the Roaring River area, on the
Hockett Plateau, and along the western
side of the Kern River watershed south
from the Chagoopa Plateau. Grazing
would generally be allowed in areas
open to camping with stock (within 0.5
mile of maintained trails open to
camping with stock or in off-trail travel
areas), with some exceptions. Under
alternative 2, the levels and types of
commercial services to be performed
would be similar to current conditions.
However, the levels and types of
commercial services allowed would be
limited in the Mount Whitney
Management Area, an approximately
37,200 acre area around Mount Whitney
within Sequoia National Park.
Alternative 3 would provide more
opportunities for primitive recreation by
allowing additional use, which would
be expected to occur mostly in popular
areas. To preserve the natural quality of
wilderness, the popular use areas in
wilderness would require additional
development and restrictions on visitor
behavior. Most wilderness trails in the
parks would remain open to stock under
this alternative. Stock would continue
to be allowed to travel up to one-half
mile off maintained trails to reach
campsites. Off-trail stock travel would
continue to be allowed in four areas of
the parks: On the Monarch Divide, in
the Roaring River area, on the Hockett
Plateau, and along the western side of
the Kern River watershed south from the
Chagoopa Plateau. Grazing would
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:55 Apr 07, 2015
Jkt 235001
generally be allowed within 0.5 mile of
maintained trails open to camping with
stock, with some exceptions. As part of
allowing increased use, the levels of
commercial services would increase to
accommodate less experienced visitors,
to help educate visitors, and to control
the impacts of inexperienced or
inadequately equipped visitors.
Alternative 4 emphasizes the
undeveloped quality and noncommercial recreation. This alternative
would eliminate some of the
development currently in wilderness to
emphasize the undeveloped quality of
wilderness. There would be fewer signs,
bridges, stock-related facilities, and
ranger stations. Restrooms/privies and
food-storage boxes would be removed
and there would be no designated
campsites. Because fewer resourceprotecting developments would remain
in place, the amount of use would need
to be reduced to protect the natural
quality of wilderness. Private parties
traveling with stock would continue to
have access to most trails in the parks,
and stock would continue to be allowed
to travel off-trail in four designated
areas. However, commercial stock use
would be limited to certain destinations
and trails. No private, commercial, or
administrative stock grazing would be
allowed under this alternative.
Commercial services would be reduced
to levels significantly lower than those
in the no-action alternative and
commercial services would be limited
in high-use areas
Alternative 5 (environmentally
preferable alternative) emphasizes
opportunities for solitude by reducing
the total number of wilderness visitors
allowed in wilderness. Presence of
fewer visitors in wilderness would in
turn allow for reduced levels of
development, along with reduced
restrictions on visitor behavior (fewer
people need fewer facilities). Reducing
the numbers of visitors would also
result in reduced impacts on resources.
Stock travel more than 0.5 mile from
trails open to camping with stock would
be prohibited. Stock use and grazing
would generally be allowed in most
areas where overnight use is permitted
with some exceptions. Commercial
services would be at levels lower than
those in the no-action alternative in
most locations, but the percentage of
total visitor use supported by
commercial services would be similar to
the no-action alternative to ensure that
reduced access would not
disproportionally affect any particular
user group.
PO 00000
Frm 00061
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Dated: February 6, 2015.
Patricia L. Neubacher,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 2015–08041 Filed 4–7–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS–WASO–NRNHL–17899;
PPWOCRADI0, PCU00RP14.R50000]
National Register of Historic Places;
Notification of Pending Nominations
and Related Actions
Nominations for the following
properties being considered for listing
or related actions in the National
Register were received by the National
Park Service before March 14, 2015.
Pursuant to section 60.13 of 36 CFR part
60, written comments are being
accepted concerning the significance of
the nominated properties under the
National Register criteria for evaluation.
Comments may be forwarded by United
States Postal Service, to the National
Register of Historic Places, National
Park Service, 1849 C St. NW., MS 2280,
Washington, DC 20240; by all other
carriers, National Register of Historic
Places, National Park Service, 1201 Eye
St. NW., 8th Floor, Washington, DC
20005; or by fax, 202–371–6447. Written
or faxed comments should be submitted
by April 23, 2015. Before including your
address, phone number, email 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 in your comment to
withhold your personal identifying
information from public review, we
cannot guarantee that we will be able to
do so.
Dated: March 18, 2015.
J. Paul Loether,
Chief, National Register of Historic Places/
National Historic Landmarks Program.
ARIZONA
Cochise County
Bowie School District No. 14, 315 W. 5th St.,
Bowie, 15000168
CALIFORNIA
Los Angeles County
Federal Building, 15000 Aviation Blvd.,
Hawthorne, 15000169
E:\FR\FM\08APN1.SGM
08APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18865-18866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08041]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-PWR-PWRO-17645; PX.P0206452B.00.1]
Final Environmental Impact Statement for Wilderness Stewardship
Plan, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Fresno and Tulare
Counties, California
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) has prepared a Wilderness
Stewardship Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Final WSP/EIS).
The Final WSP/EIS identifies and analyzes five alternatives that will
provide direction for the NPS to make decisions regarding the future
use and protection of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon and John Krebs
Wilderness within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
DATES: The NPS will execute a Record of Decision not sooner than 30
days from the date of publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's notice of availability for the Final EIS in the Federal
Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Hendricks, Environmental
Compliance and Planning Coordinator, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271, (559) 565-3102.
Electronic versions of the complete document are available online at
https://parkplanning.nps.gov/sekiwild. Request printed documents or CDs
through email (seki_planning@nps.gov) (type ``Final WSP/EIS'' in the
subject line) or telephone (559) 565-3102.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purposes of the WSP/EIS include
implementing the long-term vision for protecting wilderness character
that is contained in the parks' Final General Management Plan (GMP)/
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as well as enhancing
established programs and actions for managing these areas as
wilderness. A variety of controversial or long-standing issues are
addressed in the WSP/EIS, including visitor capacity, wilderness
permitting, party (group) size limits for people and stock, campfire
regulations, camping locations and regulations, food-storage
requirements, human-waste management, stock access, stock grazing,
maintenance of facilities and trails, and management of frontcountry
facilities that support wilderness use. The WSP/EIS also analyzes and
determines the types and levels of commercial services that may be
performed for activities that are proper for realizing the recreational
or other wilderness purposes of the areas, as required by Sec. 4(d)(5)
of the Wilderness Act (Extent Necessary Determination).
The WSP/EIS considers five alternatives that would manage the
overall character of the parks' wilderness, including key aspects such
as wilderness use levels, access and trails, stock use and grazing,
recreational and administrative infrastructure, and the extent to which
those activities proper for realizing wilderness purposes may be
supported by commercial services. The main differences between these
alternatives lie in the key elements of wilderness management--use
levels, access and trails, stock use and grazing, and infrastructure,
both recreational and administrative. These differences are driven by
the different approach to management that each alternative offers. Each
alternative serves visitor and/or operational needs in different ways,
and would preserve natural resources in a condition that is consistent
with the purposes of the Wilderness Act.
Alternative 1 (No-action/Status Quo) would continue to implement
the existing Backcountry Management Plan (BMP) and the Stock Use and
Meadow Management Plan (SUMMP) to guide wilderness management. The BMP
establishes trailhead quotas, a wilderness permit system, and
management objectives for campfires, campsites, sanitation, food
storage, special-use limits, area closures, stock use and grazing,
education and interpretation, trails and travel, signs, commercial
operations, ranger stations, administrative policies, and monitoring
(e.g., meadows monitoring). The SUMMP establishes the management system
and tools for stock use and includes site-specific opening dates for
grazing, grazing management, use levels, protection of Sierra Nevada
bighorn sheep ewe-lamb ranges, installation of
[[Page 18866]]
drift fences, stock and camp etiquette, implementation of temporary
variances, and other closures. The SUMMP also establishes a monitoring
program to inform and modify management as necessary to reduce resource
impacts.
Alternative 2 (NPS preferred alternative) would protect wilderness
character by implementing site-specific actions, incorporating much of
the current management strategies and tools used by the parks to
protect wilderness. Wilderness would be managed by evaluating
conditions in specific areas and mitigating impacts through targeted
actions. The goal is to encourage wilderness use and minimize
restrictions while preserving wilderness character. Alternative 2
acknowledges that there are some challenges in the most popular areas
and in areas with sensitive resources that can be mitigated through
targeted improvements in management. Most wilderness trails in the
parks would remain open to stock under this alternative. Stock would
continue to be allowed to travel up to one-half mile off maintained
trails to reach campsites. Off-trail stock travel would continue to be
allowed in four areas of the parks: On the Monarch Divide, in the
Roaring River area, on the Hockett Plateau, and along the western side
of the Kern River watershed south from the Chagoopa Plateau. Grazing
would generally be allowed in areas open to camping with stock (within
0.5 mile of maintained trails open to camping with stock or in off-
trail travel areas), with some exceptions. Under alternative 2, the
levels and types of commercial services to be performed would be
similar to current conditions. However, the levels and types of
commercial services allowed would be limited in the Mount Whitney
Management Area, an approximately 37,200 acre area around Mount Whitney
within Sequoia National Park.
Alternative 3 would provide more opportunities for primitive
recreation by allowing additional use, which would be expected to occur
mostly in popular areas. To preserve the natural quality of wilderness,
the popular use areas in wilderness would require additional
development and restrictions on visitor behavior. Most wilderness
trails in the parks would remain open to stock under this alternative.
Stock would continue to be allowed to travel up to one-half mile off
maintained trails to reach campsites. Off-trail stock travel would
continue to be allowed in four areas of the parks: On the Monarch
Divide, in the Roaring River area, on the Hockett Plateau, and along
the western side of the Kern River watershed south from the Chagoopa
Plateau. Grazing would generally be allowed within 0.5 mile of
maintained trails open to camping with stock, with some exceptions. As
part of allowing increased use, the levels of commercial services would
increase to accommodate less experienced visitors, to help educate
visitors, and to control the impacts of inexperienced or inadequately
equipped visitors.
Alternative 4 emphasizes the undeveloped quality and non-commercial
recreation. This alternative would eliminate some of the development
currently in wilderness to emphasize the undeveloped quality of
wilderness. There would be fewer signs, bridges, stock-related
facilities, and ranger stations. Restrooms/privies and food-storage
boxes would be removed and there would be no designated campsites.
Because fewer resource-protecting developments would remain in place,
the amount of use would need to be reduced to protect the natural
quality of wilderness. Private parties traveling with stock would
continue to have access to most trails in the parks, and stock would
continue to be allowed to travel off-trail in four designated areas.
However, commercial stock use would be limited to certain destinations
and trails. No private, commercial, or administrative stock grazing
would be allowed under this alternative. Commercial services would be
reduced to levels significantly lower than those in the no-action
alternative and commercial services would be limited in high-use areas
Alternative 5 (environmentally preferable alternative) emphasizes
opportunities for solitude by reducing the total number of wilderness
visitors allowed in wilderness. Presence of fewer visitors in
wilderness would in turn allow for reduced levels of development, along
with reduced restrictions on visitor behavior (fewer people need fewer
facilities). Reducing the numbers of visitors would also result in
reduced impacts on resources. Stock travel more than 0.5 mile from
trails open to camping with stock would be prohibited. Stock use and
grazing would generally be allowed in most areas where overnight use is
permitted with some exceptions. Commercial services would be at levels
lower than those in the no-action alternative in most locations, but
the percentage of total visitor use supported by commercial services
would be similar to the no-action alternative to ensure that reduced
access would not disproportionally affect any particular user group.
Dated: February 6, 2015.
Patricia L. Neubacher,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-08041 Filed 4-7-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
