National Park Service April 25, 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Park Service (NPS) announces a SRC meeting within the Alaska Region for Gates of the Arctic National Park. The purpose of the meeting is to develop and continue work on subsistence hunting program recommendations and other related subsistence management issues. This meeting is open to the public and will have time allocated for public testimony. The public is welcomed to present written or oral comments to the SRC. The NPS SRC program is authorized under Title VIII, Section 808, of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Pub. L. 96-487, to operate in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. Meeting minutes will be available for public inspection approximately six weeks after the meeting.

The National Park Service (NPS) is expanding the scope of the General Management Plan (GMP)/Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being prepared for the Addition lands. As part of this planning effort, the NPS will include a wilderness study to determine if any portions of the Addition Lands of Big Cypress National Preserve (Preserve) should be recommended for inclusion in the National Wilderness Preservation System as defined in the Wilderness Act of 1964. The NPS also will prepare an Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan that will address in more detail the management of off-road vehicles in the Addition Lands. These new elements will be included as part of the GMP/EIS currently in preparation. A Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS with that GMP was published in the Federal Register of June 12, 2001. That EIS now will be expanded to include an evaluation of the impacts associated with possible designation of wilderness and off-road vehicle management within the Addition Lands of the Preserve. This notice is being furnished as required by National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulation 40 CFR 1501.7. To facilitate sound planning and analysis of environmental impact, the NPS is gathering information necessary for the preparation of the GMP, the Wilderness Study, Off-Road Vehicle Management Plan and the associated EIS and is obtaining suggestions and information from other agencies and the public on the scope of issues to be addressed. Comments and participation in this scoping process are invited.