98-26258. Establishment of Moratorium on New Commercial Operations on the Gulkana National Wild River Throughout the Upcoming Limits of Acceptable Change Planning Process

[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 190 (Thursday, October 1, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52744-52745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-26258]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Land Management
[AK-050-1220-00]


Establishment of Moratorium on New Commercial Operations on the 
Gulkana National Wild River Throughout the Upcoming Limits of 
Acceptable Change Planning Process

AGENCY: Bureau of Land Management, Interior.

SUMMARY: Public notice is hereby given that no new Special Recreation 
Permit applications for commercial operations on the Gulkana National 
Wild River will be authorized for a period of three years, the 
tentative time frame under which a Limits of Acceptable Change planning 
process to update the Gulkana National Wild River Management Plan of 
December, 1983, is expected to be completed. Only annual renewal 
applications submitted by qualified commercial operators authorized for 
at least one of the use seasons between 1995-1998 will be considered. 
No new types of use or requests for increases in levels of use by 
individual operators will be authorized during the moratorium. Since 
the original Gulkana National Wild River Management Plan was written in 
1983, estimated visits to the river have nearly doubled, and commercial 
use, estimated in 1983 at 5% or less of all river use, is estimated to 
have increased to nearly 8%. This temporary moratorium is being 
established to stabilize the number of, and user days associated with, 
commercial outfitters during the planning process to update the Gulkana 
National Wild River Management Plan. Future use levels will be 
determined by the Limits of Acceptable Change planning process. Data 
related to the environmental impacts of river use have been collected 
since 1994 in preparation for the Limits of Acceptable Change planning 
process. By limiting the availability of Special Recreation Permits to 
operators with historical use of the Gulkana National Wild River 
between 1995 and 1998, and limiting the types and levels of use of the 
historical operators to 1995-1998 levels, this data should remain 
relevant during the planning process.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathy J. Liska, Bureau of Land 
Management (BLM), Glennallen Field Office, Mile 186.5 Glenn Highway, 
P.O. Box 147, Glennallen, Alaska 99588; email: [e-mail]; 
Telephone: [phone]; Fax: [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The authority for this decision comes from

[[Page 52745]]

43 CFR 8372.0-3: Authority, 8372.1-1: Public lands, general, and 
8372.3: Issuance of permits; The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, 16 U.S.C. 
1271-1287; the Federal Land Policy and Mangement Act, 43 U.S.C. 1740.

    Dated: September 25, 1998.
KJ Mushovic,
For the Glennallen Management Team.
[FR Doc. 98-26258 Filed 9-30-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-JA-P