[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 77 (Friday, April 21, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19956-19957]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-9918]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Availability of Draft Wild and Scenic River Eligibility Report
for the Wallowa River, OR
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Publication of draft report for public comment.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service is publishing for public review and
comment a draft study report on designating the Wallowa River, Oregon,
into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System. The National Park
Service has found that the lower Wallowa River is eligible for the
national system and is recommending that the river be designated.
DATES: Comments must be postmarked by June 7,1995.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the draft report are available for public
inspection at: National Park Service, 909 First Avenue, 4th Floor,
Seattle, Washington 98104- [[Page 19957]] 1060; National Park Service,
800 North Capitol Street, NW., Suite 490, Washington, DC 20013-7127;
and U.S. Forest Service, Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, 1550 Dewey
Avenue, Baker City, Oregon 97814. Hours of availability are between
8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, except holidays.
Additional copies for review are located in the Baker City, Elgin,
Enterprise, Joseph, and LaGrande, Oregon, libraries during normal hours
of operation. Copies of the draft report may be obtained from Dan Haas,
National Park Service, Pacific Northwest Regional Office, 909 First
Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98104-1060, (206) 220-4120.
Comments should be directed to the National Park Service, Pacific
Northwest Regional Office, attention Dan Haas at the address above.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Haas, National Park Service,
Pacific Northwest Regional Office, 909 First Avenue, Seattle,
Washington 98104-1060, (206) 220-4120.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On December 29, 1994, Oregon Governor
Barbara Roberts petitioned the Secretary of the Interior to add a 10-
mile reach of the Wallowa River to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers
System. The section of river under consideration extends from the
confluence of the Wallowa and Minam Rivers in the hamlet of Minam
(river mile 10.0) downstream to the confluence of the Wallowa and
Grande Ronde Rivers (river mile 0.0). Under section 2(a)(ii) of the
National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (P.L. 90-542, as amended), the
Secretary has the authority to add a river to the national system at
the request of a state, provided the state has met certain conditions
and the river meets eligibility criteria. These preconditions are:
(1) The river is already designated into a state river protection
system.
(2) The state has the ability to manage the river at no cost to the
federal government, except for those lands already in federal
ownership.
(3) The river has resources of regional or national significance
and is free-flowing as defined by the Departments of the Interior and
Agriculture.
(4) The state has adequate mechanisms in place to protect the
resources for which the river is eligible in the first place.
Upon the request of a state governor to the Secretary, the National
Park Service, acting for the Secretary, undertakes an evaluation of the
state's request. The National Park Service requested the assistance of
the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
in the preparation of the report. This was done for two reasons: (1)
The BLM currently administers 41% of the area under consideration; and
(2) the USFS recently completed a wild and scenic assessment--and an
environmental impact statement on the impacts of designation--at the
request of Congress through the 1988 Oregon Omnibus Rivers Act. The
National Park Service acted as a cooperating agency in the preparation
of the USFS report. In addition, the BLM and USFS have an adopted river
management plan in place for the Wallowa River. Both the BLM and the
USFS acted as cooperating agencies in this assessment on behalf of the
state.
As a result of the evaluation, the National Park Service has
concluded that the state of Oregon has met all requirements to include
the Wallowa River in the national system and the river itself meets all
eligibility criteria. The National Park Service is tentatively
recommending that the Secretary designate the Wallowa as a National
Recreational River.
Dated: April 17, 1995.
Roger G. Kennedy,
Director, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 95-9918 Filed 4-20-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P
