[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 136 (Monday, July 15, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36894-36895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-17889]
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[[Page 36895]]
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Missouri/Niobrara/Verdigre Creek National Recreational Rivers
Draft Environmental Impact Statement and General Management Plan
AGENCY: National Park Service.
ACTION: Availability of draft environmental impact statement and
general management plan, for the Missouri/Niobrara/Verdigre Creek
National Recreational Rivers located in Bon Homme, Charles Mix, and
Gregory counties, South Dakota, and Boyd and Knox counties in Nebraska.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service (NPS) announces the
availability of the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) and
general management plan, for the Missouri/Niobrara /Verdigre Creek
National Recreation Rivers. The DEIS responds to Public Law 102-50,
which amended the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to add 39 miles of the
Missouri, 20 miles of the Niobrara, and 8 miles of Verdigre Creek to
the national wild and scenic rivers system. The NPS prepared the DEIS.
Cooperating agencies included the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission;
the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks; the Nebraska and
South Dakota State Historic Preservation Offices; Boyd and Knox
counties in Nebraska; and Bon Homme, Charles Mix, and Gregory counties
in South Dakota.
The document describes five management and boundary alternatives.
Alternative 1, a no action alternative, is required in order to provide
a description of baseline conditions from which the action alternatives
can be compared; its boundary is 1/4 mile from the riverbank, which is
the interim boundary noted in the establishing legislation. Alternative
2 would provide for the preservation of the rural landscape, primarily
through local management, and would establish a boundary at 200 feet
from the riverbank. Alternative 3 would emphasize management to
preserve and restore the biological elements of the river ecosystem;
its boundary would be 200 feet from the riverbank, plus significant
biological bottomland. Alternative 4 would emphasize visitor use along
with resource conservation; its boundary would be 200 feet from the
riverbank, plus significant biologic and public use resource areas.
Alternative 5, the preferred alternative, combines the local management
and philosophy of Alternative 2, some resource management and boundary
of Alternative 3, and some interpretive and visitor experience aspects
of Alternative 4.
Each management action alternative is expected to provide a
mechanism for long-term resource protection and accommodate
recreational use of the river with minimal impact on the private
property owner. In each alternative, farming and ranching are
considered appropriate activities within the boundaries of the
recreational rivers. Each action alternative relies heavily on the
cooperative efforts of property owners, local communities and the
National Park Service. No alternative would require much, if any,
acquisition of land; any acquisitions would be from willing sellers
only.
DATES: Comments on the DEIS should be received no later than September
3, 1996. Public meetings will be held in various Nebraska and South
Dakota towns and cities during August, 1996, and will be announced in
local news media when schedules are final.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the DEIS should be submitted to the
Superintendent, Niobrara/Missouri National Scenic Riverways, P.O. Box
591, O'Neill, Nebraska 68763.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public reading copies of the DEIS will be
available for review at the Department of Interior Natural Resources
Library, 1849 C Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20240, and at public
libraries and county courthouses in Center and Butte, Nebraska; and
Burke, Lake Andes and Tyndall, South Dakota. Public reading copies will
also be available at the public libraries in Verdigre and Niobrara,
Nebraska.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Warren H. Hill, Superintendent,
Niobrara/Missouri National Scenic Riverways at the above address or he
can be reached at 402-336-3970.
Dated: July 3, 1996.
William W. Schenk,
Field Director, Midwest Field Area.
[FR Doc. 96-17889 Filed 7-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P
