[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 189 (Friday, September 27, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50866-50868]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-24822]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Record of Decision; Final General Management Plan/Environmental
Impact Statement; Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho
ACTION: Notice of approval of Record of Decision.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, as amended, and the regulations promulgated by the
Council on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1505.2), the Department of the
Interior, National Park Service, has prepared a Record of Decision on
the Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Twin Falls and Gooding
Counties, Idaho. The National Park Service will implement the proposed
action (Alternative 2) as described in the Final General Management
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement.
DATES: The Record of Decision was recommended by the Superintendent of
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, concurred by the Deputy Field
Director, Pacific West Area, and approved by the Field Director,
Pacific West Area, on September 18, 1996.
ADDRESSES: Inquiries regarding the Record of Decision or the
Environmental Impact Statement should be submitted to the
Superintendent, Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, P.O. Box 570,
Hagerman, Idaho 83332; telephone: (208) 837-4793.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Record of Decision follows:
Introduction
Pursuant to Section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental Policy
Act of 1969, as amended, and the regulations promulgated by the Council
on Environmental Quality (40 CFR 1505.2), the Department of the
Interior, National Park Service, has prepared this Record of Decision
on the Final General Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement for
Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument in Twin Falls and Gooding
Counties, Idaho. The Record of Decision is a concise statement of the
decisions made, other alternatives considered, the basis for the
decision, the environmentally preferable alternative, the mitigating
measures developed to avoid or minimize environmental harm, and public
involvement in the decision making process.
The Decision (Selected Action)
The National Park Service will implement the proposed action
(Alternative 2) as described in the Final General Management Plan/
Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/EIS) issued in July 1996. The Draft
GMP/EIS was issued in November 1995.
The selected action (Alternative 2) will provide a plan for
comprehensively meeting the monument's legislative mandate to provide a
center for paleontological research and education, including the
construction of a fully functional research center and museum. The
National Park Service will perform professional research, educational,
and resource management functions as peers and partners with various
persons, institutions, and organizations that will help staff, fund,
equip, and implement those functions. An institute will need to be
established to help facilitate monument research and educational
programs. The research center and museum will be integrated so that
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visitors will be able to interact with researchers and research
projects. Support for educational programs will be a major monument
function. In addition to paleontological resources, other monument
resources, including the Oregon Trail, will receive the benefit of
fully professional resource management, interpretation, and educational
programs. An overlook at the Hagerman Horse Quarry, the Bluff and
Emigrant Trails and a Rim-to-River Trail will be constructed, along
with improvements to the existing Snake River and Oregon Trail
overlooks.
Additional actions common to all alternatives in the Draft and
Final GMP/EIS are included in the selected action, including: measures
to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and policies;
participation in regional planning and information/orientation efforts;
housing employees outside the monument in the private sector;
restricting visitors to designated roads and trails in most areas;
prohibiting camping in the monument; and continuing hunting and fishing
as legislatively mandated. Carrying capacity considerations will be
addressed primarily by directing visitors to the research center and
museum and then encouraging them to stay there or venture into other
areas depending upon current visitation and resource conditions.
Statements of the monument's purpose, significance, management
goals, desired future conditions, interpretive themes, and management
zones are also part of the selected action. In addition, the selected
action calls for a number of future action plans as described on pages
16-17 of the Draft GMP/EIS. To implement the plan, implementation teams
and partnerships will be set up, and creative funding opportunities and
potential cost savings will be fully evaluated and utilized where
practicable.
Alternatives Considered
In addition to the selected action, two other alternatives were
fully evaluated in the Draft and Final GMP/EIS: the No-Action
Alternative, and a minimum requirements alternative (Alternative 1).
The No-Action Alternative would have continued the present course of
action with only minor changes from existing conditions, and would not
have met the legislative mandate for the monument to provide for
paleontological research and education. It would not have provided a
research center and museum, and would have allowed only the most
fundamental resource stewardship and interpretation activities.
Resource management, interpretation and visitor protection activities
would have been severely limited and there would have been little or no
support for research or educational programs.
Alternative 1 would have met the minimum requirements of the
legislative mandate by operating the research center and museum at a
limited level, with research and museum functions separated so that
research and researchers would generally not have been accessible to
visitors. Research and education functions would have been almost
entirely dependent on sources outside the National Park Service. A
professional paleontological resource management program would have
been provided, but programs for the monument's other resources would
have been limited. The Snake River and Oregon Trail overlooks would
have remained in the present condition, and the Bluff and Emigrant
Trails would have been the only new construction in the monument.
Actions Considered but Rejected
In addition to the alternatives which were fully evaluated in the
Draft and Final GMP/EIS, the following actions were identified as
considered but rejected in the Draft GMP/EIS, with rationale for
rejecting the actions detailed on page 50 of that document: public
camping or other overnight use in the monument; transit service
provided by the National Park Service (however, an action common to all
alternatives left open the possibility of future private or public/
private transportation services if needed and appropriate); a bridge or
gondola across the Snake River to the monument; and improvements to the
pump access road or otherwise increasing private vehicle access to the
Snake River in the monument.
Environmentally Preferable Alternative
The selected action (Alternative 2) is considered to be the
environmentally preferable alternative.
Measures To Minimize Environmental Harm
All practicable measures to avoid or minimize environmental impacts
that could result from implementation of the selected plan have been
identified and incorporated into the selected action. These include,
but are not limited to: restricting visitors to designated roads and
trails in most areas; revegetation of disturbed sites with native
plants; restoration or maintenance of natural processes to the extent
practicable; baseline studies of plants and animals; consultation and
compliance regarding cultural resources; monitoring programs for
resource and visitor impacts and carrying capacities; and emphasis on
resource protection in interpretation and educational programs.
Because the general management plan is mostly conceptual in scope,
site-specific surveys, consultation, and compliance with all applicable
laws, regulations, and policies, including mitigation if necessary,
will be carried out before any development begins.
Public Involvement
Scoping and consultation are detailed in the Draft GMP/EIS on pages
133-135 and 142-154, and in the Final GMP/EIS on pages 106-107. Public
scoping began in 1990, and was reinitiated in 1993 after publication of
a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement. A
separate planning effort to select a site for a research center and
museum for the monument resulted in a draft environmental assessment in
1993 and a finding of no significant impact and selection of the
proposed site in 1995, as detailed on pages 15 and 133 of the Draft
GMP/EIS.
A public review period associated with a scoping newsletter
occurred in 1993, and another public review period including public
meetings occurred in 1994 to consider draft statements of monument
purpose, management goals, and management options. Consultation was
also completed with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Advisory
Council on Historic Preservation, the Idaho State Historic Preservation
Office, and Native American tribes.
More than 1,000 copies of the Draft GMP/EIS were distributed
between November 1995 and March 1996. Written comments were accepted
for 113 days. A total of 60 people participated in public meetings in
Hagerman, Twin Falls, and Boise, Idaho to discuss the draft document
and a total of 63 comment letters were received. Because of the nature
of the comments received on the Draft GMP/EIS, the Final GMP/EIS was
prepared in a shortened format in accordance with 40 CFR 1503.4. The
Final GMP/EIS, distributed in July 1996, responded to comments and
included copies of the comment letters, clarifying changes to the text
of the draft document, and factual corrections. The changes in the
final plan (a) clarified important points regarding hunting, road and
trail access, and other issues, and (b) deleted services or facilities
from the proposed action that could be accomplished through
partnerships or by the private sector and therefore would not require
federal funds, further reducing costs. The responses to comments also
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addressed quality of life and other concerns.
The Basis for the Decision
After carefully evaluating public comments throughout the planning
process, including comments on the Draft and Final GMP/EIS, the
selected action best accomplishes the monument's legislated purpose to
provide a center for continuing paleontological research and education.
It balances the statutory mission of the National Park Service to
provide long-term protection of monument resources and significance
while allowing for appropriate levels of visitor use and appropriate
means of visitor enjoyment. The selected action also best accomplishes
identified management goals and desired future conditions, with the
fewest environmental impacts.
Support for the selected action and monument purpose has been
generally widespread and strong, as described in the Final GMP/EIS. No
comments or protests were received on the final plan and environmental
impact statement during the 30-day no-action period that the document
was available to the public.
Conclusion: The above factors and considerations warrant selecting
Alternative 2, identified as the proposed action in the draft document
(and as modified in the Final GMP/EIS), as the general management plan
for Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument. The selected action will be
implemented as described, and a final document including only the
selected action will be printed and made available to aid in
implementing the plan.
Dated: September 23, 1996.
William C. Walters,
Deputy Field Director, Pacific West Area.
[FR Doc. 96-24822 Filed 9-26-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P
