[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18865-18866]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08041]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
[NPS-PWR-PWRO-17645; PX.P0206452B.00.1]
Final Environmental Impact Statement for Wilderness Stewardship
Plan, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Fresno and Tulare
Counties, California
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of Availability.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) has prepared a Wilderness
Stewardship Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Final WSP/EIS).
The Final WSP/EIS identifies and analyzes five alternatives that will
provide direction for the NPS to make decisions regarding the future
use and protection of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon and John Krebs
Wilderness within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.
DATES: The NPS will execute a Record of Decision not sooner than 30
days from the date of publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency's notice of availability for the Final EIS in the Federal
Register.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Hendricks, Environmental
Compliance and Planning Coordinator, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National
Parks, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271, (559) 565-3102.
Electronic versions of the complete document are available online at
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/sekiwild. Request printed documents or CDs
through email ([email protected]) (type ``Final WSP/EIS'' in the
subject line) or telephone (559) 565-3102.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purposes of the WSP/EIS include
implementing the long-term vision for protecting wilderness character
that is contained in the parks' Final General Management Plan (GMP)/
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as well as enhancing
established programs and actions for managing these areas as
wilderness. A variety of controversial or long-standing issues are
addressed in the WSP/EIS, including visitor capacity, wilderness
permitting, party (group) size limits for people and stock, campfire
regulations, camping locations and regulations, food-storage
requirements, human-waste management, stock access, stock grazing,
maintenance of facilities and trails, and management of frontcountry
facilities that support wilderness use. The WSP/EIS also analyzes and
determines the types and levels of commercial services that may be
performed for activities that are proper for realizing the recreational
or other wilderness purposes of the areas, as required by Sec. 4(d)(5)
of the Wilderness Act (Extent Necessary Determination).
The WSP/EIS considers five alternatives that would manage the
overall character of the parks' wilderness, including key aspects such
as wilderness use levels, access and trails, stock use and grazing,
recreational and administrative infrastructure, and the extent to which
those activities proper for realizing wilderness purposes may be
supported by commercial services. The main differences between these
alternatives lie in the key elements of wilderness management--use
levels, access and trails, stock use and grazing, and infrastructure,
both recreational and administrative. These differences are driven by
the different approach to management that each alternative offers. Each
alternative serves visitor and/or operational needs in different ways,
and would preserve natural resources in a condition that is consistent
with the purposes of the Wilderness Act.
Alternative 1 (No-action/Status Quo) would continue to implement
the existing Backcountry Management Plan (BMP) and the Stock Use and
Meadow Management Plan (SUMMP) to guide wilderness management. The BMP
establishes trailhead quotas, a wilderness permit system, and
management objectives for campfires, campsites, sanitation, food
storage, special-use limits, area closures, stock use and grazing,
education and interpretation, trails and travel, signs, commercial
operations, ranger stations, administrative policies, and monitoring
(e.g., meadows monitoring). The SUMMP establishes the management system
and tools for stock use and includes site-specific opening dates for
grazing, grazing management, use levels, protection of Sierra Nevada
bighorn sheep ewe-lamb ranges, installation of
[[Page 18866]]
drift fences, stock and camp etiquette, implementation of temporary
variances, and other closures. The SUMMP also establishes a monitoring
program to inform and modify management as necessary to reduce resource
impacts.
Alternative 2 (NPS preferred alternative) would protect wilderness
character by implementing site-specific actions, incorporating much of
the current management strategies and tools used by the parks to
protect wilderness. Wilderness would be managed by evaluating
conditions in specific areas and mitigating impacts through targeted
actions. The goal is to encourage wilderness use and minimize
restrictions while preserving wilderness character. Alternative 2
acknowledges that there are some challenges in the most popular areas
and in areas with sensitive resources that can be mitigated through
targeted improvements in management. Most wilderness trails in the
parks would remain open to stock under this alternative. Stock would
continue to be allowed to travel up to one-half mile off maintained
trails to reach campsites. Off-trail stock travel would continue to be
allowed in four areas of the parks: On the Monarch Divide, in the
Roaring River area, on the Hockett Plateau, and along the western side
of the Kern River watershed south from the Chagoopa Plateau. Grazing
would generally be allowed in areas open to camping with stock (within
0.5 mile of maintained trails open to camping with stock or in off-
trail travel areas), with some exceptions. Under alternative 2, the
levels and types of commercial services to be performed would be
similar to current conditions. However, the levels and types of
commercial services allowed would be limited in the Mount Whitney
Management Area, an approximately 37,200 acre area around Mount Whitney
within Sequoia National Park.
Alternative 3 would provide more opportunities for primitive
recreation by allowing additional use, which would be expected to occur
mostly in popular areas. To preserve the natural quality of wilderness,
the popular use areas in wilderness would require additional
development and restrictions on visitor behavior. Most wilderness
trails in the parks would remain open to stock under this alternative.
Stock would continue to be allowed to travel up to one-half mile off
maintained trails to reach campsites. Off-trail stock travel would
continue to be allowed in four areas of the parks: On the Monarch
Divide, in the Roaring River area, on the Hockett Plateau, and along
the western side of the Kern River watershed south from the Chagoopa
Plateau. Grazing would generally be allowed within 0.5 mile of
maintained trails open to camping with stock, with some exceptions. As
part of allowing increased use, the levels of commercial services would
increase to accommodate less experienced visitors, to help educate
visitors, and to control the impacts of inexperienced or inadequately
equipped visitors.
Alternative 4 emphasizes the undeveloped quality and non-commercial
recreation. This alternative would eliminate some of the development
currently in wilderness to emphasize the undeveloped quality of
wilderness. There would be fewer signs, bridges, stock-related
facilities, and ranger stations. Restrooms/privies and food-storage
boxes would be removed and there would be no designated campsites.
Because fewer resource-protecting developments would remain in place,
the amount of use would need to be reduced to protect the natural
quality of wilderness. Private parties traveling with stock would
continue to have access to most trails in the parks, and stock would
continue to be allowed to travel off-trail in four designated areas.
However, commercial stock use would be limited to certain destinations
and trails. No private, commercial, or administrative stock grazing
would be allowed under this alternative. Commercial services would be
reduced to levels significantly lower than those in the no-action
alternative and commercial services would be limited in high-use areas
Alternative 5 (environmentally preferable alternative) emphasizes
opportunities for solitude by reducing the total number of wilderness
visitors allowed in wilderness. Presence of fewer visitors in
wilderness would in turn allow for reduced levels of development, along
with reduced restrictions on visitor behavior (fewer people need fewer
facilities). Reducing the numbers of visitors would also result in
reduced impacts on resources. Stock travel more than 0.5 mile from
trails open to camping with stock would be prohibited. Stock use and
grazing would generally be allowed in most areas where overnight use is
permitted with some exceptions. Commercial services would be at levels
lower than those in the no-action alternative in most locations, but
the percentage of total visitor use supported by commercial services
would be similar to the no-action alternative to ensure that reduced
access would not disproportionally affect any particular user group.
Dated: February 6, 2015.
Patricia L. Neubacher,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-08041 Filed 4-7-15; 8:45 am]
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