[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 164 (Thursday, August 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44046-44047]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21088]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Availability of Final Wallowa River 2(a)(ii) Wild and Scenic
River Study Report, Oregon
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Publication of final report and recommendation.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service is publishing the final 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 to Department of the Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt that
the river be designated.
ADDRESSES: Copies of the final report are available from: Dan Haas,
National Park Service, 909 First Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98104-
1060, telephone (206) 220-4120; and Steve Davis, U.S. Forest Service,
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, 1550 Dewey Avenue, Baker City, Oregon
97814, telephone (503) 523-6391.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dan Haas, National Park Service, 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
[[Page 44047]]
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 managed by a federal agency.
(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.
Under the 1988 Oregon Omnibus Rivers Act, the USFS was directed to
study the Wallowa River for possible inclusion into the National Wild
and Scenic Rivers System. In September of 1994, the USFS released their
final study and environmental impact statement (EIS). In the EIS, the
preferred alternative was identified as wild and scenic river
designation through section 2(a)(ii) of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act.
This would permanently protect the nationally significant resources of
the Wallowa River, while leaving the river in state management and
having the least impact to area residents. Following the release of the
EIS, Governor Roberts, acting on the recommendations of the USFS,
petitioned Secretary Babbitt to designate the Wallowa River through
section 2(a)(ii). As the agency responsible for section 2(a)(ii)
determinations, the National Park Service undertook an assessment of
the river and the state of Oregon's petition.
As a result of the assessment, 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 recommending that
the Secretary designate the Wallowa as a National Recreational River.
Dated: August 18, 1995.
William C. Walters,
Deputy Field Director, Pacific West Field Area, National Park Service.
[FR Doc. 95-21088 Filed 8-23-95; 8:45 am]
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