[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 141 (Friday, July 23, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Page 40037]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-18892]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Vancouver National Historic Reserve Draft Cooperative Management
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Washington
AGENCY: National Park Service.
ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement.
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SUMMARY: The National Park Service announces the availability of a
Draft Cooperative Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (CMP/
EIS) for Vancouver National Historic Reserve, Washington. This notice
also announces public meetings for the purpose of receiving comments on
the draft document.
DATES: Comments on the draft CMP/EIS should be received no later than
September 21, 1999. Public meetings will be held in Vancouver, WA, on
August 25, 1999, 6-8 p.m. at the Water Resources Education Center, and
in Portland, OR, on August 26, 1999, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Oregon
Historical Society.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This plan provides for the cooperative
administration of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve as directed
by the legislation establishing the Historic Reserve. The 366-acre
Reserve includes Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, the U.S. Army's
Vancouver Barracks, Officers Row, Pearson Field, the Water Resources
Education Center, and portions of the Columbia River waterfront. This
plan is a statement of a shared vision by four public agencies and
their partners in the coordinated management of the Historic Reserve
for public benefit. The Historic Reserve will be administered through
this plan by a partnership composed of the National Park Service, the
Department of the Army, the Office of Archaeology and Historic
Preservation of the State of Washington, and the City of Vancouver,
Washington.
The plan analyzes three possible alternatives for future management
and recommends a preferred alternative. The shared vision presented in
the preferred alternative can be summarized in three broad goals:
--Preservation of historic structures, physical assets, and cultural
landscapes,
--Education and interpretation of the significance and history of the
area for public benefit,
--Public use of and accessibility to the Historic Reserve.
The primary consideration for the Vancouver Barracks would be to
adaptively use the historic structures for sustainable public use and
enjoyment, interpretation, and preservation of the historic scene. A
new interpretive center would be developed for the barracks to focus on
their history. Barracks structures would be adaptively used for a mix
of public, nonprofit, and commercial uses. For the Parade Ground, a
variety of theme-related activities would be encouraged.
Reconstruction of Fort Vancouver would continue, consistent with
interpretative objectives, and the portions of the cultural landscape
adjacent to the fort would be rehabilitated. The National Park Service
would prepare a general management plan for the national historic site
to address visitor center needs and location, further reconstruction of
the fort, access, parking, interpretation, and other issues.
The Pearson Field visitor experience would provide interwar period
civilian and U.S. Army aviation history and ambiance. The ongoing
adaptive use of historic structures would continue, and older,
nonhistoric hangars would be removed. Along the Columbia River
Waterfront there would be expanded interpretation of the historic
activities that link the waterfront with the Historic Reserve.
The CMP/EIS includes a no-action alternative and another
alternative that would restore historic structures and landscapes to a
condition representative of the most significant period of the
structures and landscape. The DEIS presents a full discussion of the
environmental impacts associated with implementing each alternative.
ADDRESSES: Comments on the draft CMP/EIS should be submitted to: Larry
Beal, Denver Service Center, 12795 W. Alameada Parkway, Denver, CO
80225-0287. Copies of the draft CMP/EIS are available by request from
the aforementioned address. The document will also be available on the
Internet at www.nps.gov.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Beal, Job Captain, Denver
Service Center, phone (303) 969-2454, or E-mail: [email protected].
Dated: July 13, 1999.
William C. Walters,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 99-18892 Filed 7-22-99; 8:45 am]
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