Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Interagency Bison Management Plan for the State of Montana and Yellowstone National Park; Extension of Comment Period

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Draft Environmental Impact Statement, Interagency Bison

Management Plan for the State of Montana and Yellowstone National Park;

Extension of Comment Period

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Extension of Public Comment Period for Draft Environmental

Impact Statement.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(c) of the National Environmental

Policy Act of 1969, the National Park Service announced on June 18,

1998 (Federal Register, Volume 63, Number 177) the availability of a

draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Interagency Bison

Management Plan for the State of Montana and Yellowstone National Park.

This announcement commenced a 120-day comment period, closing on

October 16, 1998. During this time, the National Park Service received

several requests for extensions to the comment period. The public

comment period, therefore, will be extended for 15 days and will now

close on November 2, 1998.

DATES: The public comment period will now be extended from October 16,

1998 to November 2, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the DEIS should be sent to Sarah Bransom,

National Park Service, DSC-RP, PO Box 25287, Denver, CO 80225-0287,

Telephone: (303) 969-2310. Copies of the DEIS or the executive summary

of the DEIS and a complete listing of libraries where the DEIS is

available for review on the Internet at http://www.nps.gov/planning/

current.htm.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Since 1990, management of bison in and

adjacent to Yellowstone National Park Service has been covered by a

series of interim management plans. In 1992, the National Park Service

(lead agency), state of Montana (co-lead), United States Forest Service

(co-lead), and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service

(cooperating agency) signed a Memorandum of Understanding to prepare a

long-term bison management plan/EIS.

The DEIS presents seven alternatives with a full range of

management techniques for maintaining a wild, free ranging bison

population while minimizing the risk of transmitting the disease

Brucellosis from bison to domestic cattle on public and private lands

in Montana adjacent to Yellowstone National Park. Management techniques

used in various combinations to meet the plan's objectives include

capturing and testing bison for Brucellosis, quarantining,

slaughtering, hunting and vaccination. Impacts are analyzed on the

following topics: bison population, recreation, livestock operations,

socioeconomics, threatened, endangered and sensitive species, other

wildlife species, human health, cultural resources, and visual

resources. All review comments received on the DEIS will become part of

the public record.

Dated: October 9, 1998.

John E. Cook,

Regional Director, Intermountain Region, National Park Service.

[FR Doc. 98-29240 Filed 10-30-98; 8:45 am]

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