Final Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management Plan; Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Final Environmental Impact Statement for the General Management

Plan; Cape Cod National Seashore, Massachusetts

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior (DOI).

ACTION: Notice of availability of the final environmental impact

statement for the General Management Plan.

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SUMMARY: Pursuant to Council on Environmental Quality regulations and

National Park Service policy, this notice announces the availability of

the final environmental impact statement (FEIS) for the General

Management Plan (GMP) for Cape Cod National Seashore, Barnstable

County, Massachusetts. (DOI #FES 98-5). In accordance with the National

Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the environmental impact statement

was prepared to assess the impacts of implementing the general

management plan.

This Final Environmental Impact Statement for the General

Management Plan describes alternatives for management actions at Cape

Cod National Seashore, the environment that would be affected by those

actions, and the environmental consequences of implementing alternative

actions. Three alternatives are presented, including the proposed

general management plan.

Alternative 1 is a continuation of current management, often

referred to as

[[Page 10240]]

the ``no-action'' alternative. Under this alternative the Park Service

would continue to manage the national seashore to protect natural and

cultural resources, while allowing for appropriate public use related

to those resources. Essentially no new development for public use would

be undertaken.

Alternative 2, the proposed plan, would guide the overall

management of Cape Cod National Seashore for the next 10 to 15 years.

The emphasis of the plan is on the management of natural and cultural

resources; public use and interpretation; coordination with nonfederal

landowners within the national seashore; administrative, maintenance,

and operational concerns; and working with local residents, town and

county officials and interested agencies and persons to resolve

problems of mutual concern. The plan is programmatic in that it gives

guidance and criteria for day-to-day decision making and for producing

more specific future action and development plans. It would seek to

maintain an appropriate balance between resource protection and public

use. More opportunities would be provided for the public to experience

the resources of the national seashore. Existing public use facilities

and attractions would be improved. No major new development, however,

is proposed , and the built environment or impacts from development

would be reduced where possible. Under alternative 2 there would be

more emphasis on preserving the ``timeless'' character of Cape Cod in

terms of natural and dynamic landscapes, historic architecture and

cultural landscapes, and customary activities. The National Park

Service would work in partnership with local communities and officials

to more effectively further educational and interpretive opportunities

and resource stewardship on the Outer Cape and to more successfully

address mutual problems and concerns, such as water quality, coastal

processes, and traffic congestion--concerns that transcend political

boundaries.

Alternative 3 builds on the approach of alternative 2, proposing

that national seashore managers play a more formal role in directing

efforts to protect and manage resources on the Cape through more

structured partnerships. Included are other reasonable actions that

could be implemented but that are significantly different from those

presented in either alternative 1 or 2, and they are often more costly.

The Park Service would initiate and enter into more formal agreements

with state and local agencies to improve collaboration and consistency

in day-to-day resource management. These actions are specific to

selected management topics only, not to each subject area.

The draft environmental impact statement was available for public

review from August 19, 1996 to December 31, 1996; comments and

responses on that document on that document are reprinted in volume 2.

The final environmental impact statement has been revised to reflect

substantive comments and concerns received during the comment period,

and the text has been refined and clarified where necessary.

DATES: The FEIS will be made available on February 27, 1998. Following

a 30-day no action period a Record of Decision documenting the agency's

decision will be issued.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Public reading copies of the FEIS will be

available for review at the following locations:

National Seashore Headquarters, 99 Marconi Site Road, Wellfleet, MA

02667

Town libraries in Chatham, Eastham, Orleans, Provincetown, Truro, and

Wellfleet

A limited number of copies of the FEIS can be obtained by writing

to: Ms. Maria Burks, Superintendent, Cape Cod National Seashore, 99

Marconi Site Road, Wellfleet, MA 02667, or by calling the front desk at

(508) 349-3785.

Dated: February 17, 1998.

Maria Burks,

Superintendent, Cape Cod National Seashore.

[FR Doc. 98-5285 Filed 2-27-98; 8:45 am]

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