Winter Use Plans, Environmental Impact Statement, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway, Wyoming

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

Winter Use Plans, Environmental Impact Statement, Yellowstone and

Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial

Parkway, Wyoming

AGENCY: National Park Service, Department of the Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement

for the Winter Use Plans, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks

and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway.

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SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act

[[Page 18212]]

(NEPA), the National Park Service is preparing an environmental impact

statement (EIS) for the Winter Use Plans for Yellowstone and Grand

Teton National Parks and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway.

This statement will be approved by John Cook, Intermountain Regional

Director, National Park Service.

Winter visitation in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and

the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway is currently managed

under a joint Winter Use Plan approved in 1990. Winter use in

Yellowstone has increased dramatically from virtually none 30 years ago

to more than 140,000 visits per season in the early 1990s. The rapid

increase in winter visitation has raised concerns regarding a number of

issues. These include, but are not limited to, impacts on natural

resources, wildlife, noise and air pollution, crowding, availability of

facilities and services, use restrictions, user group conflicts, and

the importance of winter visitation to the local and regional economy.

The objective for the Winter Use Plans is to provide future winter

visitors in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D.

Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway with a full range of quality winter

use experiences and settings from highly developed to primitive. These

recreational experiences will be offered in an appropriate location or

setting; they will not take place where they will adversely impact

sensitive natural resources, wildlife, cultural areas, or the

experiences of other park visitors. In order to ensure the safety of

all park visitors and employees, conflicts between different types of

user groups will be minimized. Finally, winter recreation within

Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and John D. Rockefeller,

Jr., Memorial Parkway should complement or remain subordinate to the

unique aspects of each landscape within the ecosystem.

The Winter Use Plans will define specific resource conditions and

visitor experiences that are to be achieved and maintained over time.

The parks will be subdivided into meaningful geographic management

units or zones. The kinds and levels of visitor use, management

activities and development that are appropriate for each unit will be

identified. The articulation of desired conditions is particularly

important since it is the resulting condition, not the action, that is

the basis for decision making. Identifying the desired resource

condition and visitor experience provides the framework or parameters

for establishing and monitoring visitor capacities. The qualitative

terms identified in the plans will then be translated into quantitative

standards over time during monitoring and implementation. Generally

speaking, decision making in this planning effort will be focused on

desired resource conditions and experiences rather than on the details

of how they should be achieved.

The environmental impact statement will document the possible

effects of a full range of plan scenarios that satisfy the above

purpose and need for action.

Public Information

In 1994 the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service began

to work on a coordinated interagency report on winter visitor use

management. The interagency planning team produced a draft report on

the results of their work in the summer of 1997. The preliminary

report, Winter Visitor Use Management: A Multi-Agency Assessment (1997)

was on public review from June through September 1997. In addition to

soliciting written comments, the team held a series of eight public

meetings throughout the Greater Yellowstone Area from February through

May 1996. The issues and concerns identified in the interagency

planning process will be carried forward to the Winter Use Plans and

EIS.

Additional public open houses or workshops will be held in the

summer of 1998. These workshops will be advertised through press

releases, park information media and public notices (details will be

available upon request via the contacts listed below). A series of

newsletters will also be published at key points during the progress of

the document.

The States of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, as well as Teton County,

Wyoming; Park County, Wyoming; Fremont County, Idaho; Park County,

Montana; Gallatin County, Montana and the U.S. Forest Service have been

invited to participate in the NEPA process as cooperating agencies. The

National Park Service is the lead agency on this project.

A scoping brochure will be prepared that details the issues

identified to date. Copies of that information can be obtained via the

contact listed below.

Comments: All individuals, organizations, agencies or entities that

are interested in or may be affected by the proposed plans are

encouraged to share comments about issues or concerns that should be

addressed during the environmental impact statement process. Written

comments concerning the Winter Use Plans and EIS should be postmarked

no later than ninety (90) days from the publication of this notice.

Written comments on the Winter Use Plans or EIS should be addressed to

Winter Use Plan, Planning Office, Box 168, Yellowstone National Park,

Wyoming 82190. Telephone inquiries regarding public meetings may be

directed to the contacts listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION: Contact Planning Office, Box 168, Yellowstone

National Park, Wyoming 82190, (307) 344-2024 or Planning Office, Box

170, Grand Teton National Park, Moose, Wyoming 83012, (307) 739-3486.

Information may also be obtained via the Internet at www.nps.gov/

yell/winteruseplan/htm

Dated: April 9, 1998.

Abigail Miller,

Deputy Associate Director, Natural Resource Stewardship and Science.

[FR Doc. 98-9817 Filed 4-13-98; 8:45 am]

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