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The National Park Service (NPS)
has released for public comment an Environmental Assessment (EA)
which evaluates the impacts associated with construction and operation
of a new 30-vehicle rest stop near the Savage River Campground in
Denali National Park and Preserve. The project was identified and
approved in the park’s Entrance Area and Road Corridor Development
Concept Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (1997). The new
rest stop would provide additional parking areas for visitors to
view wildlife and scenery, and for leisurely day use activities.
It would include auto, RV and bus parking, a bus stop, interpretive
exhibits, a covered deck and vault toilets. The rest stop would
offer possible future trailheads for the Savage Alpine Trail and
a short interpretive loop trail. The project construction would
be scheduled for the summer of 2008. Complete descriptions of the
proposal and the three alternatives are in the EA. In both action
alternatives, a single rest stop would be constructed near the Savage
River Campground, although at two different locations. It would
be built as a destination for the independent traveler and include
18 automobile parking spaces and 12 oversize parking spaces (8 for
RVs and 4 for buses). Both mountain and wildlife viewing opportunities
exist in this area. The development would cover about 2.4 acres.
In addition to this development east of the Savage River Campground,
four new double vault toilets would be built across the road near
the Savage Cabin pullout. The six existing chemical toilets would
be removed and replaced with these new vault toilets, which would
be located behind (to the northwest of) the existing toilets. The
development at the Savage Cabin pullout would cover about 0.1 acres.
Therefore the total project development area would be about 2.5
acres. Geotechnical investigations would be conducted in the spring
of 2006 to test soil conditions. A track-mounted drill rig would
be used to take approximately 16 soil borings in the area proposed
for the rest stop, parking lot, access road and Savage Cabin pullout
toilets. The EA is available for public review and comment. Printed
copies of the 72 page EA will be distributed to local libraries,
visitor centers, and to those who request printed copies. The EA
is posted on the National Park Service planning site at http://parkplanning.nps.gov
and will be posted on the Denali National Park and Preserve web
site at www.nps.gov/dena. The public comment period will close on
March 26, 2006. Comments may be sent in, preferably through the
NPS public comment website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov . Comments
may be mailed to Richard L. Anderson, Environmental Protection Specialist,
Environmental Resources, Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service,
240 W 5 th Ave., Anchorage, AK 99501-2327. Comments may be emailed
to Richard_L_Anderson@nps.gov. The NPS will make a decision about
the Savage River Area Rest Stop project soon after the close of
the public comment period. If you have any questions about the project
or the EA, please call the Superintendent’s office at (907) 683-9581
or the project environmental compliance coordinator, Richard Anderson,
at (907) 644-3536.
Privacy
& Disclaimer
Author:Jane
Ahernl
www.nps.gov/akso
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