General Management Plan
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CRATERS of the MOON
General Management Plan |
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A general management plan is needed to guide the management, development, and use of Craters of the Moon National Monument for the next 10 to 15 years. Since major redevelopment of management and visitor facilities in the monument as part of the Mission 66 program in the late 1950s and early 1960s, use of the monument has increased and visitation patterns have changed. These changes have led to traffic congestion, insufficient parking, and conflicts between visitor and staff activities. The transition from the high-speed main highway to the park road and resources is through a congested developed area. Many facilities are outdated and do not provide adequate space to support current levels of use or management. Actions are proposed in this plan to correct these deficiencies.
Few changes will be made in the way the monument is managed. Management policies and concerns are adequately addressed in resource management plans and in management plans for backcountry and wilderness. In the general management plan, emphasis is placed on major actions needed to enhance management of natural and cultural resources and to correct deficiencies in facilities for management and visitor use.
Several actions are proposed: a boundary modification in the north unit to protect the monument's water supply and place the boundary along readily identifiable topographic features, major improvements to the scenic loop road and waysides to bring them up to current standards, development of an interpretive wayside in the Big Sink area, designation of a bike and ski trail in the north unit, and campground improvements such as additional tent sites and leveling of some campsites for use by recreational vehicles.
The major proposal is the development of a new entry road that will bypass the existing developed area. A new visitor center, an entrance station, a group gathering area, and parking areas will be developed along this new alignment. The existing visitor center will be converted to management facilities; the maintenance facilities will be expanded; and the existing boneyard will be eliminated. Existing seasonal employee housing will be evaluated for rehabilitation or removal and reconstruction to meet National Park Service housing standards.
Several alternatives to the proposed plan were considered but rejected, and three alternatives were considered in detail. Under alternative 1 (no action), operations would have continued essentially unchanged, with improvements to facilities and programs made gradually as funding became available. Many of the proposed actions for resource management, land management, and interpretation would have been implemented. There would have been no major redevelopment of existing facilities.
Alternative 2 would have involved retaining most existing facilities in their present locations. Expansion and redesign would have been carried out as necessary to meet minimum requirements for visitor services and administration. Congestion on the entrance road and in visitor center parking areas would have been relieved somewhat through redesign but probably would not have been eliminated.
Alternative 3 was a seasonal variation on the proposal. The proposed new visitor center would have operated only in summer; during winter, visitor services would have returned to the remodeled headquarters. Winter staff requirements and operating costs would have been reduced slightly under this alternative.
The effects of the proposal and alternatives on the natural, cultural, and human environment were analyzed in the environmental assessment that accompanied the draft General Management Plan. Analysis of the effects of the proposed action revealed that there would be no significant impacts from implementation of this plan. The finding of no significant impact is reproduced in appendix A of this document.