U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
DRAFT SUPPLEMENTAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT
GENERAL
MANAGEMENT PLAN ADMENDMENT
GREAT
BASIN NATIONAL PARK
WHITE PINE
COUNTY, NEVADA
NOTICE OF
AVAILABILITY
SUMMARY: Pursuant
to §102(2)(c) of the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969
(P.L.91-190, as amended), the National Park Service,
Department of the Interior, has prepared a draft supplemental environmental
impact statement to amend the General Management Plan assessing the potential
impacts of a proposal to construct a new Visitor/Learning Center on National
Park Service administered lands north of the town of Baker, Nevada. The existing General Management Plan called
for the construction of a visitor center within the park on Baker Ridge. This conservation planning and environmental
impact analysis effort to date has identified and analyzed three alternatives
(and appropriate mitigation strategies) for the location of a new Visitor/Learning Center.
PROPOSAL AND ALTERNATIVES: The draft
supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS) includes three
alternatives, including the “no action” (existing conditions) alternative. The
No Action Alternative assumes that the location of the Visitor/Learning Center
would remain unchanged from the existing General Management Plan. The
Preferred Alternative amends the
General Management Plan to allow the placement of a Visitor/Learning Center in
outside of the main park area in the Baker, Nevada. The Third Alternative
amends the General Management Plan to eliminate the Baker Ridge Visitor Center
and to maintain the current Lehman Caves Visitor Center as the only orientation
facility.
COMMENTS: Printed or CD-ROM
copies of the DEIS are available for public review at Park Headquarters. In addition the document is posted on the
internet at www.nps.gov/grba. Inquiries and requests for copies may also
be directed to: Superintendent, Great Basin National Park, Baker, Nevada,
89311. The telephone number for the
park is (775) 234-7331. Interested
individuals, organizations, and agencies wishing to provide comments are
encouraged to address these to the Superintendent, Great Basin National
Park. All written comments must be
postmarked not later than June 6 ,2002.
If
individuals submitting comments request that their name or/and address be
withheld from public disclosure, it will be honored to the extent allowable by
law. Such requests must be stated
prominently in the beginning of the comments.
There may also be circumstances wherein the NPS will withhold a
respondent’s identity as allowable by law.
As always: NPS will make available to public inspection all submissions
from organizations and businesses; and, anonymous comments may not be
considered.
PUBLIC MEETINGS: One public meeting
will be held in Baker, Nevada.
Confirmed details as to specific date and time will be announced in the
local newspaper, available at the internet site identified above, or can be
obtained by calling the park at (775) 234-7331.
DECISION: After
the formal DSEIS review period has concluded, all comments and suggestions
received will be considered in preparing the final EIS. Currently the final EIS is anticipated in
the Summer of 2001; its availability will be similarly announced in the Federal Register. Subsequently a Record of Decision would be
executed no sooner than 30 (thirty) days after the release of the final
EIS. The official responsible for
approval of the DSEIS is the Regional Director, Pacific West Region; the
official responsible for implementation is the Superintendent, Great Basin
National Park.
Signed:__________________________________________ Dated:____________
James R. Shevock
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region