Wilderness Public Input

Date: March 4, 2014
Contact: Karl Pierce, 915-828-3251 x2300

(Pine Springs, TX) Guadalupe Mountains National Park Superintendent Dennis A. Vásquez announced that the National Park Service (NPS) will host a series of meetings in local communities to present and invite public input on preliminary draft alternatives for a Wilderness Stewardship Plan for Guadalupe Mountains National Park. The purpose of this plan will be to guide park staff when making decisions regarding the future use and protection of the park’s Congressionally-designated wilderness, as well as improving the park’s trail system. The park is developing an environmental analysis consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). It is anticipated that this process will take 6 months to complete and this is the second of several points during the process where park staff will actively invite public input.

In order to facilitate public input, which will help shape the Wilderness Stewardship Plan, the park has scheduled a series of open house meetings in gateway communities surrounding the park to present the preliminary draft alternatives and invite public comment and feedback. The scheduled meetings are:

Tuesday, March 11, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Hotel El Capitán Conference Room
100 E. Broadway
Van Horn, Texas 79855
Tel. [phone]

Wednesday, March 12, 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM
Chamizal National Memorial Theater
800 South San Marcial
El Paso, Texas 79905
Tel. [phone]

Tuesday, March 18, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Carlsbad Museum and Art Center
418 W. Fox Street
Carlsbad, NM 88220
Tel. [phone]

Thursday, March 20, 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Dell City Community Center
102 W. Orange Street
Dell City, Texas 79837
Tel. [phone]

Public comments may be submitted from March 11, 2014 through April 9, 2014. While the preferred method of receiving comments is via the electronic public comment form on the National Park Service Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) System at https://planning.nps.gov/, comments may also be submitted via email to Guadalupe Mountains National Park Chief or Resource Management Janet Coles at [e-mail], or, in writing, to: Guadalupe Mountains National Park, Attn.: Wilderness Stewardship Plan, 400 Pine Canyon Drive, Salt Flat, Texas 79847. For more information, please call Chief of Resource Management Janet Coles at [phone] x 2400.

The Wilderness Stewardship Plan includes the park’s 46,850 acre federally-designated wilderness, 35,484 acres which have been deemed eligible for wilderness study, in the park’s backcountry management zone, and the park’s more than 80 mile system of trails.

Said Vásquez, “we would like to hear what the public values about the Guadalupe Mountains Wilderness, as well as any issues or concerns regarding how the wilderness resource and trails are used and managed. Your comments are important to us, and while we welcome input throughout the planning process, your early comments will be most beneficial to our planning effort if we receive them by April 9, 2014.”

Notice Regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)
It is the practice of the NPS to make all comments, including names and addresses of respondents who provide that information, available for public review following the conclusion of the environmental assessment process. Individuals may request that the NPS withhold their name and/or address from public disclosure. If you wish to do this, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. Commentators using the website can make such a request by checking the box “keep my contact information private.” NPS will honor such request to the extent allowable by law, but you should be aware that the NPS may still be required to disclose your name and address pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). We will make all submissions from organizations, businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses available for public inspection in their entirety.