Invasive Plant Management Plan EA

Date: April 25, 2012
Contact: Carmen Chapin, 715-682-0631 ext. 230
Contact: Robin Maercklein, 715-483-2282

Great Lakes Invasive Plant Management Plan / Environmental Assessment

The National Park Service (NPS) has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a Great Lakes Invasive Plant Management Plan (IPMP) for the following ten parks located in the Great Lakes region: Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (APIS), Grand Portage National Monument (GRPO), Ice Age National Scenic Trail (IATR), Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore (INDU), Isle Royale National Park (ISRO), Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MISS), Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (PIRO), Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (SLBE), St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (SACN), and Voyageurs National Park (VOYA).

Proposed treatment measures identified in the Great Lakes IPMP/EA are based on sound integrated pest management.  Integrated pest management is defined as a decision-making process that coordinates knowledge of pest biology, the environment, and available technology to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage, by cost-effective means, while posing the least possible risk to people and park resources. Integrated pest management can also include reducing the risk of new introductions, determining acceptable levels of infestation, use of multiple techniques for control, and continued monitoring and management.

When completed, this Great Lakes IPMP/EA would provide strategies for park staff to manage terrestrial and emergent wetland invasive plants on both NPS and NPS managed lands within the designated boundaries of the ten Great Lakes parks. Another primary goal of the IPMP/EA is to serve as a programmatic NEPA document for invasive plant management within each of the ten parks.  That is, future invasive plant activities addressed by this EA would not require additional analysis under NEPA for park-specific actions, so long as the impacts of these specific actions have been adequately addressed in the Great Lakes IPMP/EA.

Public Comment Opportunities
The Great Lakes IPMP/EA is now available for public review and comment. Please visit the NPS website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ipmpea to retrieve the EA, or view a hardcopy at any of the ten Great Lakes parks headquarters.

Comments should be submitted electronically using the "Open for Comment" link at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ipmpea. Alternatively, comments may also be mailed to: Great Lakes IPMP, c/o Kleinfelder, 300 E. Mineral Avenue, Suite 7, Littleton, CO 80122-2655. Comments must be received by, time-stamped, and/or post-marked by May 15, 2012, 5:00 pm eastern standard time (EST).

For more information, please visit the project website at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ipmpea or contact Carmen Chapin at [phone] ext. 230.