Buck Island Reef National Monument

General Management Plan

GENERAL MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROCESS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

• What is a General Management Plan?
• How is the General Management Plan conducted?
• Will the plan include an Environmental Impact Statement?
• Will the public and other government agencies be consulted during the planning process?
• Will the plan consider potential impacts resulting from its recommendations on areas outside the park?
• How often are General Management Plans revised?

What is a General Management Plan?

General management planning constitutes the first phase of a tiered planning and decision making process used by the National Park Service. Developed in consultation with service wide program managers, interested parties, and the general public, a General Management Plan (GMP) focuses on why the park was established and what resource conditions and visitor experiences should be achieved and maintained over time. The general management plan takes the long view, which may be projected many years into the future when dealing with the time frames of natural and cultural processes.

The National Park Service maintains an up-to-date GMP for each unit of the national park system. The purpose of the plan is to ensure that each park has a clearly defined direction for resource preservation and visitor use. It is based on an analysis of existing and potential resource conditions and visitor experiences, environmental (including natural, cultural, and socioeconomic) impacts, and costs of alternative courses of action.

The plan considers the park holistically (in its full ecological and cultural contexts) as a unit of the national park system and as part of a surrounding region and identifies the importance of partnerships with others in protecting park resources and providing appropriate visitor services. The general management plan also identifies connections among the various park programs and park management districts. This helps avoid inadvertently creating new problems in one area, while attempting to solve problems in another.

As suggested by its name, a general management plan does not usually provide specific recommendations about the best way to achieve the resource protection and visitor experience goals it sets forth. Decisions about site-specific actions are more appropriately deferred to implementation planning where such actions can be examined more closely. The implementation planning process requires a detailed, site-specific analyses of proposed implementation alternatives and a public comment period before any major federal action is undertaken at the park.

How is the plan conducted?

General management planning is conducted by an interdisciplinary team, including park managers and technical experts, who will consult with other knowledgeable persons inside and outside the agency and with the general public. Planning decisions are based on a scientific and scholarly understanding of critical cultural and natural resources (both internal and external to the park boundaries).

During general management planning, resource values and land uses will be systematically analyzed using the best information available, and alternatives and their impacts will be rigorously explored. In reaching decisions concerning future management of park resources, planning teams will seek, to the extent possible, to reach agreement among the park staff, the NPS leadership, other agencies with jurisdiction by law or expertise, and the public.

Will the plan include an Environmental Impact Statement?

The analysis of GMP alternatives will meet the program standards for NPS implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and related legislation, including the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). NPS policy directs that an environmental impact statement (EIS) be prepared for all general management plans.

Will the public and other government agencies be consulted during the planning process?

General management planning is conducted as part of cooperative regional planning whenever possible. NPS participation in cooperative regional planning is undertaken in the hope of better coordinating and focusing the independent and autonomous efforts of multiple parties. NPS participation in such planning efforts is not intended to prevent reasonable uses of private lands and will acknowledge the rights and interests of other landowners.

Public involvement in the planning process is encouraged in order to learn about the concerns, issues, expectations, and values of existing and potential visitors, park neighbors, people with traditional cultural ties to lands within the park, concessionaires, cooperating associations, other partners, scientists and scholars, and other government agencies. Through public involvement the National Park Service can share information about the planning process, issues, and proposed management actions; learn about the values placed by other people and groups on the same resources and visitor experiences; and build support among local publics, visitors, Congress, and others for implementing the recommendations in the final plan.

Will the plan consider potential impacts resulting from its recommendations on areas outside the park?

While being consistent with NPS management policies and park goals, plans will identify and consider potential effects outside as well as inside the park boundaries and will identify ways to enhance beneficial effects and mitigate adverse effects to the maximum extent possible.

How often are General Management Plans revised?

General management plans will be reviewed and revised as necessary to keep them current. It is anticipated that such reviews will be needed every 15-20 years or sooner if conditions change more rapidly. An approved general management plan may be amended, rather than revised, if conditions and management prescriptions over most of the plan area remain essentially unchanged from those present when the plan was originally approved.

For more information on how planning is conducted in the National Park System, please see Chapter 2 of the National Park Service's Management Policies.