|
Contact: Bill Whitworth, 701-623-4466
Theodore Roosevelt National Park has scheduled public meetings to provide information and take comments on the park’s Draft Elk Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Meetings will be held February 23 – 28 at the following times and locations: Dickinson. Grand Dakota Lodge. Monday, February 23. 5:00 – 8:30 pm MST Fargo. Holiday Inn. Tuesday, February 24. 5:00 – 8:30 pm CST Grand Forks. Canad Inn. Wednesday, February 25. 5:00 – 8:30 pm CST Minot. International Inn. Thursday, February 26. 5:00 – 8:30 pm CST Mandan. Seven Seas Best Western. Friday, February 27. 5 – 8:30 pm CST Medora. Medora Community Center. Saturday, February 28. 2 – 5:30 pm MST The meetings will be conducted in an open house format so that interested persons can stop by at any time. Identical presentations about the elk and the DEIS will be presented at 5:30 and 7 pm (2:30 and 4 pm in Medora). People are free to attend either presentation. There will also be exhibits around the room to give people more information about the plan and the process. Park staff will be on hand to answer questions and take comments. Refreshments will be served. The goal of the public meetings and the public comment period overall is to gather comments from the public regarding the DEIS’s adequacy in addressing the purpose, need and objectives, environmental issues of concern, and the sufficiency of the overall analysis.
The draft plan/EIS is available for public comment until March 19. The plan analyzes four action alternatives for initial reduction of the park’s elk herd, as well as a “no action” alternative and one alternative that could be used in combination with others for herd maintenance.
“The alternatives represent a range of reasonable approaches for managing the elk population,” said Superintendent Valerie J. Naylor. “Because we want to encourage public input on the alternatives presented, we are not going to select a preferred alternative until after the public comment period.”
More information and an on-line version of the EIS are available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/thro. Comments can be submitted via the website or they can be mailed to Superintendent, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, P.O. Box 7, Medora, North Dakota 58645 or e-mailed to thro_forum@nps.gov. Printed copies of the EIS are available for review at park visitor centers. Contact the park at 701/623-4466 for a hard copy or an electronic copy on a compact disc, or for more information on the meetings or their locations.
-NPS- |
Last updated: April 10, 2015