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Planning for Our Parks The National Park Service (NPS) plans for one purpose - to ensure that the decisions it makes will be carried out as effectively and efficiently as possible. The National Park Service prepares a variety of planning and environmental documents to help guide management of park re sources. Planning provides methods an tools for resolving issues in ways that minimize conflicts and promotes mutually beneficial solutions - solutions that articulate how public enjoyment of the parks can be part of a strategy for ensuring that resources are protected unimpaired for future generations. Lake Clark Planning Portfolio Park managers are guided by a variety of plans an studies, covering many topics. The totality of a park's plans is referred to as the Portfolio of Management Plans. The portfolio is a dynamic compilation of planning guidance in which certain planning elements are removed and updated, or new elements added as needed. For Alaska, the portfolio consists of basic descriptions of a park's purpose, such as the Foundation Statement, NPS Alaska Regional Management Guidelines, Land Protections Plans, Part Atlas, and Wild and Scenic River Value Statements; comprehensive plans, such as a General Management Plan and Master Plan; implementation plans, such as a site management plan, transportation plan and fire management plan; and strategic program plans, such as a long-range interpretive plan. The above lists are examples of the types of planning elements that could be found in a portfolio. Each park's portfolio of management plans will be composed of a unique set of plans designed specifically to help manage that particular unit. NEPA/Compliance NEPA is the acronym for the National Environmental Policy Act. This act, passed in 1969, laid the foundation for environmental protection in the United States by setting policy goals for the federal government. Two major requirements of the act are that agencies analyze the environmental impacts of federal actions and engage the public in the decision-making process. The first step in the park planing process involves defining the proposed action. For most projects, the next step in the planning process is to determine the appropriate pathway for NEPA documentation based on the proposed action's level of impact to the environment. If the proposed action will not have significant impacts to the environment, the park utilizes a categorical exclusion. If it is unclear whether or not the proposed action will have significant environmental impacts, the park prepares an environmental assessment (EA). If the proposed action will have significant environmental impacts, the park prepares an environmental impact statement (EIS). Public Involvement Your input is requested in the planning of park documents. Even if an official comment period is not open, we welcome your questions and suggestions. You can get in touch with us anytime! Pick up the phone and give us a call, send us an email, stop in an office to talk to staff members, or write us a letter. We're always happy to talk to you. Telephone numbers, email addresses, and mailing addresses for all three park office locations are available on the Contact Us page. Additionally, the park hosts a variety of public meetings, not only regarding these types of decision-making documents but also to ensure regular communication with local people and the broader public through Subsistence Resource Committee meetings and public meetings regarding annual changes to the Superintendent's Compendium among other topics. Check our News Page for notifications of public meetings. Meetings are also announced through our Facebook and Twitter streams. |
Last updated: June 10, 2016