[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 167 (Monday, August 30, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52967-52969]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-21550]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Final Environmental Impact Statement and South Florida and
Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan
AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.
ACTION: Notice of availability of a final environmental impact
statement for the South Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant
Management Plan.
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SUMMARY: Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, 42
U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), and the Council on Environmental Quality regulations
(40
[[Page 52968]]
CFR part 1500-1508), the National Park Service (NPS), Department of the
Interior, announces the availability of the final environmental impact
statement (FEIS) in abbreviated form for the proposed South Florida and
Caribbean Parks Exotic Plant Management Plan. This plan guides the
management and control of exotic plants and restoration of native plant
communities in nine national parks: Big Cypress National Preserve,
Biscayne National Park, Canaveral National Seashore, Dry Tortugas
National Park, Everglades National Park, Buck Island Reef National
Monument, Christiansted National Historic Site, Salt River Bay National
Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, and Virgin Islands National
Park. The FEIS identifies and evaluates the proposed plan and two
alternatives and their potential environmental consequences and
identifies and analyzes appropriate mitigation strategies.
In accordance with the Plant Protection Act of 2000, (7 U.S.C. 7701
et seq.), the United States Government has designated certain plants as
noxious weeds; many of these are exotic plant species. Approximately
1,200 exotic plant species in Florida and the Caribbean have become
established in natural areas, and as many as 4 percent of those exotic
plant species have displaced native species. Exotic plants compete
aggressively with native plants and are often at an advantage because
they have little or no predatory control. Among other problems, exotic
plants displace native species, alter native species proportion,
degrade or reduce available habitat for threatened and endangered
species, consume nutrients, alter fire patterns, reduce recreational
opportunities, and clog waterways.
The purpose of the plan/FEIS is to (1) provide a programmatic plan
to manage and control exotic plants in nine parks in south Florida and
the Caribbean; (2) promote restoration of native species and habitat
conditions in ecosystems that have been invaded by exotic plants; and
(3) protect park resources and values from adverse effects resulting
from exotic plant presence and control activities.
DATES: In December 2003, the NPS met with various Federal, territorial,
State, and local government agencies to share information among
agencies and elicit issues, concerns, and other relevant information to
address during the planning process. Agency representatives
participated in meetings in the Virgin Islands, (one on St. John and
one on St. Croix), and in a meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida. A
Notice of Intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for
South Florida and Caribbean parks exotic plant management was published
in the Federal Register on January 22, 2004 (69 FR 3174). Public
scoping open houses were held in March 2004 in Cruz Bay, St. John;
Christiansted and Frederiksted, St. Croix; and Naples and Homestead,
Florida. A project newsletter was also distributed and 40 letters or e-
mails were received and used by the interdisciplinary planning team to
refine the issues to be addressed in the plan/EIS. The Environmental
Protection Agency published its notice of filing of the Draft EIS in
the Federal Register on September 22, 2006 (71 FR 55463). The NPS
notice of availability was published in the Federal Register on
September 27, 2006 (71 FR 56549).
Following a 60-day public comment period, NPS considered carefully
the agency and public comments received, and prepared the FEIS. Not
sooner than 30 days from the date of publication of the Notice of
Availability for the FEIS in the Federal Register by the Environmental
Protection Agency the NPS will sign a Record of Decision on the Final
Environmental Impact Statement/South Florida and Caribbean Parks Exotic
Plant Management Plan. After the Record of Decision is signed, the NPS
will publish a Notice of Availability of the Record of Decision on the
Final Environmental Impact Statement/South Florida and Caribbean Parks
Exotic Plant Management Plan in the Federal Register.
ADDRESSES: Electronic copies of the final document will be available
online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/EVER. To request a copy contact
Sandra Hamilton, Environmental Quality Division, National Park Service,
Academy Place, P.O. Box 25287, Denver, Colorado 80225, 303-969-2068.
While supplies last, the document can also be picked up in person at
the participating parks' headquarters: Big Cypress National Preserve,
33100 Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee, Florida 34141; Biscayne National
Park, 9700 SW 328 Street, Homestead, Florida 33033; Canaveral National
Seashore, 212 S. Washington Avenue, Titusville, Florida 32796; Dry
Tortugas National Park 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, Florida 33034;
Everglades National Park, 40001 State Road 9336, Homestead, Florida
33034; Buck Island Reef National Monument, Danish Custom House, Kings
Wharf, 2100 Church Street 100, Christiansted, St. Croix,
Virgin Islands 00820; Christiansted National Historic Site; Salt River
Bay National Historic Park and Ecological Preserve, and Virgin Islands
National Park, 1300 Cruz Bay Creek, St. John, Virgin Islands 00830.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Three alternatives are identified and
potential impacts analyzed in the plan/FEIS. Alternative C, New
Framework for Exotic Plant Management: Increased Planning, Monitoring,
and Mitigation, with an Emphasis on Active Restoration of Native
Plants, is the environmentally preferable alternative and the NPS
preferred alternative. Alternative C would augment the systematic
approach integral to alternative B, described below, and would add an
active restoration program to enhance the return of native species to
treated areas in selected high-priority areas. Under Alternative C, a
decision tool would be applied to determine areas that are appropriate
for active restoration, which would occur in park areas that have been
previously disturbed and in areas with potential threatened and
endangered species habitat or sensitive vegetation communities where a
more rapid recovery would be desirable. The active restoration approach
for a given treatment area would be determined based on a site-specific
evaluation. Other areas in the parks would recover passively. Under
Alternative B, New Framework for Exotic Plant Management: Increased
Planning, Monitoring, and Mitigation, the parks would apply a
systematic approach that would prioritize exotic plants for treatment,
monitor effects of those treatments on exotic plants and park
resources, and mitigate any adverse effects to park resources, as
determined through the monitoring program. Alternative B would employ
an adaptive management strategy, using the results of monitoring to
adjust treatment methods or mitigation methods to reach the desired
future condition of treated areas in the parks. The effectiveness of
efforts to control exotic plant invasion of native habitats would
increase as a result of uniform recording and storage of information
acquired during monitoring and of sharing that information among the
nine park units. Under Alternative A, Continue Current Management, the
parks would continue to manage exotic plants under the existing
management framework.
The parks would continue to treat infestations of exotic plants on
an ad hoc basis using a variety of physical, mechanical, chemical, and
biological methods and through currently available funding sources.
Authority: The authority for publishing this notice is 40 CFR
1506.6.
[[Page 52969]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sandra Hamilton, Environmental Quality
Division, National Park Service, Academy Place, P.O. Box 25287, Denver,
Colorado 80225, 303-969-2068.
The responsible official for this final EIS is the Regional
Director, Southeast Region, National Park Service, 100 Alabama Street,
SW., 1924 Building, Atlanta, Georgia 30303.
Dated: August 16, 2010.
Gordon Wissinger,
Acting Regional Director, Southeast Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-21550 Filed 8-27-10; 8:45 am]
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