[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 59 (Monday, March 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Page 15457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6944]
[[Page 15457]]
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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service
Notice of Availability of Final Elk Management Plan and
Environmental Impact Statement for Theodore Roosevelt National Park,
North Dakota
SUMMARY: Pursuant to section 102(2)(C) of the National Environmental
Policy Act of 1969, 42 U.S.C. 4332(2)(C), the National Park Service
(NPS) announces the availability of a Final Elk Management Plan and
Environmental Impact Statement (Plan/EIS) for Theodore Roosevelt
National Park, North Dakota (Park).
DATES: The final Plan/EIS will remain available for public review for
30 days following the publishing of the notice of availability in the
Federal Register by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
ADDRESSES: The Plan/EIS is available via the Internet through the NPS
Planning, Environment, and Public Comment Web site (http://parkplanning.nps.gov/THRO); click on the link to Elk Management Plan/
EIS. You may also obtain a copy of the final Plan/EIS by sending a
request to the Superintendent, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, P.O.
Box 7, Medora, North Dakota 58645-0007.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Park is proposing to manage its elk
population to prevent impacts to other natural resources in the Park,
which would likely occur as the herd size increases. The principal tool
(translocation of live elk) the Park had been using to keep population
numbers within management goals is no longer an option because of a an
NPS policy issued in 2002 prohibiting translocation of elk from NPS
units unless enough elk are tested to ensure that CWD is not present in
the herd. The test for CWD is lethal to elk, and since 2002 the park
has not tested enough elk to ensure the herd is free of CWD. Therefore,
translocations for the purposes of population reduction have not
occurred since 2000. This planning process was needed to examine
alternatives to translocation. The purpose of this EIS is to develop
and implement an elk management strategy compatible with the long term
protection and preservation of park resources.
The NPS prepared a draft plan/EIS and made it available for public
review for 90 days, from December 17, 2008 to March 19, 2009. Five
public meetings on the draft Plan/EIS were held across the State of
North Dakota from February 23, 2009, to February 28, 2009. The NPS
preferred and environmentally preferable alternatives were announced in
a separate newsletter and made available for public comment for 30
days, from August 10, 2009 to September 9, 2009. Comments on both the
draft Plan/EIS and the preferred and environmentally preferable
alternatives were considered from individuals, groups, and public
agencies on a range of issues.
The preferred alternative utilizes a suite of options contained in
Alternatives B (direct reduction with firearms), C (roundup and
euthanasia), and D (roundup and translocation) to meet the purpose,
need, and objectives of the Plan/EIS. This alternative was preferred
because it will effectively reduce and maintain the herd size to target
population goals while protecting park resources. This alternative will
not overly burden other agencies or landowners, and does not require
the Park to manage elk beyond its jurisdiction. It will provide for
control by the NPS for selecting which animals will be removed, and
also the time and place of removal. It may also provide robust samples
for CWD screening, which is a critical issue for the Park, North Dakota
Game and Fish Department, ranchers, and others.
The preferred alternative will primarily make use of skilled public
volunteers to assist the Park with culling the elk herd through the use
of firearms. The Park would not pay private contractors or outside
individuals to shoot elk. The initial reduction phase would reduce the
elk herd, now estimated at 1,000 elk, to approximately 200 elk within
five years, by removing approximately 275 elk per year. Following the
initial reduction phase, the Park would take an additional 20 to 24 elk
per year for the remaining ten years of the Plan in order to maintain a
consistent population level. For both the initial reduction phase and
the maintenance phase, the number of elk taken outside the Park would
be used to refine the number of elk that must be removed from the Park
each year in order to meet the population goals. Following each year of
the initial reduction phase, the NPS will evaluate the program in order
to determine if its population goals are being met. If population goals
are being achieved, the park will continue with the use of firearms.
Should the park determine that its population goals are not being met
following the first two years of the initial reduction phase, it would
continue with direct reduction activities but would also have the
ability to use a roundup or other capture methods and then euthanize
and/or translocate elk in order to meet its population objectives.
Should the park need to capture animals, whether elk are euthanized or
translocated will depend on whether adequate sampling has occurred to
meet chronic wasting disease (CWD) surveillance goals, whether CWD is
detected in the herd and whether there are willing recipients that can
meet all Federal and State requirements to transport and receive live
elk.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Contact Superintendent Valerie Naylor,
Theodore Roosevelt National Park, at the address above or by telephone
at 701-623-4466.
Dated: February 2, 2010.
Ernest Quintana,
Regional Director, Midwest Region.
[FR Doc. 2010-6944 Filed 3-26-10; 8:45 am]
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