80 FR 18865 - Final Environmental Impact Statement for Wilderness Stewardship Plan, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Fresno and Tulare Counties, California

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 80, Issue 67 (April 8, 2015)

The National Park Service (NPS) has prepared a Wilderness Stewardship Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Final WSP/EIS). The Final WSP/EIS identifies and analyzes five alternatives that will provide direction for the NPS to make decisions regarding the future use and protection of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon and John Krebs Wilderness within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 67 (Wednesday, April 8, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18865-18866]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2015-08041]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-PWR-PWRO-17645; PX.P0206452B.00.1]


Final Environmental Impact Statement for Wilderness Stewardship 
Plan, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, Fresno and Tulare 
Counties, California

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of Availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) has prepared a Wilderness 
Stewardship Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (Final WSP/EIS). 
The Final WSP/EIS identifies and analyzes five alternatives that will 
provide direction for the NPS to make decisions regarding the future 
use and protection of the Sequoia-Kings Canyon and John Krebs 
Wilderness within Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

DATES: The NPS will execute a Record of Decision not sooner than 30 
days from the date of publication of the U.S. Environmental Protection 
Agency's notice of availability for the Final EIS in the Federal 
Register.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Nancy Hendricks, Environmental 
Compliance and Planning Coordinator, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National 
Parks, 47050 Generals Highway, Three Rivers, CA 93271, (559) 565-3102. 
Electronic versions of the complete document are available online at 
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/sekiwild. Request printed documents or CDs 
through email ([email protected]) (type ``Final WSP/EIS'' in the 
subject line) or telephone (559) 565-3102.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purposes of the WSP/EIS include 
implementing the long-term vision for protecting wilderness character 
that is contained in the parks' Final General Management Plan (GMP)/
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as well as enhancing 
established programs and actions for managing these areas as 
wilderness. A variety of controversial or long-standing issues are 
addressed in the WSP/EIS, including visitor capacity, wilderness 
permitting, party (group) size limits for people and stock, campfire 
regulations, camping locations and regulations, food-storage 
requirements, human-waste management, stock access, stock grazing, 
maintenance of facilities and trails, and management of frontcountry 
facilities that support wilderness use. The WSP/EIS also analyzes and 
determines the types and levels of commercial services that may be 
performed for activities that are proper for realizing the recreational 
or other wilderness purposes of the areas, as required by Sec.  4(d)(5) 
of the Wilderness Act (Extent Necessary Determination).
    The WSP/EIS considers five alternatives that would manage the 
overall character of the parks' wilderness, including key aspects such 
as wilderness use levels, access and trails, stock use and grazing, 
recreational and administrative infrastructure, and the extent to which 
those activities proper for realizing wilderness purposes may be 
supported by commercial services. The main differences between these 
alternatives lie in the key elements of wilderness management--use 
levels, access and trails, stock use and grazing, and infrastructure, 
both recreational and administrative. These differences are driven by 
the different approach to management that each alternative offers. Each 
alternative serves visitor and/or operational needs in different ways, 
and would preserve natural resources in a condition that is consistent 
with the purposes of the Wilderness Act.
    Alternative 1 (No-action/Status Quo) would continue to implement 
the existing Backcountry Management Plan (BMP) and the Stock Use and 
Meadow Management Plan (SUMMP) to guide wilderness management. The BMP 
establishes trailhead quotas, a wilderness permit system, and 
management objectives for campfires, campsites, sanitation, food 
storage, special-use limits, area closures, stock use and grazing, 
education and interpretation, trails and travel, signs, commercial 
operations, ranger stations, administrative policies, and monitoring 
(e.g., meadows monitoring). The SUMMP establishes the management system 
and tools for stock use and includes site-specific opening dates for 
grazing, grazing management, use levels, protection of Sierra Nevada 
bighorn sheep ewe-lamb ranges, installation of

[[Page 18866]]

drift fences, stock and camp etiquette, implementation of temporary 
variances, and other closures. The SUMMP also establishes a monitoring 
program to inform and modify management as necessary to reduce resource 
impacts.
    Alternative 2 (NPS preferred alternative) would protect wilderness 
character by implementing site-specific actions, incorporating much of 
the current management strategies and tools used by the parks to 
protect wilderness. Wilderness would be managed by evaluating 
conditions in specific areas and mitigating impacts through targeted 
actions. The goal is to encourage wilderness use and minimize 
restrictions while preserving wilderness character. Alternative 2 
acknowledges that there are some challenges in the most popular areas 
and in areas with sensitive resources that can be mitigated through 
targeted improvements in management. Most wilderness trails in the 
parks would remain open to stock under this alternative. Stock would 
continue to be allowed to travel up to one-half mile off maintained 
trails to reach campsites. Off-trail stock travel would continue to be 
allowed in four areas of the parks: On the Monarch Divide, in the 
Roaring River area, on the Hockett Plateau, and along the western side 
of the Kern River watershed south from the Chagoopa Plateau. Grazing 
would generally be allowed in areas open to camping with stock (within 
0.5 mile of maintained trails open to camping with stock or in off-
trail travel areas), with some exceptions. Under alternative 2, the 
levels and types of commercial services to be performed would be 
similar to current conditions. However, the levels and types of 
commercial services allowed would be limited in the Mount Whitney 
Management Area, an approximately 37,200 acre area around Mount Whitney 
within Sequoia National Park.
    Alternative 3 would provide more opportunities for primitive 
recreation by allowing additional use, which would be expected to occur 
mostly in popular areas. To preserve the natural quality of wilderness, 
the popular use areas in wilderness would require additional 
development and restrictions on visitor behavior. Most wilderness 
trails in the parks would remain open to stock under this alternative. 
Stock would continue to be allowed to travel up to one-half mile off 
maintained trails to reach campsites. Off-trail stock travel would 
continue to be allowed in four areas of the parks: On the Monarch 
Divide, in the Roaring River area, on the Hockett Plateau, and along 
the western side of the Kern River watershed south from the Chagoopa 
Plateau. Grazing would generally be allowed within 0.5 mile of 
maintained trails open to camping with stock, with some exceptions. As 
part of allowing increased use, the levels of commercial services would 
increase to accommodate less experienced visitors, to help educate 
visitors, and to control the impacts of inexperienced or inadequately 
equipped visitors.
    Alternative 4 emphasizes the undeveloped quality and non-commercial 
recreation. This alternative would eliminate some of the development 
currently in wilderness to emphasize the undeveloped quality of 
wilderness. There would be fewer signs, bridges, stock-related 
facilities, and ranger stations. Restrooms/privies and food-storage 
boxes would be removed and there would be no designated campsites. 
Because fewer resource-protecting developments would remain in place, 
the amount of use would need to be reduced to protect the natural 
quality of wilderness. Private parties traveling with stock would 
continue to have access to most trails in the parks, and stock would 
continue to be allowed to travel off-trail in four designated areas. 
However, commercial stock use would be limited to certain destinations 
and trails. No private, commercial, or administrative stock grazing 
would be allowed under this alternative. Commercial services would be 
reduced to levels significantly lower than those in the no-action 
alternative and commercial services would be limited in high-use areas
    Alternative 5 (environmentally preferable alternative) emphasizes 
opportunities for solitude by reducing the total number of wilderness 
visitors allowed in wilderness. Presence of fewer visitors in 
wilderness would in turn allow for reduced levels of development, along 
with reduced restrictions on visitor behavior (fewer people need fewer 
facilities). Reducing the numbers of visitors would also result in 
reduced impacts on resources. Stock travel more than 0.5 mile from 
trails open to camping with stock would be prohibited. Stock use and 
grazing would generally be allowed in most areas where overnight use is 
permitted with some exceptions. Commercial services would be at levels 
lower than those in the no-action alternative in most locations, but 
the percentage of total visitor use supported by commercial services 
would be similar to the no-action alternative to ensure that reduced 
access would not disproportionally affect any particular user group.

    Dated: February 6, 2015.
Patricia L. Neubacher,
Acting Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 2015-08041 Filed 4-7-15; 8:45 am]
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