82 FR 34332 - Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Mountain Goat Management Plan, Olympic National Park, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Mason County, Washington

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
National Park Service

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 140 (July 24, 2017)

The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for a Mountain Goat Management Plan (Plan) at Olympic National Park (Park), Washington. The DEIS evaluates the impacts of a range of alternatives for managing exotic mountain goats in the park.

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 140 (Monday, July 24, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 34332-34333]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-15482]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service

[NPS-PWR-PWRO-21467; PPPWOLYMS1--PPMPSPD1Z.YM0000]


Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Mountain Goat Management 
Plan, Olympic National Park, Clallam, Grays Harbor, Jefferson and Mason 
County, Washington

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice of availability.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service (NPS) announces the availability of 
a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for a Mountain Goat 
Management Plan (Plan) at Olympic National Park (Park), Washington. The 
DEIS evaluates the impacts of a range of alternatives for managing 
exotic mountain goats in the park.

DATES: All written comments on the DEIS must be postmarked or submitted 
not later than 60 days following publication of the Environmental 
Protection Agency's (EPA) Notice of Availability of the DEIS in the 
Federal Register. After the EPA Notice of Availability is published, 
the NPS will schedule public meetings to be held during the comment 
period. Dates, times, and locations of these meetings will be announced 
in press releases and on the NPS Planning, Environment, and Public 
Comment Web site for the Plan/DEIS at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/olymgoat.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please contact Christina Miller at 
(360) 565-3004. Information will be available for public review online 
at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/olymgoat and in the office of the 
Superintendent, Olympic National Park, 600 East Park Ave., Port 
Angeles, WA 98362.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Plan/DEIS is to allow the 
NPS to reduce or eliminate impacts to park resources from exotic 
mountain goats, while reducing potential public safety issues 
associated with the presence of mountain goats in the Park. Management 
direction is needed to address resource management and human safety 
issues resulting from the presence of exotic mountain goats in the 
Park. This Plan/DEIS evaluates the impacts of the no-action alternative 
(Alternative A) and three action alternatives (Alternatives B, C, and 
D). Alternative D is identified as the agency's preferred alternative 
in the DEIS. Alternative A would involve full implementation of the 
2011 Mountain Goat Action Plan, including management of individual 
mountain goats in visitor use areas according to a continuum of 
mountain goat-human interactions. Specific management actions could 
range from hazing to lethal removal of hazardous mountain goats. 
Alternative B would focus exclusively on the capture of mountain goats 
within the park and on adjacent Olympic National Forest lands followed 
by transfer of ownership to Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife 
(WDFW). Subsequent translocation would be conducted at the discretion 
of WDFW to other areas, including portions of the Cascade Mountain 
Range where mountain goats are native and supplementation of the 
existing population would further mountain goat conservation efforts. 
Alternative C would use lethal removal to significantly reduce or 
eliminate mountain goats from the park and adjacent Olympic National 
Forest lands. Alternative D would utilize a combination of capture and 
translocation and lethal removal tools to reduce or eliminate mountain 
goats from the Park. Capture and translocation would occur in most 
areas prior to direct reduction activities. Once a point of diminishing 
returns for capture operations is reached, management would continue 
using lethal removal activities. The U.S. Forest Service and the 
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are cooperating agencies on 
this plan.
    How to Comment: You are encouraged to comment on the draft Mountain 
Goat Management Plan/EIS online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/olymgoat. You may also mail or hand-deliver your comments to Olympic 
National Park, Attn: Mountain Goat Management Plan, 600 East Park Ave., 
Port Angeles, WA 98362. Written comments will also be accepted during 
scheduled public

[[Page 34333]]

meetings discussed above. Comments will not be accepted by email or in 
any other method than those specified above. Comments in any format 
(hard copy or electronic) submitted on behalf of others will not be 
accepted. Before including your address, phone number, email address, 
or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should 
be aware that your entire comment--including your personal identifying 
information--may be made publicly available at any time. While you can 
ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying 
information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be 
able to do so.

    Authority: 42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.

    Dated: July 18, 2017.
Laura E. Joss,
Regional Director, Pacific West.
[FR Doc. 2017-15482 Filed 7-21-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4312-52-P