SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

The Addition Lands General Management Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (GMP/DEIS) is needed to address how the National Park Service can protect its resources and values, provide for recreational and other opportunities, and ensure public safety in the Addition Lands. Big Cypress National Preserve was established in 1974. In 1988, 147,280 acres, known as the Addition, were added to the Preserve, increasing the Preserve by 30%. The current management plan for the Preserve does not address the lands in the Addition and the complex visitor management and resource issues and needs of this area. In the GMP/DEIS and its accompanying public involvement process, the National Park Service will formulate and evaluate the environmental impacts of a reasonable range of alternatives that will provide protection for resources and values at Big Cypress National Preserve.

A public scoping newsletter will be mailed in June 2001 to invite public participation in the scoping process and to describe the planning process. The general public and affected or interested parties are encouraged to provide comments and suggestions, and to identify issues and other reasonable alternatives that should be addressed in the General Management Plan/Draft Environmental Impact Statement.

Our practice is to make comments, including names and home addresses of respondents, available for public review during regular business hours. If you wish for us to withhold your name and/or address, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. However, we will not consider anonymous comments. We will make all submissions from organizations or businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.