NPS Draft Plans -Responses requested
Chip Jenkins (360) 854-7204
Public Comment Period Extended and Additional Public Meetings Scheduled for Draft Stehekin River Plan
The
National Park Service has scheduled two additional public meetings
to discuss the Draft Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan
Environmental Impact Statement and Land Protection Plan.
Stehekin:
January 10, 2011
5:00 p.m. — 7:00 p.m.
Golden West
Visitor Center
Sedro-Woolley: January 12, 2011
6:00 p.m. —
8:00 p.m.
North Cascades National Park Complex
Headquarters
810 State Route 20
The National Park Service
has also extended the public comment period for the draft
Stehekin River Plan and Land Protection Plan. Comments must
be submitted by February 11.
"We have received several
requests to extend the public comment period and to hold another
public meeting in Stehekin," said Chip Jenkins, North Cascades
National Park Complex Superintendent. "We are trying to
develop
the best possible plan, and the ideas that come from the
public during the comment and review period help us to do
that."
Comments can be shared on the Draft Stehekin River
Corridor Implementation Plan Environmental Impact Statement by
attending a public meeting, via
email
at noca_superintedent@nps.gov or
on-line at http://www.nps.gov/noca/parkmgmt/srcip.htm.
You can also access an Executive Summary, Frequently Asked Questions, supporting documents, and the complete Draft Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan Environmental Impact Statement from this site.
If you do not have internet access, you can obtain a copy of the River Plan and associated Land Protection Plan at the Golden West Visitor Center in Stehekin, or at the
North
Cascades National Park Complex Headquarters in Sedro-Woolley.
In
response to the record floods of 1995, 2003 and 2006, the National
Park Service has developed the Draft Stehekin River Corridor
Implementation Plan Environmental Impact Statement to address,
in a comprehensive way, the steps needed to continue to
implement the 1995 Lake Chelan National Recreation Area General
Management Plan. The goals in creating this plan are to provide
high-quality recreational experiences, protect natural and cultural
resources, support the private community of Stehekin, and establish
sustainable administrative facilities.
Major elements
of the preferred alternative of the Draft Stehekin River Corridor
Implementation Plan Environmental Impact Statement include
the relocation of about two miles of the Stehekin Valley Road
aroundflood-prone McGregor Meadows and a change to large wood
management at the river mouth. The preferred alternative would also
make several new recreational opportunities available to the
public, including a new raft take-out at the river mouth, a new
campground at Rainbow Falls, and a Lower Valley Trail to connect
the Stehekin Landing to High Bridge. Other important elements of
the preferred alternative are carried forward from the 1995 Lake
Chelan National Recreation Area General Management Plan, including
a move of the NPS maintenance facility and some NPS housing
on Company Creek Road out of the floodplain.
This
planning effort also includes a revision of the 1995 Land
ProtectionPlan (http://bit.ly/9b6gQJ).
While based largely on the 1995 LPP, theDraft Land Protection
Plan proposes to update priorities for land trades oracquisitions
from willing property owners. These priorities are based oncriteria
that emphasize areas most at risk for flooding and erosion. The
LPP
also identifies federal lands outside of the Stehekin River flood
plain suitable for exchange for at-risk private lands.
-NPS-
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kerry Olson
Stehekin District
Interpreter
North Cascades National Park Service Complex
(360)
854-7365, ext 13
http://www.nps.gov/noca