NPS Announces Meetings to Except Comments on Yellowstone Winter Use Plan

JThompson · 05-08-2007, 11:28 PM

From - Welcome to the BlueRibbon Coalition

NATIONAL PARK SERVICES ANNOUNCES FOUR PUBLIC MEETINGS TO ACCEPT COMMENTS ON YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND TETON WINTER USE PLAN
The comment period on the "Winter Use Plans Draft Environmental Impact Statement" (DEIS) for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway has less than 30 days left. This plan will determine the future of snowmobile access in those Parks.
In addition to written and website-based comments, the National Park Service has just announced a series of four public meetings at which verbal comments will be accepted. The location and dates of the public meetings are listed below. Please plan to attend one of the meetings and make your voice heard!
PUBLIC MEETINGS ARE SCHEDULED AS FOLLOWS:
Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:00-9:00 pm
Cody Auditorium
1240 Beck Avenue
Cody, WY
Thursday, May 17, 2007 6:00-9:00 pm
West Yellowstone School
411 North Geyser
West Yellowstone, Montana
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 6:00-9:00 pm
Bullard Auditorium at the
Como Park Zoo & Conservatory,
1225 Estabrook Drive
St. Paul, Minnesota
Wednesday, May 30,2007 6:00-9:00 pm
Sheraton Denver West
City Lights Ballroom
360 Union Boulevard
Denver area (Lakewood), Colorado
At each meeting site there will be a welcome table and an open house with a few information stations staffed by NPS personnel who will explain the context, alternatives and monitoring.
At 6:30 pm the verbal public comment period will begin. The approach is to "take a number" (pick up an index card, or use a take-a-number dispenser like you have when you renew your driver's license) if you want to make a verbal comment into the public record at the microphone.
In order to make a verbal public comment, into the official record, there is no requirement to sign in, sign up to speak, or even to identify yourself if you don't want to. You should plan for a two minute time limit to make your comments. The meeting moderator will take the comments in the order of the numbers people pick up. NPS intends to wrap up the verbal comment period by about 8:30 pm and stay until as late as 9 pm at each site.
Remember, the purpose of these four evening meetings is to provide interested people with opportunities to: 1) talk face-to-face with the NPS and with one another about the alternatives in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); and 2) offer verbal comments during this formal public comment period that ends midnight, June 5, 2007.
Whether or not you attend one of the four meetings, there is still time to comment using the BlueRibbon Rapid Response Center. Go to our website at http://capwiz.com/share/home/and under "Comment Period begins on New Yellowstone Winter Use Plan," click on the Take Action Button. Fill out the information requested, add your own comments, and click send to get your comments to the Park Service OR comment through the National Park Service's Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/yell.
All comments must be received by midnight, June 5, 2007. Comments will not be accepted by phone, fax, or email. But if you prefer to use surface mail, you may mail your comments to Winter Use Plan, Yellowstone National Park, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190, postmarked by June 5, 2007, or you may deliver your comments in person to the Superintendent's Office at Yellowstone or Grand Teton National Parks.
Here is a direct quote from the Park Service, "The NPS will consider all comments offered. As with past comment periods, NPS will not tally or weigh comments according to the number of times the same comment is received since this is not a 'voting' opportunity to count numbers of expressed preferences for or against the alternatives. All comments received during the comment period will be placed in the administrative record." Let me add, your comments are important, please take time to make your wishes known!
What are the next steps after the comment period closes June 5, 2007? NPS will review comments they receive, consider and refine their internal decision on what combination of elements will be in the preferred alternative in the Final EIS. The Final EIS is anticipated in October of 2007 for a 30-day "wait period." There is no formal comment period on the FEIS.
The two park superintendents of Yellowstone and Grand Teton will recommend to the Regional Director of the National Park Service's Intermountain Regional Office in Denver to sign a Record of Decision, followed by a final federal regulation. The regulation would enable implementation of the Winter Use Plan in 2007-08 the way it has been for the last three seasons under the temporary rule. Then, in 2008-09, that regulation would enable implementation of the winter use management scheme the Park adopts as a result of this current environmental analysis.
The NPS intent is to have a stable decision and regulation in place by mid-November 2007 in order to begin a winter season on or around December 19, 2007. Without a decision and regulation in place by then, there will be no motorized oversnow traffic in the two parks and parkway in 2007-2008.
(Please note, a proposed rule that will implement the decision reached by the National Park Services Intermountain Regional Office will be released for public review and a separate comment process in the near future.)

05-08-2007, 11:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
JThompson Administrator Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bellingham WA Posts: 5,165 iTrader: (6)	NPS Announces Meetings to Except Comments on Yellowstone Winter Use Plan From - Welcome to the BlueRibbon Coalition NATIONAL PARK SERVICES ANNOUNCES FOUR PUBLIC MEETINGS TO ACCEPT COMMENTS ON YELLOWSTONE AND GRAND TETON WINTER USE PLAN The comment period on the "Winter Use Plans Draft Environmental Impact Statement" (DEIS) for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway has less than 30 days left. This plan will determine the future of snowmobile access in those Parks. In addition to written and website-based comments, the National Park Service has just announced a series of four public meetings at which verbal comments will be accepted. The location and dates of the public meetings are listed below. Please plan to attend one of the meetings and make your voice heard! PUBLIC MEETINGS ARE SCHEDULED AS FOLLOWS: Wednesday, May 16, 2007 6:00-9:00 pm Cody Auditorium 1240 Beck Avenue Cody, WY Thursday, May 17, 2007 6:00-9:00 pm West Yellowstone School 411 North Geyser West Yellowstone, Montana Tuesday, May 29, 2007 6:00-9:00 pm Bullard Auditorium at the Como Park Zoo & Conservatory, 1225 Estabrook Drive St. Paul, Minnesota Wednesday, May 30,2007 6:00-9:00 pm Sheraton Denver West City Lights Ballroom 360 Union Boulevard Denver area (Lakewood), Colorado At each meeting site there will be a welcome table and an open house with a few information stations staffed by NPS personnel who will explain the context, alternatives and monitoring. At 6:30 pm the verbal public comment period will begin. The approach is to "take a number" (pick up an index card, or use a take-a-number dispenser like you have when you renew your driver's license) if you want to make a verbal comment into the public record at the microphone. In order to make a verbal public comment, into the official record, there is no requirement to sign in, sign up to speak, or even to identify yourself if you don't want to. You should plan for a two minute time limit to make your comments. The meeting moderator will take the comments in the order of the numbers people pick up. NPS intends to wrap up the verbal comment period by about 8:30 pm and stay until as late as 9 pm at each site. Remember, the purpose of these four evening meetings is to provide interested people with opportunities to: 1) talk face-to-face with the NPS and with one another about the alternatives in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS); and 2) offer verbal comments during this formal public comment period that ends midnight, June 5, 2007. Whether or not you attend one of the four meetings, there is still time to comment using the BlueRibbon Rapid Response Center. Go to our website at http://capwiz.com/share/home/and under "Comment Period begins on New Yellowstone Winter Use Plan," click on the Take Action Button. Fill out the information requested, add your own comments, and click send to get your comments to the Park Service OR comment through the National Park Service's Planning, Environment and Public Comment (PEPC) website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/yell. All comments must be received by midnight, June 5, 2007. Comments will not be accepted by phone, fax, or email. But if you prefer to use surface mail, you may mail your comments to Winter Use Plan, Yellowstone National Park, PO Box 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190, postmarked by June 5, 2007, or you may deliver your comments in person to the Superintendent's Office at Yellowstone or Grand Teton National Parks. Here is a direct quote from the Park Service, "The NPS will consider all comments offered. As with past comment periods, NPS will not tally or weigh comments according to the number of times the same comment is received since this is not a 'voting' opportunity to count numbers of expressed preferences for or against the alternatives. All comments received during the comment period will be placed in the administrative record." Let me add, your comments are important, please take time to make your wishes known! What are the next steps after the comment period closes June 5, 2007? NPS will review comments they receive, consider and refine their internal decision on what combination of elements will be in the preferred alternative in the Final EIS. The Final EIS is anticipated in October of 2007 for a 30-day "wait period." There is no formal comment period on the FEIS. The two park superintendents of Yellowstone and Grand Teton will recommend to the Regional Director of the National Park Service's Intermountain Regional Office in Denver to sign a Record of Decision, followed by a final federal regulation. The regulation would enable implementation of the Winter Use Plan in 2007-08 the way it has been for the last three seasons under the temporary rule. Then, in 2008-09, that regulation would enable implementation of the winter use management scheme the Park adopts as a result of this current environmental analysis. The NPS intent is to have a stable decision and regulation in place by mid-November 2007 in order to begin a winter season on or around December 19, 2007. Without a decision and regulation in place by then, there will be no motorized oversnow traffic in the two parks and parkway in 2007-2008. (Please note, a proposed rule that will implement the decision reached by the National Park Services Intermountain Regional Office will be released for public review and a separate comment process in the near future.) __________________ Tired of ads? Become a member for an almost ad free site! Also we give away monthly prizes just for posting! Register today! Looking for places to ride! Want to review a riding area? Check them out! PRE-ORDER MOTOTIPS Stickers now. Help keep mototips running! Get your order in today! Buy NOW! Special Discounts for members only! Check out our new discount forum for retailers offering to help you save money! Mototips Discounts

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