[Federal Register: July 23, 1999 (Volume 64, Number 141)]
[Notices]               
[Page 40037]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23jy99-123]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

 
Vancouver National Historic Reserve Draft Cooperative Management 
Plan/Environmental Impact Statement, Washington

AGENCY: National Park Service.

ACTION: Notice of availability of draft environmental impact statement.

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SUMMARY: The National Park Service announces the availability of a 
Draft Cooperative Management Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (CMP/
EIS) for Vancouver National Historic Reserve, Washington. This notice 
also announces public meetings for the purpose of receiving comments on 
the draft document.

DATES: Comments on the draft CMP/EIS should be received no later than 
September 21, 1999. Public meetings will be held in Vancouver, WA, on 
August 25, 1999, 6-8 p.m. at the Water Resources Education Center, and 
in Portland, OR, on August 26, 1999, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Oregon 
Historical Society.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This plan provides for the cooperative 
administration of the Vancouver National Historic Reserve as directed 
by the legislation establishing the Historic Reserve. The 366-acre 
Reserve includes Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, the U.S. Army's 
Vancouver Barracks, Officers Row, Pearson Field, the Water Resources 
Education Center, and portions of the Columbia River waterfront. This 
plan is a statement of a shared vision by four public agencies and 
their partners in the coordinated management of the Historic Reserve 
for public benefit. The Historic Reserve will be administered through 
this plan by a partnership composed of the National Park Service, the 
Department of the Army, the Office of Archaeology and Historic 
Preservation of the State of Washington, and the City of Vancouver, 
Washington.
    The plan analyzes three possible alternatives for future management 
and recommends a preferred alternative. The shared vision presented in 
the preferred alternative can be summarized in three broad goals:

--Preservation of historic structures, physical assets, and cultural 
landscapes,
--Education and interpretation of the significance and history of the 
area for public benefit,
--Public use of and accessibility to the Historic Reserve.

    The primary consideration for the Vancouver Barracks would be to 
adaptively use the historic structures for sustainable public use and 
enjoyment, interpretation, and preservation of the historic scene. A 
new interpretive center would be developed for the barracks to focus on 
their history. Barracks structures would be adaptively used for a mix 
of public, nonprofit, and commercial uses. For the Parade Ground, a 
variety of theme-related activities would be encouraged.
    Reconstruction of Fort Vancouver would continue, consistent with 
interpretative objectives, and the portions of the cultural landscape 
adjacent to the fort would be rehabilitated. The National Park Service 
would prepare a general management plan for the national historic site 
to address visitor center needs and location, further reconstruction of 
the fort, access, parking, interpretation, and other issues.
    The Pearson Field visitor experience would provide interwar period 
civilian and U.S. Army aviation history and ambiance. The ongoing 
adaptive use of historic structures would continue, and older, 
nonhistoric hangars would be removed. Along the Columbia River 
Waterfront there would be expanded interpretation of the historic 
activities that link the waterfront with the Historic Reserve.
    The CMP/EIS includes a no-action alternative and another 
alternative that would restore historic structures and landscapes to a 
condition representative of the most significant period of the 
structures and landscape. The DEIS presents a full discussion of the 
environmental impacts associated with implementing each alternative.

ADDRESSES: Comments on the draft CMP/EIS should be submitted to: Larry 
Beal, Denver Service Center, 12795 W. Alameada Parkway, Denver, CO 
80225-0287. Copies of the draft CMP/EIS are available by request from 
the aforementioned address. The document will also be available on the 
Internet at www.nps.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Larry Beal, Job Captain, Denver 
Service Center, phone (303) 969-2454, or E-mail: larry__beal@nps.gov.

    Dated: July 13, 1999.
William C. Walters,
Deputy Regional Director, Pacific West Region.
[FR Doc. 99-18892 Filed 7-22-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310-70-P