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General Management Plan ("GMP")
The National Park Service is planning for the future of EffigyMounds National Monument. A general management plan will be developed to establish a general framework to guide future management decision making. This will determine how the park will address resource management, visitor uses, development needs, and interpretation or education issues for the next 15 to 20 years.
The planning team will work closely with federal, state, and local agencies, interested parties, and the public. We want you to participate in this planning process.
Effigy Mounds National Monument was established by Presidential Proclamation 2860 on October 25, 1949, to protect significant prehistoric earth mounds found in northeast Iowa and to protect wildlife, scenic, and other natural values of the area.The Monument preserves outstanding representative examples of significant phases of prehistoric Indian mound-building cultures in the American Midwest; protects wildlife and natural values within the monument; and provides for scientific study and appreciation of its features – for the benefit of this and future generations.
GMP Process to this Date:
In November 2005, the park received comments from the public at several scoping meetings regarding what their vision of the park was in the future. These comments along with park staff suggestions were used to create three preliminary management alternatives for the park.
During January 2007, the National Park Service conducted two meetings to inform the public of these preliminary alternatives and to receive their comments about the development of potential management alternatives for Effigy Mounds National Monument's general management plan. The public was given an opportunity to share their thoughts on which alternative they preferred, select options from any of the alternatives that they believed should be part of the park’s management strategy, or add to the list of options to be considered. This was followed by a public comment period regarding the preliminary management alternatives, which ended during the Spring of 2007.
Meetings and the comments received have provided members of the General Management Plan Team with the public’s view of what preliminary alternatives were acceptable and which were not. The team then met to develop the National Park Service’s preferred alternative.
The next step in the process will be to issue a draft GMP document for public comment and review. The issue and public comment period will be announced on this website and the website linked at the bottom of this page.
Public input is essential to the planning process, so it is hoped that you’ll plan to attend and / or contribute your thoughts, thoughout the remainder of the process.
The park staff wishes to thank you for your time, thoughtful comments, and continued interest in this process and the future of Effigy Mounds National Monument. Many of you have expressed specific ideas and concerns about the monument and its future. Your input has been, and will continue to be, invaluable in helping us develop a management plan that will make a lasting difference in longterm management.
To view the GMP process, newsletters and draft alternatives issued to this date visit click the link (below), select Effigy Mounds National Monument from the drop down list and then select General Management Plan.
For additional information or to put your name on the mailing list to receive the newsletter before the public meeting dates, please call (563) 873.3491
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