Comment Now: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve, Environmental Impact Statement

Description: The National Park Service is preparing an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) regarding the recreational use of off-road vehicles (ORV) along nine trails in the Nabesna area of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The purpose of the EIS is to evaluate a range of alternatives for managing recreational off-road vehicle use on the following trails: Caribou Creek, Lost Creek, Trail Creek, Reeve Field, Boomerang Lake, Soda Lake, Suslota Lake, Copper Lake and Tanada Lake.

The EIS will be used to guide the management of recreational ORV use on these trails in the Nabesna area of Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. It may also form the basis for either a special regulation to designate ORV routes and areas or a compatibility finding to issue permits for ORV use in accordance with current regulations. The EIS will assess potential environmental impacts associated with a range of reasonable alternatives for managing recreational ORV impacts on park resources and values such as soils, vegetation, wetlands, wildlife, visitor experience, scenic quality, cultural resources and subsistence opportunities.

The NPS requests input from federal and state agencies, local governments, private organizations, recreational users, and the public on the scope of issues to be addressed in this EIS.

Date Document Posted: 12/21/2007

Comment Period: 12/21/2007 - 06/03/2008

You can find more information on this proposal at this site.

Comments

Submitted by Laura Nugent (not verified) on July 5, 2010 - 9:46am.

I am against adding any more motorized use in the park. The Wrangell - St Alias is the only true wilderness left. Even so it is still noisy with human activity. My husband and I spent 10 days in a remote glaciated part of the park and every day planes flew over breaking the tranquility. I don't begrudge the planes as one did drop us off and we relied on one to pick us up. There are too few places on this continent to get away from the noise of civilization. Wrangell - St Alias is as close as it gets to true wilderness.