Plan Process

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA), requires all federal agencies to consider and document the potential impacts of management actions on the human environment. The National Park Service (NPS) applies NEPA in the planning process to evaluate alternative courses of action and impacts so decisions are made in accord with the conservation and preservation mandate of the NPS Organic Act of 1916. The NPS utilizes Director's Order 12, Conservation Planning, Environmental Impact Analysis, and Decision-making (DO-12), and accompanying DO-12 Handbook to define the steps within the NEPA process (see below) for each specific project and outlines the necessary requirements and contents for environmental document preparation.


In accordance with NEPA, the National Park Service will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) to evaluate the proposed actions identified in this plan. The environmental assessment will address the project background, the purpose and need for the proposed actions, a determination of environmental issues and potential impacts resulting from the alternatives considered (including the no-action alternative), and public involvement and agency coordination. Concurrent to the NEPA process, the National Park Service will conduct consultation under section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966.