Environmental Assessment “scoping” for Great Lakes announced

The National Park Service is planning to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA) for a Great Lakes Invasive Plant Management Plan for ten parks located in the Great Lakes region.

Area parks included are Grand Portage National Monument, Isle Royale National Park and Voyageurs National Park.

The Management Plan and Assessment will be based on what is called “integrated pest management.” That’s a process that coordinates knowledge of pest biology, the environment, and available technology to prevent unacceptable levels of pest damage, by cost-effective means, while posing the least possible risk to people and park resources.

The scope of the Assessment will be to develop a plan that identifies long-term tools that will reduce the threats from invasive plants to natural and cultural resources and provide opportunities for restoring native plant communities and landscapes. It’s intended to provide strategies for park staff to manage invasive plants on National Park Service managed lands in the Great Lakes parks.

The public scoping period for the Great Lakes IPMP/EA lasts until May 2. The public is encouraged to provide comments electronically at: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/ipmpea.

During the public scoping period, public meetings may be held within the Great Lakes region. Once the draft is completed it will be made available for a 30-day public review and comment period – that’s expected in the spring of 2012.