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For the week of February 5 - 11, 2003

News

Public officials propose alternatives for Craters expansion management


Craters open houses set

The National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management have scheduled three open house work sessions during which citizens are invited to participate in the process of choosing how to plan the future of the newly expanded Craters of the Moon National Monument.

"Each workshop will have a brief presentation at the first, and then we’ll break into groups, roll up our sleeves and get to work," said Craters Superintendent Jim Morris.

Each workshop will begin at 10 a.m. and end about 1 p.m. in the following locations:

·  Arco-Butte Business Center, Arco

·  Carey High School, Carey

·  Rupert City Hall, Rupert

Morris encouraged those wishing to attend any of the open houses to call Craters of the Moon so the agencies take enough materials to the meetings. For information or to register, call Craters at 527-3257 or the BLM at 732-7200.


By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer

In crafting alternatives for managing the expanded Craters of the Moon National Monument near Carey, public lands officials have proposed scenarios varying between implementing new interpretive sites and trails to preserving a majority of the monument as "pristine."

The National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management this week released four draft concepts that could be used to guide the monument’s future. The four concepts will be used, along with public input, to craft a final plan that will dictate land use within the monument.

Craters Superintendent Jim Morris said the Park Service and the BLM have not cited preferred alternatives.

"I have no preconceived concept of where we’re going," he said.

In fact, in a newsletter about the alternatives, Morris and BLM Monument Manager Rick VanderVoet pointed out that anything could result when the plan is refined even further.

"The preferred alternative may look like one of the four alternatives in this newsletter, or, more likely, may include elements from several of the alternatives," they wrote.

Four zones—frontcountry, passage, primitive and pristine—were used as tools to create the four management alternatives that are under consideration.

The "Frontcountry Zone" would contain most developed visitor facilities, including developed campsites. A "Passage Zone" would include well-maintained roads, designated campsites.

A "Primitive Zone" would contain two-track roads appropriate for high clearance vehicles and would not include developed campsites. The "Pristine Zone" would not contain roads and would primarily include open lava fields. It would not contain designated camping.

Each of the four zones is contained in each of the four proposed alternatives. Alternative A, no action, would maintain management of the monument at current levels. Alternative B would emphasize visitor services and create visitor facilities at the south end of the monument in addition to the existing facilities at the monument’s north end.

Alternative C enhances the primitive and pristine setting of the monument and limits road travel and visitor services. Alternative D emphasizes aggressive resource restoration, including the largest weed treatment and fire management strategies.

VanderVoet pointed out that this is the agencies’ first crack at drafting planning documents, and open house meetings held this month in communities adjacent to the monument should help solidify them.

"The open houses will allow everyone to come in, view the plans, mark them up and talk to the planners about how they think things ought to be run," VanderVoet said.

One of the communities most likely to experience direct effects from changes at Craters of the Moon is Carey, and the city’s mayor said Monday that many of the town’s citizens are concerned about how the monument’s expansion and management will affect their town.

"This is going to have an impact on Carey," said Mayor Rick Baird. "The new boundary is less than a quarter of a mile from some places in Carey."

Most of all, Baird said, Carey residents don’t want Craters of the Moon to be like Yellowstone National Park.

"It should be managed in a manner that afforded the maximum ability to access the areas of the monument," Baird said. "People were concerned that they would lose access. Some people though the designation might destroy some of the features."

In November 2000, President Bill Clinton signed a proclamation expanding Craters of the Moon by more than 600,000 acres. The action enlarged the monument to include the 62-mile-long Great Rift, a geologic span of crumpled volcanic lava flows and sweeping sagebrush plains.

The Great Rift runs from near Arco on the north to Minidoka on the south.

The top-down expansion of the protected area ruffled some, including Idaho’s Republican Congressional Delegation and many Carey residents.

"We believe that, since nobody asked us, the federal government has a responsibility to mitigate impacts that will come to Carey, regardless of what they are," Baird said. "We think that it’s going to have significant growth implications once this plan is complete."

But most of all, Baird said Carey citizens want to be involved in a process dealing with an area they are intimate with.

"We’re hoping they’ll allow us to participate and be major stakeholders in what it’s going to be," he said, "and that has yet to be determined.

"Since my childhood that area has changed insignificantly. It looks the same year after year. The people who live in Carey love that desert and spend a lot of time down in there."

 

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