Final Environmental Impact Statement General Management Plan WUPATKI National Monument • Arizona EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This general management plan will guide the management of the Wupatki National Monument for the next 10 to 15 years. Five alternatives were considered: a no-action and four action alternatives, including the National Park Service (NPS) preferred alternative. The preferred alternative would include important resources and landscapes north of the park within park boundaries, retain existing motorized sightseeing, focus on existing major visitor use areas, provide visitor orientation at the existing visitor center and at a new contact station at the north entrance, and diversify visitor experiences via new trails, new interpretive media and activities, and guided hikes to some cultural sites. The environmental impact statement assesses impacts to archeological resources; historic character of built environment; ethnographic resources; natural systems and processes; threatened, endangered, and sensitive species; wetlands, floodplains and riparian habitat; visitor experience of park resources; park neighbors; local, state, and tribal land management plans; land/resource managing agencies; and operational efficiency. For more information about this document, contact: Superintendent Flagstaff Area National Monuments 6400 N. Hwy 89 Flagstaff, Arizona 86004 United States Department of the Interior • National Park Service • Wupatki National Monument SUMMARY The purpose of the general management National Park Service and a Record of plan is to provide a comprehensive Decision will be issued to document the direction for resource preservation and approval. visitor use and a basic foundation for decision making for the monument for Actions Common to All the next 15 to 20 years. The plan Alternatives prescribes the resource conditions and Within the broad parameters of the park visitor experiences that are to be mission and mission goals, various achieved and maintained in the park approaches to park resource protection, over time. The clarification of what must use and development are possible. be achieved according to law and policy Management zones are the tool this plan is based on review of the park's purpose, uses to identify how different areas of significance, and special mandates. the park could be managed to achieve a The plan will outline the kinds of variety of resources and social conditions resource management activities, visitor to serve recreation and resource activities, and development that would protection needs. Each zone specifies a be appropriate in the monument in the particular combination of physical, future. However, the plan will not biological, social and management propose specific actions or describe how conditions. Nine possible zones were particular programs or projects will be described that could be appropriate to implemented or prioritized. More various areas in Wupatki National detailed site-specific analysis of Monument. They are the resource alternatives and specific proposals will be preservation zone, the extended learning required in subsequent phases of zone, the guided adventure zone, the planning before any major federal hiking zone, the motorized sightseeing actions are undertaken. Four action zone, the motorized sightseeing-semi- alternatives and a no-action alternative primitive zone, the natural area are presented, and the impacts of recreation zone, the overview zone, and implementing those alternatives are the administrative zone. analyzed. A brief summary of the major Common to all alternatives are short- actions under the alternatives, as well as range planning efforts already underway the actions that are common to all to meet immediate operational needs alternatives and the impacts thereof, are that will continue to exist regardless of presented below. the alternative selected. These are The Next Step identified in National Park Service-wide initiatives, in Flagstaff Area National This Final Environmental Impact Monuments planning documents, such as Statement/General Management Plan, the Strategic Plan, Annual Performance which includes agency and organization Plan, Comprehensive Interpretive Plan, letters and response to all substantive Fire Management Plan, and Resources comments, has been distributed. After Management Plan, and in local action distribution of this final plan, there will plans to resolve safety, accessibility, be a no-action period of at least 30 days. facility maintenance, and similar issues. After this no-action period, a final plan will be selected and approved by the i All alternatives presented recognize the No-Action Alternative: opportunity for partnerships, for the Existing Conditions protection of cultural and natural resources, with the USFS, the State of This alternative describes the Arizona, and private landowners. USFS continuation of current management and lands south of Wupatki will continue trends; it serves as a basis for comparing under USFS management, in accordance the other alternatives. with decisions reached in the USFS Visitors to Wupatki National Monument Flagstaff Lake Mary Ecosystem Analysis generally arrive from the south via US89 (FLEA) planning process. The proposed and FR545, after passing through Sunset expansion to the north will involve state Crater Volcano National Monument. and private lands now within the Most receive orientation to the Coconino Plateau Natural Reserve Lands monuments at Sunset Crater Volcano (CPNRL). visitor center. This road connection Planning and design of new wayside between the two monuments facilitates exhibits and museum exhibits is in the visitor's ability to connect the cultural progress, in accordance with the Flagstaff and natural history of the two areas. Areas Comprehensive Interpretive Plan, Visitor use is concentrated at the to improve visitor understanding and Wupatki visitor center, four of the park's appreciation of Wupatki resources. primary archeological areas (Wupatki New wayside exhibits will replace and Pueblo, Wukoki, Lomaki/Box Canyon, and expand the existing system of Citadel/Nalakihu), and the interpretive signs along FR545 and at picnic/viewpoint area at Doney Mountain major existing visitor use areas. A new on USFS land. These areas were storage building will be constructed at specifically developed for interpretive use New Heiser specifically to address the with short trails and interpretive media. hantavirus problem and to centralize The vast majority of visitors interact with maintenance equipment storage at these sites on their own with no on-site Wupatki. Upon completion of this new NPS presence. Two types of guided facility, hantavirus-prone storage activities are offered into the closed buildings/trailers will be removed. areas. Discovery hikes are generally a NPS plans to restore historic conditions at half-day excursion and follow routes Heiser Spring, through removal of consistent with resource protection containment and diversion structures, concerns. Overnight hikes to Crack-in- restoration of original contours, and Rock Pueblo are offered on eight planting of riparian vegetation. weekends in April and October. The backcountry of Wupatki National Under the No-Action alternative, a large Monument (defined as all areas beyond number of archeological sites open to the designated roads, trails, or developed public would continue to experience facilities within the monument) is closed adverse impacts due to surface to unguided entry. The closure will be disturbance, inadvertent damage, soil made permanent through the compaction, trampling, collecting and formulation and publishing of a special vandalism. Impacts from visitation also regulation. Although various alternatives have adverse impacts on the may allow guided activities to continue in ethnographic resources. Vegetation and the park backcountry, there will be no wildlife habitat within the monument unguided access. will continue to recover from former ii ranching activities. Occasional incidental partnerships with adjacent landowners or trampling of vegetation likely has minor possible park boundary expansion. The impacts on plant species. A number of proposed boundary expansion to the unique habitats exist within the south would include that portion of the monument, and most of them are in the park entrance road that is on National closed backcountry, which protects them Forest lands, allowing the NPS to manage from most impacts. The no-action access to the western half of the park. alternative would likely have negligible Fewer archeological sites would be open to minor impacts on existing wetlands of to unguided or self-guided use than at the Little Colorado River, floodplains, present, resulting in less impact on those and riparian resources. Restoration of sites; however, there would be increased historic conditions at Heiser Spring would guided tours to cultural sites that have have moderate beneficial impacts to not been stabilized or previously wetlands and riparian resources. developed for visitation. Main roads providing access to the park New interpretive programs would be will see a likely increase in visitor and developed to present a broader range of commuter traffic, which may result in educational and interpretive additional congestion and accidents. opportunities than are available at Maintenance needs would increase. present. Guided programs, both on foot Increased use of roads leading to the and by vehicle, would be added for those park would increase the difficulties that with