Death Valley National Park Issues Finding of No Significant Impact, Approves Wilderness and Backcountry Stewardship Plan

The National Park Service (NPS) has approved a Wilderness and Backcountry Stewardship Plan for Death Valley National Park, concluding a 4-year public planning process.

The purpose of this plan is to guide the National Park Service in making decisions regarding the future use and protection of Death Valley National Park's vast wilderness and backcountry lands. This planning process addressed all Congressionally-designated wilderness lands within Death Valley National Park, and is the first such plan in the National Park Service to incorporate comprehensive wilderness character analysis.The plan also includes non-wilderness backcountry concerns, such as backcountry road corridors and campsites, backcountry cabins near roads, and non-wilderness backcountry lands. The plan does not address developed or frontcountry areas within the park, nor does it address the Saline Valley Warm Springs area.

After conducting an environmental planning process that included three counties as cooperating agencies, providing four opportunities for public input, and considering more than 400 public comments on the Wilderness and Backcountry Stewardship Plan Environmental Assessment, the NPS has concluded that its selected alternative will not result in a significant impact to park resources, the socio-economic environment, public health, or visitor experience.The NPS Finding of No Significant Impact, along with supporting documents, is available at https://parkplanning.nps.gov/DEVAWildernessPlanFONSI.

For more information about this plan or planning process, contact Park Environmental Protection Specialist Mike Cipra at +1 760 786-3227.