Public Invited to Comment on Wilderness Ranger Station Environmental Assessment

The National Park Service (NPS) has released an environmental assessment (EA) that analyzes long-term options for three deteriorating wilderness ranger stations located at Le Conte Canyon, Rae Lakes, and Crabtree Meadow in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The EA is available online at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/seki, or you may contact Environmental Protection Specialist Nancy Hendricks at 559/565-3102 to acquire a compact disc (CD) or print copy.

Currently the ranger stations at Le Conte, Rae Lakes, and Crabtree are at or approaching the end of their lifespan. The EA assesses the three wilderness ranger stations to determine if the stations should be replaced, to develop alternatives for replacement and/or rehabilitation consistent with the Wilderness Act, and to analyze the effects of the alternatives. Because of the parks' size and remoteness, ranger stations have historically been used in the wilderness to allow rangers and other park employees to protect wilderness resources and provide visitor services, including education, emergency medical treatment, trail maintenance, and search and rescue, in the remote wilderness of the parks.

Public comment may be submitted online at the National Park Service Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/seki or you may direct comments regarding this project to the park in writing by sending an email to seki_planning@nps.gov, or by mail or hand delivery to:

Superintendent
Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks
Attn : Wilderness Ranger Stations EA
47050 Generals Highway
Three Rivers, CA 93271

This EA will be on public review for 45 days. All comments must be received by April 30, 2010. Those who comment should be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we would be able to do so. We make all submissions from organizations and businesses, and individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses, available for public inspection in their entirety.

Has anyone been to these particular stations? How bad are they? Going to look at the files posted also. Just curious if it painfully obvious that these stations need to be replaced. More so thinking about how bad it must be to be posted there if that is indeed the case.