Death Valley NP: Park Wilderness Stewardship Plan

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: May 14, 2008 Telephone: 760.786.3279

Public Input On Wilderness Stewardship Plan Extended to June 30th, 2009

The National Park Service is initiating a Wilderness Stewardship Plan for the Death Valley Wilderness Area. The purpose of this Wilderness Stewardship Plan is to guide the National Park Service and to make decisions regarding the future use and protection of the wilderness lands. We will be completing an environmental analysis consistent with the National Environmental Policy Act. It is anticipated that this process will take 2-3 years to complete and there will be several times in the process where we will actively invite public input; this is the first such occasion.

This planning process is specific to wilderness lands within Death Valley National Park as designated by the U.S. Congress. It does not include non-wilderness backcountry concerns, such as: backcountry road corridors and campsites, backcountry cabins near roads, Saline Valley hot springs, private inholdings or other non-NPS lands, and developed campgrounds .

We want to hear what you value about the Death Valley Wilderness as well as any issues or concerns you have regarding how the wilderness resource is used and managed.
Your comments are important to us. While we will welcome your input throughout the planning process, your early comments will be most beneficial to our planning effort if we received them by June 1, 2009. We prefer comments via the electronic public comment form on the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment System at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/deva, or by email to DEVAplanning@nps.gov. You may also submit comments in writing to: Superintendent Death Valley NP - Wilderness Plan, P.O. Box 579, Death Valley, CA 92328.


The Death Valley Wilderness was designated by Congress in the California Desert Protection Act of 1994 to preserve "a public wildland resource of extraordinary and inestimable value for this and future generations." The Death Valley National Park Wilderness at 3,100,000 acres is the largest named area of wilderness in the continental United States and includes 93% of the Park. These wilderness lands are parceled into numerous smaller units by an extensive network of highways and primitive dirt roads.


For more information, contact Park Wilderness Coordinator Charlie Callagan at 760-786-3282.

Notice Regarding FOIA

It is the practice of the NPS to make all comments, including names and addresses of respondents who provide that information, available for public review following the conclusion of the environmental assessment process. Individuals may request that the NPS withhold their name and/or address from public disclosure. If you wish to do this, you must state this prominently at the beginning of your comment. Commentators using the website can make such a request by checking the box "keep my contact information private." NPS will honor such requests to the extent allowable by law, but you should be aware that NPS may still be required to disclose your name and address pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act. We will make all submissions from organizations, businesses, and from individuals identifying themselves as representatives or officials of organizations or businesses available for public inspection in their entirety.

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