Develop Range of Management Prescriptions

Working collaboratively with the park superintendent, park staff and region office, the planning team develops preliminary management prescriptions to identify desired resource conditions and visitor experiences, as well as appropriate levels of management and development, that should ultimately be achieved and maintained in various areas of the park.

Develop Preliminary Alternative Concepts

Working collaboratively with the superintendent, park staff and region office, the planning team applies management prescriptions to specific geographic areas of the park to create management zones. Different allocations or combinations of various management prescriptions comprise a range of preliminary alternatives in the general management plan. The preliminary alternatives answer the question: What range of resource conditions and visitor experiences do we want to provide in the park, in what proportion,
and where?

Region Review of Preliminary Range of Alternatives

The project manager sends the preliminary range of alternatives to the regional directorate for review and comment (where WASO programs have expressed a particular interest, e.g. battlefield protection, wilderness, and water resources, they should also be included in the review). The planning team analyzes the comments and revises the alternatives as appropriate.

If the park unit is in the Intermountain Region, the preliminary draft alternatives, the foundation elements, and the park’s mission statement and mission goals must be presented to the selected peer reviewers as well as the regional directorate for approval (see also 2.1.4, Reconfirm Purpose, Significance, Primary Interpretive Themes and Fundamental Resources
and Values).

Develop Preliminary Alternative Concepts Newsletter(Optional)

If necessary, the planning team arranges for the printing and distribution of an alternative concepts newsletter (many planning teams have found it useful to send a newsletter to the public summarizing scoping results, identifying issues to be addressed and those that will not be considered, and presenting preliminary alternative concepts. This allows for public input to the team as the alternatives are being further developed.).

Approval of Draft Preliminary Alternatives Newsletter

The project manager sends the preliminary alternatives newsletter to the regional directorate for review and comment. The planning team responds to comments and revises newsletter as appropriate.

Printed Preliminary Alternatives Newsletter

The project manager arranges for the printing and distribution of the preliminary alternatives newsletter.

3.2 Complete Public Review of Preliminary Alternatives

The National Park Service solicits comments from federal and state governmental agencies, associated Indian tribes, those with a special interest through law or expertise, and the general public regarding the preliminary alternatives. Preliminary alternatives are revised as necessary based upon agency and public interests and concerns.

3.3 Regional Director Concurrence in Preferred Alternative

Further Analyze Alternatives and Describe Impacts

The planning team, working collaboratively with the park staff and other subject matter experts, identifies impact topics (the resources and values potentially affected by implementation of the alternatives)and impact topics considered but dismissed from further consideration, and preliminarily describes the affected environment and analyzes the impacts of the alternatives. Any appropriate mitigation measures are also identified and incorporated into the alternatives.

Estimate Costs

The planning team develops a projection of the probable range of recurring annual costs, initial one-time costs, and life-cycle costs associated with implementation of each alternative (at this level of conceptual planning precision is difficult and ranges of costs relative to the various alternatives is most important). Note: guidance for cost estimating continues to evolve. Prior to embarking on this task, check with the regional chief of planning for the latest guidance.

Select Preferred Alternative

The planning team, working collaboratively with the park superintendent and others invited to participate as necessary, use the decision-making process Choosing By Advantages (CBA) to determine the advantages of the various alternatives based upon a variety of factors or goals. The advantages of each alternative are evaluated to help identify the preferred alternative (it is useful to keep a written record reflecting the conversations that contributed to the decisions made for future reference).

If the park is in the Intermountain Region, peer review of the preferred alternative must be conducted prior to presenting the preferred alternative to the regional directorate.