Publish Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register

The Denver Service Center and/or region office prepare and publish in the Federal Register a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement for the general management plan.

Scope Project and Assign Planning Team

The Denver Service Center’s planning division chief assigns a project manager and branch Chief. Staff from the park, region and Denver Service Center review the PMIS statement, visit the park, and agree upon the range of potential issues to be addressed in the general management plan. An interdisciplinary team of planning and resource professionals from both the Denver Service Center and park are assigned to the project.

Prepare Project Schedule and Workload

Working collaboratively with the park, planning team, and branch chief the project manager develops a project schedule, including estimated dates for achieving key milestones, and a workload for the project (hours preliminarily allotted to members of the planning team for accomplishing assigned tasks). The project schedule is included in project agreement.

Prepare Project Agreement

The project manager, in consultation with the branch chief, prepares a project agreement that (1) identifies the work to be accomplished (including a preliminary assessment of issues based on PMIS, the approach to visitor carrying capacity, and whether or not there is a need for potential boundary modifications) and the project budget; (2) sets the schedule for completing the general management plan; and (3) defines the roles and responsibilities of the planning team as well as others in the park, region, and Washington office who may be involved in preparation of the document.

If the park unit is in the Intermountain Region, a minimum of two peer reviewers must be designated in the project agreement. The peer reviewers are experienced managers from other parks in the region who will review the project agreement; draft purpose, significance, mission statement, mission goals, primary interpretive themes; preliminary alternatives; and the preferred alternative to ensure that park and region goals are met.

1.2 Approved PA

The DSC’s planning division chief, park superintendent, regional director, and Program Manager-WASO Park Planning and Special Studies sign the approved project agreement.