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National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior
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Office of Communications 1849 C Street, N.W Washington, DC 20240 202-208-6843 phone 202-219-0910 fax |
National
Park Service News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –September 2, 2004
Jim Nepstad 715/779-3398 ext.102
Assistant Interior Secretary Announces Completion of
Apostles Islands National Lakeshore Wilderness Study
Announcement
coincides with 40th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act
Bayfield,
WI --- Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks
Craig Manson visited Apostle Islands National Lakeshore today to announce the
completion of the Wilderness Study for the park. The Notice of Availability for
the Wilderness Study’s Record of Decision will be published in the Federal Register tomorrow, coinciding
with the 40th anniversary of the Wilderness Act.
The
Department of the Interior is recommending that approximately 80 percent of the
land area of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore be formally protected as
part of the National Wilderness Preservation System. It will remain part of the park and still be managed by the
National Park Service. The wilderness
proposal would preserve the remote, undeveloped islands in Lake Superior and
the current manner in which visitors access these islands.
“Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton wanted me to commend the
nearly 10,000 citizens who took the time to provide comment during the course
of the Wilderness Study and the study team for carefully listening to the
public and incorporating its concerns into the final proposal,” Manson said. “On
the 40th Anniversary of the passage of Wilderness Act, the National
Park Service’s proposal for the Apostle Islands reaffirms an important
principle stated in the act’s eloquent preamble: that wilderness is for the use
and enjoyment of the American people.”
The final decision on
wilderness designation will be made by Congress.
-NPS-
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