Yellowstone National Park Superintendent Suzanne Lewis announced today that the Environmental Assessment-Canyon Ranger Station/Emergency Building, Yellowstone National Park is available for public comment for 30 days. Comments may be submitted through November 7, 2003.

The present Canyon Ranger Station is located within the Canyon Visitor Center, which is scheduled to be remodeled/reconstructed in the fall of 2004. The remodeled visitor center will include the Canyon Backcountry Permit Office but will not accommodate the ranger operation offices and emergency equipment caches currently in the building. The National Park Service is proposing to construct a new building or buildings to house these operations and address existing inadequate ranger office space and public contact areas and inadequate security for sensitive activities and equipment. The facility would also help decrease emergency response times to many incidents.

The environmental assessment describes and analyzes a no-action alternative as well as two alternative sites for construction of a dedicated ranger station and associated emergency services building in the Canyon developed area. This planning effort was initiated in 2002, with construction proposed to begin in the spring of 2004.

The preferred alternative calls for the construction of a 2,000 square-foot ranger station and a 2,400 - 3,400 square-foot emergency services building located within the Canyon Village developed area north of the Canyon Village Historic District, east of the service station, and west of the Canyon campground. The proposed building(s) would include space for offices, a public contact area, staff meeting room, and high-security storage for law enforcement equipment that will be displaced from the existing visitor center facility. Additionally, space would be needed for covered and heated storage space for a fire engine, ambulance, and emergency equipment, as well as a workshop. Associated public and employee parking and utilities would also be part of this project.

The total area of disturbance related to this project would be approximately one acre of lodgepole pine forest. Impacts to threatened or endangered species, archeological sites, wetlands, rare plants, and historic properties would be negligible to minor. Visitors would be served through use of temporary facilities located in the area during construction. After construction of a ranger station and emergency services building, there would be a beneficial improvement in visitor service and convenience from existing conditions.

Comments on and requests for copies of the Environmental Assessment-Canyon Ranger Station/Emergency Building, Yellowstone National Park may be sent to: Canyon Ranger Station/Emergency Services Building Project, Planning Office, P.O. 168, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 82190. The Environmental Assessment may also be viewed or downloaded from the internet at: www.nps.gov/yell/technical/planning.