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<br />OOO~85 <br /> <br />PuRPOSE OF AND NEED FOR ACTION <br /> <br />This environmental assessment evaluates three alternatives concerning the use of personal watercraft at <br />Curecanti. The alternatives include: <br /> <br />. Alternative A - Reinstate PWC use under a special regulation as previously managed in <br />accordance with NPS Management Policies 2001, park practices, and state regulations. <br /> <br />. Alternative B - Reinstate PWC use under a special regulation with additional management <br />prescriptions, such as limiting areas of use. Alternative B has been identified as the preferred <br />alternative. <br /> <br />. No-Action Alternative - Eliminate PWC use entirely. No special rule would be promulgated. <br />This environmental assessment also includes an assessment of effect as provided for under the <br />National Historic Preservation Act, Section 106. <br /> <br />SCOPE OF THE ANALYSIS <br /> <br />Motorboats and other watercraft have been used in Curecanti since 1975. Personal watercraft have <br />emerged at Curecanti only since their introduction in the 1980s, and particularly since the summer of <br />1995 when personal watercraft were available for rent from a park concessioner. While some effects of <br />PWC use are similar to other watercraft and, therefore, difficult to distinguish, the focus of this action is <br />in support of decisions and rulemaking specific to PWC use. However, while the settlement agreement <br />and need for action have defined the scope ofthis environmental assessment, NEP A requires an analysis <br />of cumulative effects on resources of all past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions when added to <br />the effects of the proposal (40 CFR 1508.7,2000). The scope of this analysis, therefore, is to define <br />management alternatives specific to PWC use, in consideration of other uses, actions, and activities <br />cumulatively affecting park resources and values. <br /> <br />PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF CURECANTI NATIONAL RECREATION AREA <br /> <br />Congress establishes national park system units to fulfill specified purposes, based on a park's unique and <br />significant resources. Curecanti National Recreation Area's authorizing memorandum of agreement <br />serves as the basic building block for its decisions pertaining to conservation of resources and providing <br />for "enjoyment of future generations." <br /> <br />AUTHORIZING INTENT OF CURECANTI NATIONAL RECREA nON AREA <br /> <br />The following statements are excerpts from the park's authorizing memorandum of agreement: <br /> <br />whereas the [Park] Service has been designated as the agency responsible <br />for [administering recreational use] <br /> <br />whereas a large number of persons are expected to use the lands and <br />waters of such withdrawn area for the purposes of recreation <br /> <br />whereas [an] Act... authorizes the use of appropriated funds... for the <br />administration, protection, improvement, and maintenance of areas... <br />devoted to recreational use pursuant to cooperative agreements <br /> <br />4 <br />