Editor’s Note:
Those of you who commented have already received this letter from National Parks. You can view the entire document and plan as well as comments Here. Stovepipe Wells airport has not been eliminated but remains under review with proposed options. This is one of CalPilots copies. Both Stovepipe Wells Airstrip and Furnace Creek Airstrips should be closely monitored as National Parks moves forward.
| Wines, Abigail (Abby) <[email protected]> | Fri, Dec 30, 2022, 4:12 PM |
to Andrew
Hi, Andy,
Thank you for your interest in aviation at Stovepipe Wells.
I don’t think we will be sending out any communication on this topic soon. The park-wide flash flooding we had late summer is going to take the park’s focus for the next year or two, so I’m not sure when we will have capacity to focus on the future of Furnace Creek or Stovepipe Wells airstrips again.
Abby Wines
Management Analyst, Death Valley National Park
760-786-3221 (office landline)
From: Andrew Wilson <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2022 6:50 PM
To: Wines, Abigail (Abby) <[email protected]>
========================================================
Decision made on Stovepipe Wells Developed Areas Improvement Plan
Inbox
| Wines, Abigail (Abby) <[email protected]> | Thu, Nov 3, 6:48 PM | ||
| to | |||
Thank you to everyone that commented during the civic engagement period (11/20/2020 to 12/23/2020) or the environmental assessment comment period (1/28/2022-2/28/2022)!
| Death Valley National Park News Release |
Release Date: November 3, 2022
Contact: Abby Wines, 760-786-3221, [email protected]
Decisions made on proposed Stovepipe Wells improvements
DEATH VALLEY, Calif. – The National Park Service (NPS) has released its decision in the Environmental Assessment of proposed improvements in Stovepipe Wells and surrounding areas. The proposed actions include upgrades and changes to utilities, roads, parking areas, campgrounds, and buildings.The original proposal to remove Stovepipe Wells Airstrip was not included in the decision document.
The proposed projects include:
- Replace parts of the water and wastewater systems at Stovepipe Wells and Emigrant.
- Improve flood control.
- Rehabilitate and interpret the historic Emigrant Junction.
- Replace Stovepipe Wells Visitor Contact Station and add an adjacent day-use area with picnic tables and outdoor interpretive signs.
- Replace the emergency services building, which is too small for the Park’s ambulance.
- Redesign Stovepipe Wells Campground, which is currently is a gravel parking area with only one restroom.
- Improve Mosaic Canyon Road, parking lot, and trailhead. The NPS will consider a range of surfaces to reduce dust and stabilize the two-mile unpaved road.
Some members of the public suggested that Furnace Creek Airstrip and Stovepipe Wells Airstrip should be evaluated and considered in relation to each other. Park staff agreed with this suggestion and propose to do a more thorough evaluation of pavement conditions, funding availability for maintenance, Timbisha Shoshone Tribal concerns with overflights of their village, and pilot preference. This will review options for maintaining each of the airstrips’ paved runways, converting them to gravel runways, or removing either or both of them. The NPS has struggled to obtain funding to maintain the paved runways, which are deteriorating.
The EA process allowed the NPS to evaluate the cumulative effect of multiple projects in the same area. NPS officials say they do not have funding for most of these projects yet. Once each project is funded, architects and engineers will prepare detailed designs. Additional historic and environmental reviews of these designs may be needed before construction begins.
The Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and EA can be downloaded at parkplanning.nps.gov/StovepipeWellsPlan.
Proposed development
DEVA Stovepipe Wells Developed Area EA_Camera Ready_508_reduced (1).pdf
