Mount Rushmore National Memorial
Proposed Backcountry Trail System 

Environmenal Assessment

MATRIX Consulting Group and Native American Environmental provided NEPA compliance support to the National Park Service for a proposed backcountry Trail System  within the Memorial Boundaries.  An interdisciplinary team (IDT) comprised of Memorial staff and representatives of interested state and federal government agencies employed a two-step process to generate and select alternatives for the environmental assessment.   MATRIX and Native American Environmental facilitated the alternative generation  and selection workshops,  public information meetings, and prepared the Environmental Assessment, Finding of No Significant Impact, and administrative record in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Park Service guidelines. 

Several alternatives were generated and refined on an iterative basis to best achieve the objectives of the project.  The alternatives were proposed to address several key issues, raised during scoping, which include erosion, resource damage, trail access, security/safety and cultural resources.   The IDT developed criteria in the areas of design/construction and program to achieve the purposes of the project and mitigate issue concerns.