Mammoth Cave’s Environmental Assessment Of Concessions Improvement Projects Is Open For Comment

Edmonson Voice Staff Report:​
Mammoth Cave National Park invites the public to comment on a Family Cabins and Access Improvement Environmental Assessment (EA) between Tuesday, August 27 and Wednesday, September 25. The EA can be found on the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment (PEPC) website at parkplanning.nps.gov/maca. The EA is a part of a planned concessions improvement project which will increase lodging options, improve traffic circulation, and restore a cultural landscape to the park.
 
The Lodge at Mammoth Cave has very limited to no lodging options available for larger families or for group gatherings such as family reunions. Additionally, the existing lodge parking lot has maintenance backlog issues such as large potholes and crumbling edges. It also presents a circulation pattern and access road configuration that are both not intuitive and provide no sense of arrival for park visitors. The EA addresses the park’s plans to construct a series of cabins that can accommodate these larger families and groups, and to reconfigure the access road and parking area to address the ongoing maintenance backlog, provide more intuitive way finding, and reestablish the cultural landscape around the lodge area.
 
In addition to accepting comments on the PEPC website, the park will host an open house for the public to discuss the EA with park staff and provide comments or concerns they might have regarding the projects. The open house will be held in the park on Tuesday, September 10 at the Mammoth Cave Training Center from 4 pm to 6 pm.
 
Comments on the EA can also be submitted through the PEPC website or by U.S. Mail addressed to “Superintendent, Mammoth Cave National Park, c/o Family Cabins and Site Access EA/AOE, P.O. Box 7, Mammoth Cave, KY 42259.”