Olympic National Park releases public input on plans

Published 11:49 am Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Public comments received about two Olympic National Park planning processes are now available at the NPS Planning, Environment and Public Comment website at planning.nps.gov.

Wilderness Stewardship Plan

The park released a set of preliminary draft alternatives for public review and comment in March 2014 and conducted a 60-day public comment period. Six public meetings were held in communities around the Olympic Peninsula, with a total attendance of over 200 people. Additionally, over 1,000 correspondences were received by the park.

To view the full text of each comment and more information about the wilderness planning process, visit parkplanning.nps.gov/olymwild.

Park staff is now using the comments to further develop and modify the alternatives.

This process, along with environmental analysis of each alternative, will continue through spring and summer.

Release of the Draft Wilderness Stewardship Plan and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is expected in late 2015 and will include another review and comment period.

Mountain Goat Management Plan

The park released a Notice of Intent to prepare an EIS for a Mountain Goat Management Plan in late July and received nearly 100 written comments during the 60-day comment period. Fifty-five people attended three public open houses, held in Port Angeles, Olympia and Seattle.

The full text of each comment can be viewed at www.parkplanning.nps.gov/olymgoat.

Additional information about this planning process is also available there.

Comments received during this summer’s scoping period will help guide and develop the range of alternatives to be presented in the Draft Mountain Goat Management Plan and EIS. This plan also is slated for release and public review later this year.