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Comments sought for Olympic National Park fire plan

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, April 3, 2019

By Sequim Gazette Staff

The National Park Service invites the public to review and comment on a revised Wildland Fire Management Plan for Olympic National Park.

“The need for taking action is to have a plan that provides park managers the most current direction and guidance to assist with informed decision-making related to wildland fire activities,” park officials said last week.

Proposed alternatives can be reviewed at parkplanning.nps.gov/OLYMFMPEA.

A series of public meetings are scheduled for April and the public is invited to participate. The park service hosts a meeting from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday, April 4, at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St.

Other meetings are set for 4-5:30 p.m. Monday, April 8, at the Quinault Ranger Station, and 4-5:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 10, at the Quilcene Ranger Station.

At each meeting, there will be an open house where staff will be present to answer questions.

Park service officials say there are two alternatives being considered: a “no action” alternative that keeps the current strategy outlined in a Fire Management Plan adopted in 2005, and a second — and preferred alternative, park officials say — that:

• Conforms with current National Park Service wildland fire policy directives and standards;

• Provides the park with the flexibility to manage fire in accordance with current federal wildland fire management policies and guidance adopted since the publication of the 2005 plan;

• Improves overall management of planned and unplanned ignitions, and non-fire fuel treatments to reflect wildfire experiences of the past decade; and,

• Acknowledge wildfire as an ecological process within the park.

Comments can be submitted electronically at parkplanning.nps.gov/ OLYMFMPEA through April 24.

Comments also will be accepted during scheduled public meetings or can be mailed or hand-delivered to: Superintendent, Olympic National Park — FMP EA, 600 E. Park Ave., Port Angeles, WA 98362.

For more about the National Park Service, see www.nps.gov.

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