Comments sought for Olympic National Park fire plan

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 27, 2019

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — The National Park Service is accepting comment on a revised Wildland Fire Management Plan for Olympic National 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.

“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 open houses are scheduled for April.

Staff will be present to answer questions.

The first is planned from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. April 4, at the Port Angeles Senior Center, 328 E. Seventh St.

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

Park service officials said 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 said — 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.

• Acknowledges wildfire as an ecological process within the park.

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