News Release

Public Invited to Review Wildland Fire Management Plan for Olympic National Park

Date: March 25, 2019
Contact: Penny Wagner, 360-565-3005

Public Meetings Scheduled; Comments Accepted Through April 24th

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

The proposed alternatives can be reviewed at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/OLYMFMPEA. The park’s purpose in taking action is to update the FMP in order to meet the most current National Park Service and federal policies. 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.

The NPS proposes two alternatives for examination in the EA. The no action alternative would maintain the current strategy as outlined in the 2005 FMP. Alternative B (the preferred alternative) would provide updates to the FMP that would:

• bring the FMP into conformance with current NPS wildland fire policy directives and standards;
• provide 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 FMP;
• improve overall management of planned and unplanned ignitions, and non-fire fuel treatments to reflect wildfire experiences of the past decade; and
• fully acknowledge wildfire as an ecological process within the park.

A series of public meetings are scheduled for April and the public is invited to participate.

 

PORT ANGELES	QUINAULT	QUILCENE
Thursday, April 4, 2019 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm Port Angeles Senior Center  328 E. 7th Street  Port Angeles, WA 98362 Phone [phone]	Monday, April 8, 2019 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm USFS Quinault Ranger Station 353 South Shore Road Quinault, WA 98575 Phone [phone]	Wednesday, April 10, 2019 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm USFS Quilcene Ranger Station 295142 Hwy 101 S.  Quilcene, WA 98376 Phone [phone]

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

Comments can be submitted electronically at http://parkplanning.nps.gov/OLYMFMPEA beginning March 26 through April 24 at midnight MDT. Comments will also be accepted during scheduled public meetings or can be mailed or hand-delivered to: Superintendent, Olympic National Park – FMP EA, 600 East Park Avenue, Port Angeles, WA 98362.
Comments submitted by phone or email will not be accepted. Comments submitted by individuals or organizations on behalf of other individuals or organizations also will not be accepted.
Y
ou should be aware that your entire comment – including personal identifying information such as your address, phone number, and email address – may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.