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.
