OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK — Completion of the long-awaited management plan for Olympic National Park means park service staff now can begin working on other projects, including recommendations in the plan itself, said Olympic National Park spokeswoman Barb Maynes.
“That’s what we were saying on a variety of the recommendations, such as a shuttle bus to Hurricane Ridge or the Hoh Rain Forest,” she said.
“Those kinds of recommendations are in the plan, but it’s not appropriate to do those things before the plan is approved.”
Maynes said that before any of recommendations in the 950-page, two-volume plan — which was released Thursday — can be implemented, more site-specific or project-specific plans will be necessary.
“The first thing we’re going to do is now a draft wilderness management plan,” she said.
“We needed to get the general management plan done because it covers 15 to 20 years, and has the broadest scope, a general overview of the entire park.
“We deferred a number of decisions because it’s putting the cart before the horse to do a wilderness management plan before general management plan.”
Work began on the Final General Management Plan, which is supposed to establish a vision for managing the park for the next 25 years, in 2001.
Of the four alternatives studied in each case for each of 14 sites, the preferred Alternative D was selected.
It focuses on balancing the protection of natural and cultural resources with improving visitor experiences, according to the plan summary.
That includes accommodating visitor use, providing mass transit and improving educational and recreational opportunities in the developed areas of the park.
Although the document contains goals for each area of the park, it does not contain specific plans for how the goals would be accomplished.
It has no major changes from the last plan created in 1976, Maynes said.
About 500 comments from the public were received after the park solicited them in 2001, 2002 and 2006.
Some people wanted to extensively develop the park while others wanted to close off areas to protect environmental resources, said Nancy Hendricks, environmental planner for the park.
