SEQUIM — Olympic National Forest Upper Dungeness River watershed restoration opportunities, which are being publicly vetted through a new U.S. Forest Service outreach approach to setting priorities, will be the main topic of a Feb. 8 meeting at the Guy Cole Community Center.
The second public meeting on the issue since the effort was launched last spring is scheduled from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. in the meeting hall at Carrie Blake Park, 202 N. Blake Ave.
‘Tours of opportunity’
Forest Service officials out of the Hood Canal Ranger District office in Quilcene also led two public “tours of opportunity” sites last summer that included groups with special interests in the Upper Dungeness River for recreational access and habitat restoration work.
The agenda will include a presentation by Forest Service technical specialists on aquatic and forest restoration projects that were proposed last year.
Members of the Hood Canal Ranger District and representatives from the collaborative group, including the Blyn-based Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, also will share information about the process and the next steps needed to complete an action plan this year and begin project implementation.
Activities, area plan
Participants are invited to view restoration activities and a recreation study-area plan on a series of maps that will be provided.
“A lot of excellent work has been done to date, and we invite continued participation to move ahead with prioritizing projects that will improve aquatic, forest health and human environments on National Forest System lands,” said Sharon Yeh, acting Hood Canal district ranger.
The Upper Dungeness watershed encompasses more than 129,000 acres.
Olympic National Forest and other partners have recognized the river drainage as a priority watershed for restoration because of its natural resource values, impacted condition and current recreational uses.
Bring together
The Feb. 8 event is intended to bring together those who live, work and recreate in the Dungeness watershed, Yeh said.
For more information about the meeting, contact team leader Susan Piper, Olympic National Forest, at spiper@fs.fed.us or 360-956-2435; or Yeh at 360-765-2213.
For more information about the Dungeness Watershed Action Plan, visit http://tinyurl.com/837dvxe.
