ONP Final General Management Plan Released
The Record of Decision (ROD) for the
Olympic National Park Final General Management Plan/Environmental
Impact Statement (Final GMP) was released on November 12, 2008
"Release of this Record of Decision
completes the General Management Plan process and gives us the go-ahead
to begin implementing elements of the plan," said Superintendent Karen
Gustin. "We're very grateful for the public's participation in the
process and are now looking forward to the next steps of putting it
into action."
The Final GMP establishes a vision
for managing Olympic National Park for the next 15 to 20 years and aims
to protect natural and cultural resources while improving visitor
experiences. Key points include:
* Maintaining access to existing developed areas, park trails, campgrounds, and facilities;
* Seeking additional partnerships
to help provide enhanced visitor access and enjoyment (e.g. alternative
transit options, expanded interpretive and educational opportunities)
and better protection of sensitive resources;
* Boundary adjustments through
willing sellers only, or land exchanges to incorporate sensitive
resource areas within the park (e.g. fish habitat, wetlands);
* Continued protection of wilderness, natural and cultural resources.
The public participated in developing
the Olympic National Park GMP during three formal comment periods,
including public meetings, in 2001, 2002 and 2006. Nearly one thousand
copies of the draft plan were distributed to the public and nine public
meetings were held during the 2006 review period. About 500 comments
were received during the review of the draft plan and addressed a wide
variety of topics.
The ROD, describing the selected
alternative and project commitments, was signed by the NPS Pacific West
Regional Director on August 8, 2008 and was published in the Federal
Register today. Implementation of the ROD is the responsibility of the
superintendent of Olympic National Park.
Both the ROD and the Final GMP/EIS
are available online at the National Park Service planning website
http://parkplanning.nps.gov. For
more information about the Olympic National Park Final GMP and Record
of Decision, or to receive a printed copy of people may call the park
at 360-565-3004.
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