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.