ONP Wilderness Plan

Olympic National Park is preparing a Wilderness Stewardship Plan (EIS).  It is currently in the scoping process.  Public input is being taken here: parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=50933

They are asking the following questions:

"What makes the wilderness area special to you and why?"

"When you visit the wilderness area, what activities and experiences are most important to you?"

"What do you think the issues are in the wilderness area?"

"Imagine you are visiting the wilderness area 20 years from now. What conditions, experiences, visitor services and facilities would you like to see?"

Additional comments can also be given.

While not specifically addressing Winter Use, almost all of the backcountry skiing on the ridge is in designated wilderness, and is covered in snow more than half the year, so it seems that comments relating to skiing are fair game.  This scoping period is probably the most important time.  From this public comment, four alternatives will be created without much room for outside the box input.

I particularly reach out to our Mt Rainier brother and sister users to take the time to make your voice heard.  If we don't hang together, we will all hang separately.  "If you don't like the current situation and don't say anything about it, you're contributing to the problem"-Cascade Climber

Thanks

Comments sent.

Olympic National Park is preparing a Wilderness Stewardship Plan (EIS).  It is currently in the scoping process.  Public input is being taken here: parkplanning.nps.gov/commentForm.cfm?documentID=50933

This is a critical opportunity for one of the best winter access points in the PNW.

Mountain community: Please make your voices heard and express the need for 7 day Hurricane Ridge winter access. Share this link with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, email, etc.

Greg, thanks for the heads-up. Do we just comment straight away, or is there a current Forest Stewardship Plan or a draft we can look at first?

Other issues besides weekday opening include the time they start plowing in the AM, the fact that out-of town visitors to the Ridge have to roll out without ONP telling us if the road is likely to be opened or if plowing has started, removing the Waterhole Cabin w/o public input (was it a historic structure? They were permitting for it), and the general concept of public access for "enjoyment" in the PNS mission statement. They should budget more for recreation.

The link provided above has all the information available for this plan (the links on the left).  This is a scoping process, which in theory informs the park of the issues the public is interested in resolving with the plan.  In reality, they already had an internal scoping process. 

Also, the Wilderness Stewardship Plan is a continuation of the GMP.  In the first draft of the GMP they created wilderness zones (Primitive, Wilderness Trail, and Primeval)  as can be seen parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID...233&documentID=15558 . During the public comment period for the GMP, people raised the issue that this wilderness zone concept is not part of the Wilderness Act.  As a result, the final GMP punted on the wilderness plan bringing us to where we are now.

From the GMP Record Of Decision "There were questions from the public related to wilderness zoning and management.  In response to public comment, wilderness zoning has not been included in the selected alternative but will instead occur through the wilderness management plan process that will follow the completion of the GMP." parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkID...233&documentID=24961

I'm assuming that this was part of the internal scoping, but don't know any more than is on the planning page.

One of the most controversial aspects will be the fate of historic structures within wilderness.  (Note that waterhole was 47 years old, and therefore not eligible for historic status for 3 more years.  It was also located outside of wilderness: It was specifically carved out from the wilderness designation because of its existence.)  But feel free to comment on it anyway-for example Olympic Park Associates in their lawsuit against replacing three wilderness structures stated that they weren't against huts per se, they were against them in Wilderness.  So Waterhole is a place where a hut could exist, outside of wilderness.

Note that there are public meetings scheduled also.
Public workshops will be offered around the Olympic Peninsula and are scheduled as follows.

February 5, 2013, 5:00-7:00pm

Jefferson School Gymnasium, 218 E. 12th Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362

February 7, 2013, 5:00-7:00pm

Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Avenue, Sequim, WA 98382

February 19, 2013, 5:00-7:00pm

Sekiu Community Center, 42 Rice, Sekiu, WA 98381

February 20, 2013, 5:00-7:00pm

Department of Natural Resources Conference Room, 411 Tillicum Lane, Forks, WA 98331

February 21, 2013, 4:00-6:00pm

Amanda Park Library, 6118 U.S. Highway 101, Amanda Park, WA 98526

March 4, 2013, 5:00-7:00pm

Seattle REI Flagship Store, 222 Yale Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98109 [size=10pt][/size][size=10pt][/size]


March 5, 2013, 5:00-7:00pm

Ridgetop High School, 10600 Hillsboro Drive NW, Silverdale, WA 98383



March 6, 2013, 5:00-7:00pm

Shelton Civic Center, 525 W. Cota Street, Shelton, WA 98584