Public weighs in on future of Olympic National Park

Extensive overhaul of management plan in the works

N.S. NOKKENTVED, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published Tuesday, March 5, 2002

SHELTON -- Improve access, maintain popular trails, but preserve the wild nature of the park.

Those were some of the suggestions the National Park Service heard Monday evening.

"I've hiked all over the country, nothing touches the Olympics," said Tom Burdick of Lacey.

Burdick was one of about two dozen people gathered at the Shelton Civic Center to discuss the future of the Olympic National Park. Park Service officials were on hand to elicit people's vision for the park.

"We're looking at some high-level stuff," park service planner William Freeland said. "We're not talking about how."

Burdick wants to see it bigger and wilder.

Olympic park officials are updating the park's 1976 general management plan. When complete, the new plan would cover park management for the next 15 to 20 years. Monday's workshop was one of several conducted in communities around the park over the winter. The next step is to develop a set of alternatives for environmental analysis.

Officials heard a lot of local concerns at the various workshops, park Superintendent David Morris said.

"It's a large park; people are here because they care deeply about Dosewallips or Staircase," Morris said.

In Port Angeles, people raised concerns about winter activities at Hurricane Ridge. In Forks, they talked about access to Rialto Beach and the Bogachiel River. Residents in the Quinault area want more attention to that corner of the park and some road improvements.

Shelton testimony

In Shelton on Monday, a common concern was repairing the bridges at Staircase and on the Dosewallips River.

Participants split into groups by a variety of themes, including education, recreation and ecosystem protection, and then wrote their thoughts about the park relevant to those themes.

"Raise (backcountry) permit fees," Burdick said. "I'd prefer 10 bucks. That would keep the tourists away."

Burdick advocates adding a large area between the Calahwah and the Sol Duc rivers to the park. Someone else suggested letting the area -- once heavily logged -- recover.

One group, which wanted the bridges at Staircase and Dosewallips replaced, also suggested the park improve parking or establish shuttle service in high-use areas, such as Staircase, to nearby communities.

Others suggested leaving those bridges out. Allow development in developed areas, but reduce development or close other areas, they suggested. But most agreed that the core -- the wild essence of the park -- should be preserved.

N.S. Nokkentved covers the outdoors for The Olympian. He can be reached at 360-754-5445 and at nnokkent@ olympia.gannett.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

back to Outdoors index