Olympic National Park Updated Fire Management Plan/EA

The National Park Service (NPS) is requesting your input on a revised Wildland Fire Management Plan for Olympic National Park (ONP). Your participation is vital to our planning process. There are many ways to be involved, including attending one of the in-person public meetings and/or submitting electronic or written comments.

The current Fire Management Plan (FMP) for ONP was approved in 2005. Since that time there have been significant changes that affect the validity of the plan. These changes include the development and implementation of the park's 2008 General Management Plan, updates to federal wildland fire policy/guidance, and an increase in the frequency of large fire occurrence that has helped inform management strategies and ecological benefits of fire within the park. In 2012, a NPS interdisciplinary team conducted a review of the 2005 FMP and recommended that the FMP be updated to incorporate those changes. The FMP revision was delayed to allow a Wilderness Stewardship Plan/Environmental Impact Statement (WSP/EIS) to move forward and identify fire management activities within the designated wilderness areas in the park. In 2017, after two of the busiest fire seasons in park history, it was determined that an updated FMP could no longer be delayed and a decision to revise the FMP was made.

As such, an EA has been prepared for the update of the park's programmatic FMP in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, regulations of the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) (40 CFR §1508.9), and the NPS Director's Order (DO) 12 Conservation Planning, Environmental Impact Analysis, and Decision-Making (2015). NEPA requires federal agencies to "fully consider the impacts of proposals that would affect the human environment prior to deciding to take an action." Agencies are required to make informed decisions based on analysis conducted under NEPA and input obtained from the public and interested stakeholders. This EA provides for review of the alternatives relative to the implementation of the park's programmatic FMP, a planning and operational document that ensures the protection of life and property and sensitive natural and cultural resources, while advocating for the perpetuation of natural ecosystem processes in the park.

Document Content:

FMP EA Public Meeting Letter FINAL.pdf   (165.2 KB, PDF file) OLYM_Draft_FMP_EA_030619_508.pdf   (2.6 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of from Adobe Systems.