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Fire Management Plan 2018
Olympic National Park » Fire Management Plan 2018 » Document List
The National Park Service has found that the preferred alternative identified in Olympic National Park's 2019 Fire Management Plan Environmental Assessment will not result in significant adverse impacts. As a result, Olympic National Park will begin managing wildland fire according to the selected alternative in June 2024. This decision is documented in the Finding of No Significant Impact statement here on the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website.
The selected alternative, Alternative B, revises and updates the park's Fire Management Plan to reflect current federal regulation and guidance and the best available fire management science and practices. Alternative B provides a range of strategies and tactics that could be used to respond to changes in the environment and the specific needs of individual firefighting efforts.
Under Alternative B, Olympic National Park will be divided into two Fire Management Units: The Wilderness Unit and the Non-Wilderness Unit. The Non-Wilderness Fire Management Unit includes developed areas, such as visitor use and administrative areas and access roads. The Non-Wilderness Fire Management Unit will be managed to protect infrastructure, reduce the potential for wildfire to spread from or to adjacent lands, and may be managed to enhance cultural or natural resources conditions. The Wilderness Fire Management Unit will be managed to maintain the natural fire regime and preserve wilderness character, while protecting other natural and cultural resources or infrastructure.
All unplanned natural and human-caused ignitions in the Non-Wilderness Fire Management Unit will receive a suppression-oriented response to protect front country developments and reduce the potential for wildfire to spread from or to adjacent lands. In the Wilderness Fire Management Unit, naturally ignited wildfires will be evaluated through a deliberative risk analysis and systematic decision-making process to determine the appropriate response.
For more information on wildland fire in national parks, visit: Fire (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
360-565-3122
Jeff_Bortner@nps.gov
The selected alternative, Alternative B, revises and updates the park's Fire Management Plan to reflect current federal regulation and guidance and the best available fire management science and practices. Alternative B provides a range of strategies and tactics that could be used to respond to changes in the environment and the specific needs of individual firefighting efforts.
Under Alternative B, Olympic National Park will be divided into two Fire Management Units: The Wilderness Unit and the Non-Wilderness Unit. The Non-Wilderness Fire Management Unit includes developed areas, such as visitor use and administrative areas and access roads. The Non-Wilderness Fire Management Unit will be managed to protect infrastructure, reduce the potential for wildfire to spread from or to adjacent lands, and may be managed to enhance cultural or natural resources conditions. The Wilderness Fire Management Unit will be managed to maintain the natural fire regime and preserve wilderness character, while protecting other natural and cultural resources or infrastructure.
All unplanned natural and human-caused ignitions in the Non-Wilderness Fire Management Unit will receive a suppression-oriented response to protect front country developments and reduce the potential for wildfire to spread from or to adjacent lands. In the Wilderness Fire Management Unit, naturally ignited wildfires will be evaluated through a deliberative risk analysis and systematic decision-making process to determine the appropriate response.
For more information on wildland fire in national parks, visit: Fire (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)
Contact Information
Jeff Bortner360-565-3122
Jeff_Bortner@nps.gov