Olympic National Park Finalizes and Releases Fire Management Plan

Date:
May 2, 2024
Contact: Public Affairs Office, 360-565-3005

Port Angeles, Wash. - The National Park Service 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 on the Planning, Environment, and Public Comment website: https://parkplanning.nps.gov/ONPFMPFONSI.

The revised and updated Fire Management Plan incorporates current federal regulation and guidance and the best available fire management science and practices. A range of strategies and tactics will be used to respond to changes in the environment and the specific needs of individual firefighting efforts.

According to the updated plan, 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 resource 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 and 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, all wildfires, regardless of ignition source, 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)

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