From an e-mail from a couple of days ago...surprised it hasn't shown up on this board yet!
Anyway, here it is...and place me firmly in the "DO NOT open the back door access up for public access.
************************************
Olympic National Park News Release
December 21, 2006
For Immediate Release
Barb Maynes 360-565-3005
Interim Access Route Proposed for Queets Valley; Public Comment Invited
An Environmental Assessment (EA) for Restoring Interim Access to the Queets
Area was released today and is available for public review and comment. The
EA analyzes one action alternative for restoring interim access into the
Queets Valley, along with a no action alternative.
The Queets Road has been closed to traffic since March 2005, when a rock
slide undercut the road bed, creating cracks in the road and rendering it
unsafe for vehicles. In January 2006, an even larger slide at the same
site completely wiped out 150 feet of the road, leaving a 200-foot deep
chasm and closing the area to pedestrian traffic as well.
“Thanks to excellent cooperation from our two neighboring agencies in the
Queets, we are proposing to use DNR and U.S. Forest Service roads in order
to establish an alternate route into the upper Queets area,” said Olympic
National Park Superintendent Bill Laitner. “Our goal is to re-establish
access into the Queets rain forest, allowing people to once again enjoy the
area.”
The roads considered for restoring access to the Queets are U.S. Forest
Service Roads 21 and 2180, both of which are currently open to the public.
These roads would provide access to another U.S. Forest Service road and a
DNR road, which would lead to a National Park Service road sometimes
referred to as the “back door road.” These roads have been used in the
past for access by park staff, for emergency and administrative purposes,
and when flooding or washouts have occurred along the first ten miles of
the Queets Road.
Comments should be sent to the following address no later than January 31,
2007.
Superintendent – Queets EA
Olympic National Park
600 East Park Avenue
Port Angeles, WA 98362
Fax: 360-565-3015
Website: http://parkplanning.nps.gov
Email: olym_ea@nps.gov
Comments may also be submitted on-line by visiting
http://parkplanning.nps.gov, the website for the National Park Service’s
Planning Environment and Public Comment system. Initial public input on
restoring access to the Queets was invited in July 2005. Twenty-one
comments were received.
For more information or to request a copy of the EA, people may call the
park superintendent's office at (360) 565-3004.
Commentors should be aware that their entire comment – including personal
identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time.
While commentors can ask that their personal identifying information be
withheld from public review, the NPS cannot guarantee that this will be
possible.
- NPS -
**********************
Fish on...
Todd
Anyway, here it is...and place me firmly in the "DO NOT open the back door access up for public access.
************************************
Olympic National Park News Release
December 21, 2006
For Immediate Release
Barb Maynes 360-565-3005
Interim Access Route Proposed for Queets Valley; Public Comment Invited
An Environmental Assessment (EA) for Restoring Interim Access to the Queets
Area was released today and is available for public review and comment. The
EA analyzes one action alternative for restoring interim access into the
Queets Valley, along with a no action alternative.
The Queets Road has been closed to traffic since March 2005, when a rock
slide undercut the road bed, creating cracks in the road and rendering it
unsafe for vehicles. In January 2006, an even larger slide at the same
site completely wiped out 150 feet of the road, leaving a 200-foot deep
chasm and closing the area to pedestrian traffic as well.
“Thanks to excellent cooperation from our two neighboring agencies in the
Queets, we are proposing to use DNR and U.S. Forest Service roads in order
to establish an alternate route into the upper Queets area,” said Olympic
National Park Superintendent Bill Laitner. “Our goal is to re-establish
access into the Queets rain forest, allowing people to once again enjoy the
area.”
The roads considered for restoring access to the Queets are U.S. Forest
Service Roads 21 and 2180, both of which are currently open to the public.
These roads would provide access to another U.S. Forest Service road and a
DNR road, which would lead to a National Park Service road sometimes
referred to as the “back door road.” These roads have been used in the
past for access by park staff, for emergency and administrative purposes,
and when flooding or washouts have occurred along the first ten miles of
the Queets Road.
Comments should be sent to the following address no later than January 31,
2007.
Superintendent – Queets EA
Olympic National Park
600 East Park Avenue
Port Angeles, WA 98362
Fax: 360-565-3015
Website: http://parkplanning.nps.gov
Email: olym_ea@nps.gov
Comments may also be submitted on-line by visiting
http://parkplanning.nps.gov, the website for the National Park Service’s
Planning Environment and Public Comment system. Initial public input on
restoring access to the Queets was invited in July 2005. Twenty-one
comments were received.
For more information or to request a copy of the EA, people may call the
park superintendent's office at (360) 565-3004.
Commentors should be aware that their entire comment – including personal
identifying information – may be made publicly available at any time.
While commentors can ask that their personal identifying information be
withheld from public review, the NPS cannot guarantee that this will be
possible.
- NPS -
**********************
Fish on...
Todd