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Friday, March 29, 2024 Olympic National Park News Release Olympic National Park overnight wilderness permits available April 15; East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley pilot project begins May 15; most trails damaged by 2023 fires will reopen Port Angeles, Wash. – Starting at 7:00am on April 15, Olympic National Park wilderness adventurers will be able to reserve permits for overnight trips for the summer season - May 15 through October 15. Permits can be reserved online at Recreation.gov or by calling the Wilderness Infromation Center at (360) 565-3100. Day hikers do not need wilderness permits. New this year, the East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley will be managed like the Seven Lakes Basin, Grand Valley, Cape Alava and similar permit areas on a trial basis. For the duration of the trial, which will last up to three years, there will be a maximum of 208 users or 30 permits per night, whichever is reached first. This change will help protect the wilderness experience and natural resources in the picturesque valley. Public comments will be collected from May 15 through October 15 throughout the trial. Comments will inform the final decision about the management change. Wilderness users are encouraged to share how this change improves or impacts their experiences. Instructions for how to submit comments will be posted online at: ParkPlanning - East Fork Quinault Trail and Enchanted Valley Overcrowding (nps.gov) In the wake of the 2023 Olympic Lightning Fires, backcountry trail and Burned Area Emergency Response crews developed a strategy to reopen damaged trails as safely and quickly as possible. Of the eight areas that originally closed, only two will not reopen by the start of the summer season: the burned sections of the Skyline and Elwha Trails. These sections will remain closed until trail crews can return to the areas to assess the damage and plan for repairs. For more information about how to reserve permits and prepare for a memorable experience in Olympic National Park's wilderness, call the Wilderness Information Center at (360) 565-3100 or visit: Visiting Wilderness - Olympic National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov) -NPS-

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Original Message -------- Subject: Re: Media Alert - Olympic National Park overnight wilderness permits available April 15; East Fork Quinault River Trail and Enchanted Valley pilot project begins May 15; most trails damaged by 2023 fires will reopen Date: 2024-03-29 10:07 am From: skimohawk@rainierconnect.com To: "OLYM PAO, NPS" <olympic_pao@nps.gov>, Sula_Jacobs@nps.gov, Christina_Miller@nps.gov posted HERE: https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=1266279#1266279 if you'd stop dragging your heels and get that road up the Elwha fixed, you might not be experiencing such issues with "overcrowding". this is what happens when overnight camping opportunities are eliminated by mindlessly re-designating overnight campsites as "day use only" because of worry about "Hazard Trees". exactly how many trees have just "fallen down" over the last 20 years in the July Creek Campground? anybody keeping track? I understand there were a couple dandy campgrounds that offered overnight opportunities on the other side - over on the Dosewallips, but somebody saw fit to not make a few hundred overnight camping sites available any more. Your "overcrowding" conditions are the result of poor planning and your continual refusal to maintain and keep open and available to the public the infrastructure that was in place before you started working at ONP. Brian Kirk Tacoma