Tweeters,

There is still time to help keep new development and commercial
concessions out of the Olympic National Park by sending your comments on
the four proposed management Alternatives online or by snail mail. The
public comment deadline has been extended until 9/30. Please see
http://parkplanning.nps.gov/olym to make an online comment as I did today.

You may wish to review page 7 writing tips in the short PDF of the
current issue "Vol. 14, No. 2: Summer 2006" edition of the Olympic Park
Associates newsletter at
http://www.drizzle.com/~rdpayne/opa-newsletter.html.

Below is what I submitted today. (It just barely fit under the 2000
character and space limit.)

Patricia

Most people are unaware that the temperate rain forest of our Olympic
Peninsula is one of the rarest ecosystems in the world, and that the
animals and plants existing only there have been largely uncatalogued.
Scientists do not know what is needed to sustain that rich diversity of
life. I strongly urge you not to risk the health of our forests, food,
water, air, and, thereby, ourselves by altering one of the precious few
unique natural areas left to sustain us.

I applaud you for preserving the outer coast intertidal strip. The
protection of our beaches has already made a step toward preserving the
lovely Snowy Plover. Thank you also for recommending a wilderness study
for Ozette Lake.

As proposed in Alternative B, please obtain a secure buffer of Ozette
Lake and Lake Crescent and the Hoh, Quinault, and Queets river watershed
zones to allow natural river processes and to maintain critical fish
habitats. All thirteen (13) eligible rivers need to be federal Wild and
Scenic river designations.

I also ask that you keep all developed areas and development zones in
the park at their current size ?- as stated in Alternative A. NO NEW AND
NO EXPANDED developed areas, development zones or commercial concessions
inside the park boundary. Federal court THOROUGHLY REFUTED the park's
claim that historic structures of all types "enhance wilderness
character". The park should be enjoyed as it is.

Plan to re-introduce animals, the wolves and fishers, that once were
native there.

Controversial decisions regarding designated Wilderness need to be
deferred until a comprehensive wilderness management plan can be
completed, and I request it. Illegal elk hunting from nearby roads is a
continuing problem and this, among many other things, must be addressed.

Thank you for this opportunity to speak strongly for the preservation of
the Olympic National Park, truly a national treasure.