ONP plant facility to be built at Robin Hill County ParkJuly 22nd, 2005 - 9:35pm (Port Angeles) -- Olympic National Park -- in coordination with Clallam County -- will construct a new plant propagation facility within Robin Hill County Park. Construction of the new facility, including a greenhouse, tool shed, cold frames and nursery beds, is scheduled to begin in early spring of 2006. Olympic National Park Superintendent Bill Laitner says the project is a model of creative and positive partnership, By working collaboratively, Laitner says they have been able to meet goals of both Olympic National Park and Clallam County. Several alternative plans for upgrading Olympic National Park’s greenhouse facilities were analyzed in an Environmental Assessment (EA) released this past March. The EA process has now been completed, with a Finding of No Significant Impact, which was released Friday. Robin Hill County Park is located off Dryke Road just north of Highway 101 between Port Angeles and Sequim. The 195-acre park provides day-use opportunities in an area of mixed forest, meadow and wetland. Twenty acres are maintained for pasture management; the new greenhouse will be located on a five-acre site within this area. County Commissioner Steve Tharinger says having Olympic National Park's native plant nursery at Robin Hill Park is a great use of County resources and will give the public a chance to learn about this important program. Olympic National Park’s native plant propagation program is recognized as being one of the best in the Pacific Northwest. Since its beginning in 1987, it has produced over 400-thousand native plants for revegetating damaged areas throughout the park including the Seven Lakes Basin, Lake Constance, Hurricane Ridge and several sites along the wilderness coast. The new greenhouse and nursery will provide an improved space for the park’s ongoing revegetation program, and for the upcoming Elwha restoration project. Once the Glines Canyon and Elwha dams are removed and the reservoirs drained, hundreds of thousands of native plants will be needed to revegetate the Elwha Valley. Both the Finding of No Significant Impact and the complete EA are available online at parkplanning.nps.gov. Copies may also be requested by calling Olympic National Park at 565-3004. |