ELLENSBURG — New efforts are underway to allow Washington’s Department of Natural Resources to join other state agencies in creating a plan to manage the proliferation of outdoor recreation, and it’s time for the public to help.
Around 20 interested recreationists met with staff from DNR in Ellensburg earlier this month and a similar-sized group gathered in Lacey last week. Many more are expected to join online meetings over the next seven days to continue a process that began at last July’s DNR Tribal Summit and will conclude with the release of an Outdoor Access and Responsible Recreation Strategic Plan by the end of 2024.
Nearly everyone’s documented more people going outside in recent years, especially during the pandemic, and DNR saw the biggest increase of any Washington state agency. Data showed a 21% spike from 2019 to 2020, reaching a total of more than 20 million visitor days.
Two of the three scheduled online meetings already reached the capacity of 125 people, but spots remain for the one scheduled to last from 6-8:30 p.m. on Feb. 6. Statewide recreation manager Andrea Martin said they’ve seen plenty of diversity in users at meetings so far, including hunters, hikers, mountain bikers and more in Ellensburg.