Washington finalizes outdoor recreation plan

Washington officials have finalized a plan that’s meant to guide recreation management across 5.6 million acres of state land.

The Washington Department of Natural Resources released Wednesday the final version of its Outdoor Access and Responsible Recreation Strategic Plan, a document that outlines how the agency wants to deal with issues like rising visitation and climate change.

It also sounds the alarm about a $9 million budget shortfall for DNR’s recreation program and raises concerns about the agency’s funding mix.

The plan, the first of its kind for DNR, outlines a broad set of goals and strategies for dealing with those challenges. It also identifies actions the agency can take in the short and long term to meet its goals.

Officials began work on the plan in 2023. A draft was released in October ahead of a series of public meetings.

Courtney James, a DNR spokesperson, said the goals and strategies in the plan are largely the same, but that the agency did incorporate some feedback from the public sessions into the plan.

She added that the next steps of implementing the plan involve a lot of internal conversations, such as figuring out what work is possible within the agency’s budget constraints.

The release of the final plan comes at a time of transition for DNR. Later this month, Dave Upthegrove will take over the agency as the commissioner of public lands, replacing outgoing commissioner Hilary Franz.

Franz said in a statement that she is “proud of the final plan presented today and look forward to the progress to come.”