Washington DNR posts draft outdoor access and responsible recreation plan, seeks public comment

The Washington State Department of Natural Resources on Sunday released a draft Outdoor Access and Responsible Recreation (OAR) strategic plan for public comment, agency officials said, and invited the public and tribal partners to submit feedback over the next month.

Andrea Martin, DNR statewide recreation manager and staff lead on the plan, said the draft is live on the agency website and that the plan is intended to help the agency respond to growing recreational use and related impacts on DNR-managed lands. “We are releasing our draft outdoor access and responsible recreation strategic plan or OR plan for public comment today,” Martin said.

The draft, Martin said, grew from more than a year of meetings, workshops, presentations and targeted tribal engagement. DNR reported a 21% increase in visitation to its lands between 2019 and 2020 and said updated visitation data are pending; the agency described that rise as a primary driver for the plan.

Agency leaders listed a series of on-the-ground problems the plan is meant to address, including unsanctioned trail building, illegal dumping, timber theft and user conflicts. Martin said funding for recreation management and planning has been “unreliable and insufficient,” producing degraded facilities and overworked staff.

Martin described four guiding functions for the plan—creating a unified vision for emerging recreation trends, guiding agency priorities within the large state agency, supporting continued collaboration with tribes and partners over the next decade, and serving as a tool for legislative and budget requests to secure resources. She also listed six aspirational, long-term goals: conserving and enhancing natural and cultural resources; cultivating stewardship through education and engagement; improving equitable access; respecting reserved rights and improving tribal collaboration; securing financial stability for management, operations and infrastructure; and mitigating climate impacts while building resilience.

Patrick Depoe, DNR’s Tribal Affairs director, said tribal review and input were foundational to the draft. “This plan has been truly collaborative over the last year,” Depoe said, describing a 2023 tribal summit, four regional tribal forums (offered in multiple locations and by Zoom) and a September 2024 one-month review window for tribes to provide formal feedback that DNR then incorporated.

Commissioner Hilary Franz framed the plan in the context of climate-driven threats and rising public use. Franz said increased visitation and climate pressures—drought, forest die-off, sea-level rise and growing wildfire risk—are stressing infrastructure and tribal treaty rights. “Tribes have a sovereign right to the lands of the state, and we have a responsibility to ensure that their use and access to natural and cultural resources is recognized and respected,” Franz said. She added that the plan aims to put co-management and partnership with tribes “at the forefront” for stewarding more than 6,000,000 acres under DNR oversight.

DNR officials said the agency looks to public comment to refine the draft and to use the plan to support future legislative and funding requests; the agency invited the public to review the draft and submit feedback during the monthlong comment period. The agency provided no detailed timeline for final adoption in the remarks at the event.