OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK – Starting Monday, September 10, mountain goats will literally begin flying out of Olympic National Park as the goat translocation project gets started.
A coalition of state and federal agencies, with support from local tribes, will begin moving the goats from the Park to the northern Cascade Mountains to re-establish depleted populations. Goats will be shot with tranquilizer darts and helicoptered out of the Park.
In May, the Mountain Goat Management Plan outlined the effort to remove the estimated 725 mountain goats on the Olympic Peninsula. Both the plan and the associated environmental impact statement were finalized after an extensive public review process which began in 2014.
This month’s two-week effort to move mountain goats is the first phase of the operation. Two additional two-week periods are planned for next year.
Mountain goats were introduced to the Olympics in the 1920’s by hunting groups, but their presence has had a detrimental effect on the Park environment and posed safety risks for Park visitors.
(Photo by Jay Cline)