Comment period extended on Olympics mountain goat plan

SEATTLE – Olympic National Park officials are giving people more time to weigh in on their plan to remove non-native mountain goats from the park.

Officials released a draft environmental review with several options, including a plan to capture and relocate as many goats as possible and shooting others.

Mountain goats are not native to Washington’s Olympic Peninsula and have long posed an environmental problem for the park. The fatal goring of a hiker in 2010 raised new concerns about the goats’ presence.

The park’s preferred alternative calls for capturing and relocating goats to national forests in the North Cascade Mountains and then switching to lethal removal. Three other options include exclusively killing the goats, relocating them, or taking no action.

The comment period has been extended until Oct. 10.