Naval Special Operations Environmental Assessment
This website provides public access to information about the Environmental Assessment (EA) for Naval Special Operations Training in Western Washington State. The U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command (NSWC) proposes to conduct small-unit land and cold-water maritime training activities for naval special operations personnel. The proposed training would occur on selected nearshore lands and inland waters of Puget Sound, including Hood Canal, as well as the southwestern Washington coast. The intent of the proposed training is to build trainees' skills, experience, and confidence by challenging them in a location with dynamic weather, land, and cold-water conditions. As part of the rigorous training, the trainees learn skills needed to avoid detection along with the goal of leaving no trace of their presence during or after training activities.
The Navy has conducted training in the Pacific Northwest for more than 70 years, including naval special operations training for the past 30 years. Puget Sound, including Hood Canal, and the southwestern Washington coast, offer unique conditions and varied coastal conditions which create opportunities for realistic and challenging special operations training in a safe, sheltered, cold-water environment.
NSWC prepared an EA and Finding of No Significant Impact that can be downloaded by clicking the links at the bottom of this page. The environmental documents will be mailed to the following public libraries for public viewing: Anacortes, Bainbridge, Gig Harbor, Ilwaco, Oak Harbor, Port Townsend, Poulsbo, Sequim, Tacoma, and Westport.
Under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the Navy requested the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation review the Navy’s finding of no adverse effect on historic properties. Section 106 consultation chronology is provided in the link below.