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First controlled operation

Fall 2027 is a gate, not a promise.

The pilot date holds only if governance, insurance, lawful hunting, site access, emergency response, privacy, and a full dry run are approved in sequence.

Go or no-go

Seven gates control launch authority.

  1. G0Governance. Roles, sponsor agreement, financial controls, and property authority executed.
  2. G1Legal and insurance. Counsel, broker, releases, land-use, firearms, transportation, and overnight operations reviewed.
  3. G2Site readiness. Access road, turnaround, staging, sanitation, shelter, water, communications, fire control, and emergency egress accepted.
  4. G3Hunting compliance. Current WDFW seasons, licenses, tags, equipment rules, hunter education, and reporting verified for each participant.
  5. G4Emergency system. Written emergency action plan, weather triggers, communications test, medical response, and evacuation route validated.
  6. G5Participant readiness. Partner referrals, access planning, orientation, consent, and minimum necessary records complete.
  7. G6Dry run. Full staff rehearsal completed with open deficiencies closed or formally accepted.

Integrated schedule

The critical path runs through readiness, not marketing.

  1. Name and entity clearance, governance documents, sponsor agreement, baseline site assessment, insurer and veteran-organization outreach.
  2. Engineering and access scope, legal review, insurance requirements, operating budget, emergency concept, partner selection.
  3. Priority access and life-safety work, utility decisions, communications coverage, fire and vegetation controls.
  4. Final hunting-regulation check, protected participant process, staff training, vendor confirmations, full dry run.
  5. Two- to three-night pilot for four to six veterans, followed by a 72-hour hotwash and 30-day after-action report.

Field standard

No gate closes on assumption.

OSHA 30 course-completion cards may support staff hazard awareness, but they are not certifications and do not make a construction site or field event compliant. Construction work will follow applicable Washington safety requirements and site-specific hazard controls; event operations will use a separate field-risk and emergency plan.

The 2027 hunting rules will not be known until the responsible agency publishes them. The pilot will be aligned to the rules in force at the time, and the schedule will move or the hunt will be removed if lawful opportunity does not match the event plan.