As a unit of the National Park Service, the North Cascades National Park Service Complex is dedicated to conserving, unimpaired, the natural and cultural resources and values of North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. We also share responsibility for advancing a great variety of national and international programs designed to help extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

• To preserve for the benefit, use, and inspiration of present and future generations certain majestic mountain scenery, snowfields, glaciers, alpine meadows and other unique natural features, biological processes and cultural resources in the North Cascades.

• To provide outdoor recreation use and enjoyment for the public, and for the conservation of the scenic, scientific, historic, and other values contributing to public enjoyment within Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas.

• To preserve and protect the lands legislatively designated as the Stephen Mather Wilderness for use and enjoyment of the public in a manner that will leave them unimpaired for future use and enjoyment as wilderness.

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

• The North Cascades National Park Service Complex contains more glaciers than any other national park in the United States outside Alaska. The North Cascades Ecosystem has over half the glaciers in the lower 48 states. These glaciers are an important source of water for salmon, other wildlife, plants, and people in the Puget Sound region.

• The Park's 9,000+ feet of vertical relief and the great contrast between climates east and west of the Cascade crest provide habitat for one of the greatest diversities of flora in North America and for varied fauna including rare and sensitive species.

• The variety of waters (lakes and rivers) and topography provide a large and expanding nearby population with a wide array of recreational opportunities, from boating and camping to climbing and backpacking.

• The Complex, which adjoins public lands preserved in Canada, is the core of one of the largest protected wild areas in the United States; a substantial portion of it is designated Wilderness.

• Ross Lake National Recreation Area includes a hydroelectric complex with its attendant facilities producing 25% of Seattle's electricity.

• The Complex includes 75 eligible with 59 listed National Register structures or sites, 3 Historic Districts, and over 250 archeological sites. It was home to at least 4 tribes whose descendants now live nearby and includes, within its boundaries, three contemporary communities.