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Contact: Barb Maynes, 360-565-3005 Contact: Rainey McKenna, 360-565-2985
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of Olympic National Park and the National Park Service is inviting park visitors and neighbors to join in remembering and celebrating the park's first 75 years. Park visitors, neighbors, employees and alumni – anyone with memories of time spent in Olympic National Park – are warmly invited to share their recollections in a new online memory album. The memory album, available at http://www.olympicpark75th.com, is an online venue where people can share their photos, videos or written memories of experiences in Olympic National Park.The album is made possible through the generous support of park partner Discover Your Northwest. "Olympic National Park holds special memories for countless people across the country and across the decades," said Creachbaum. "We hope anyone with memories of Olympic will consider sharing them in our online album." "And we invite people to come make new memories in the park, especially on our official birthday date, Saturday June 29, when entrance fees will be waived," said Creachbaum. Campground and overnight wilderness use fees will still apply. Limited edition 75th anniversary pins are available through Discover Your Northwest bookstores around the park, including the Olympic National Park Visitor Center, the Recreation Information Station in Forks and the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center. Olympic 75th pins, along with a full range of books, maps and educational products are also available through Discover Your Northwest's online store athttp://www.discovernw.org or by calling (360) 565-3195. Olympic National Park protects 922,651 acres of three distinctly different ecosystems — rugged glacier-capped mountains, more than 70 miles of wild Pacific coast, and magnificent stands of old-growth and temperate rain forest. The land now protected within Olympic National Park first received federal protection in 1897 when President Grover Cleveland designated the Olympic Forest Reserve.This designation protected the area's forests, but not the native wildlife.Within years, the area's elk population had plummeted due to overharvest and trophy hunting and in1909, President Theodore Roosevelt designated part of the Forest Reserve as the Mount Olympus National Monument. On June 29, 1938, after several decades of public discussion and debate, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the bill establishing Olympic National Park. In establishing the park, Congress defined the park's purpose as to: "… preserve for the benefit, use and enjoyment of the people, the finest sample of primeval forests of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, Douglas fir, and western red cedar in the entire United States; to provide suitable winter range and permanent protection for the herds of native Roosevelt elk and other wildlife indigenous to the area; to conserve and render available to the people, for recreational use, this outstanding mountainous country, containing numerous glaciers and perpetual snow fields and a portion of the surrounding verdant forest together with a narrow string along the beautiful Washington coast." Discover Your Northwest promotes the discovery of Northwest public lands, enriches the experience of visitors, and builds community stewardship of these special places today and for generations to come. Towards this goal, Discover Your Northwest operates on-site educational bookstores that provide visitors with high-quality books, toys, DVDs, and other items that help them appreciate the natural and historical significance of the area. At Olympic, Discover Your Northwest funds publication of the park's winter and summer newspapers as well as educational trail guides. Discover Your Northwest has also made important contributions to support the park's volunteer program, exhibits at visitor centers and the Perspectives Speakers' Series. |
Last updated: February 28, 2015