Conservationists Petition U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
to Grant Endangered Species Status to Olympic Marmots
May 15, 2024
In May, the Center for Biological Diversity petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Olympic marmot as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Endemic to the Olympic Mountains, Olympic marmots have the smallest range of any of six marmot species in North America; there may be only 2,000 to 4,000 left.
The Center cites climate change and predation by non-native coyotes as the greatest threats to marmot survival. It recommends reducing our greenhouse gas pollution and “facilitating natural colonization or reintroducing wolves to the Olympic Peninsula.” Wolves would be a natural check on coyote populations, which account for 85% of all marmot predation.
OPA heartily endorses both measures.
To read the Center for Biological Diversity’s press release, go here.
To read the Center’s petition, go here.
In this short, three-and-a-half-minute film, OPA trustee John Gussman captures the playful intensity of these bright, gregarious and outspoken dwellers of the Olympic alpine. Adapted to year-round life in the high meadows, these creatures embody the beauty and uniqueness of this spectacular range.
Wild Olympics Bill Passes Out of Key Senate Committee
Feb. 28, 2024
The Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act sponsored by Senator Patty Murray and Representative Derek Kilmer—which would permanently protect more than 126,500 acres of Olympic National Forest as wilderness and 19 rivers and their major tributaries as Wild and Scenic Rivers—passed a significant hurdle.
In December, the bill was voted out of the full Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for the first time in the bill’s history. With a strong foundation of broad local support and the steadfast efforts of the two congressional leaders, Wild Olympics has made steady progress each successive Congress. In 2022, the bill passed the House with bipartisan support. December’s committee vote completes a key step in the congressional process towards its becoming law.
For more information, go to www.wildolympics.org.
Marten Monitoring in ONP
Feb. 28, 2024
Though martens were historically present in the Olympics, trapping and habitat loss led to a steep decline by the 1960s.
Olympic National Park is now working with University of Washington Master’s student Dylan Hubl to survey for martens in the park and forest. Partnering with Olympic National Forest and Woodland Park Zoo, and with financial help from Olympic Park Advocates, Hubl and his crew have deployed 67 survey stations across the park and forest in 2022 and ’23.
Click here to read the full story.
Climate Change Ramps Up Fire Behavior in ONP
By Tim McNulty
Feb. 28, 2024
Global warming has turned up the heat on the frequency and intensity of wildfires in the Olympic Mountains. The 2023 fire season upped the ante considerably. Prospects for the 2024 fire season, following a record low winter snowpack, are worrisome.
Following an unusually hot and dry spring and summer in 2023, an August lightning storm sparked a rash of fires in Olympic National Park. Most remained small. Then, in mid-September, the Delabarre Fire in the upper Elwha watershed blew up, eventually covering more than 4,000 acres.
The Delabarre Fire burned through old fires scars from 1960s and 1981 fires, highly unusual fire behavior for the Olympics. Fire managers are continuing to study the implications of the 2023 fire season, but as global warming intensifies, fire behavior is one of many factors that will alter future ecosystem processes.
To read the complete story, click here.
Opposition Mounts to Elwha Logging
Feb. 28, 2024
Popular resistance to Washington’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) clearcutting of older forests continues to mount. Mature, naturally regenerated “Legacy” forests share many habitat characteristics of old-growth forests and serve as critical carbon reserves. Fewer than 77,000 acres of Legacy forests remain, less than three percent of DNR lands.
Last summer, DNR auctioned off the Legacy “Power Plant” sale in the Elwha watershed. After a legal challenge and opposition by the Port Angeles City Council, DNR canceled that sale. Sixty-nine acres of it are proposed for inclusion in the Natural Climate Solutions program.
The Center for Responsible Forestry and local group Elwha Legacy Forests are working to protect Legacy forests on the Olympic Peninsula. For photos and to learn more, visit elwhalegacyforests.org.
Olympic Forest Announces Major Timber Sale
in Dungeness Watershed
Nov. 11, 2022
Olympic National Forest announced plans for the “Canyon Forest Restoration Project,” a major timber action in the northern portion of the Hood Canal Ranger District that proposes to commercially thin some 2,300 acres of forest in the Dungeness watershed.
Close to half the area being considered (922 acres) is made up of naturally regenerated stands that seeded in after a fire or natural disturbance. These stands generally exhibit a greater diversity of species, age, and habitat structure than planted stands. They contain an abundance of course woody debris, dead snags, and increasingly larger trees as stands develop. Many are older legacy forests that serve as important carbon sinks. They do not need “improving” by cutting trees.
OPA asked the Forest Service to scale down the project and thin only previously logged second-growth stands—and monitor treatments for desired habitat results before committing nearly 1,000 acres of older naturally regenerated forest to restoration thinning.
An environmental analysis (EA) is forthcoming.
To read OPA’s scoping comment letter, click here.
For details on the proposal, view the Forest Service’s project webpage here.
Wolf Recovery in Olympic National Park
Returning wolves to the Olympic ecosystem is one of OPA’s top priorities. Click here for an update on the current status of wolf recovery in Olympic National Park.
Ongoing Issues in Olympic National Park
For more than 70 years, Olympic Park Advocates has worked to protect the stunning natural beauty, biological richness and untrammeled wilderness of Olympic National Park. With your help, we’ve achieved some remarkable successes. Our efforts continue to be inspired by this extraordinary planetary treasure—and our members’ active engagement.
A new administration in Washington, D.C., offers opportunities to correct recent missteps and continue the necessary work of protecting Olympic National Park and the Olympic ecosystem. OPA’s continual involvement in decisions affecting the future ecological integrity and wilderness character of the Park, endangered species protections, and forest and wildlife management is essential.
A long-awaited Wilderness Stewardship Plan will determine how Park managers protect the wilderness character that defines Olympic. Planning for a new road in the Elwha Valley demands close scrutiny. Decision time is near for the Enchanted Valley Chalet, now propped on cribbing and awaiting final removal. And funding decisions will allocate limited funds across the growing gulf between management and maintenance needs and dramatically reduced staffing.
Park managers and the congressional representatives who fund them will need our support and strong advocacy to ensure that protection of Park resources remains foremost.
Here are OPA’s positions on some key issues—and why we advocate for them.
Olympic is one of America’s foremost wilderness parks. Presently, 10 million people live within a five-hour drive of Olympic. A typical year sees close to 100,000 visitor nights in the Park’s Dan Evans Wilderness. Regulating this number of backpackers is imperative: educating them regarding minimum impacts; guiding where they can camp and build fires; and determining the level of development of trails, bridges, structures and privies to accommodate them is imperative. OPA favors vigorous protection of Olympic’s wilderness character and placing resource protection at the forefront. As urban populations increase, more and more people want to experience what Olympic has to offer. A strong wilderness stewardship plan is the best insurance for preserving the Park’s outstanding wildness.
Olympic National Park’s Olympic Hot Springs Road plan proposes a newly constructed one-mile bypass road to access the Elwha Valley, but problems are rife. The new road requires cutting 18 acres of mature and old-growth forest, including up to 50 potential Marbled Murrelet nesting trees including trees seven feet in diameter. The plan also calls for constructing 1,000 or more feet of retaining wall and rock riprap. Some of it will be in, or adjacent to, the restored Elwha River where it can harm salmon habitat.
OPA requests a complete environmental impact statement (EIS) that would look at long-term access for the Elwha Valley in the face of global warming and frequent floods.
Funding
Government sequesters, shutdowns and draconian budget cuts to national parks have eviscerated visitor services, maintenance, and staff at Olympic. ONP was underfunded by $7.7 million, or 42 percent, in a recent year. Visitor center hours and interpretive programs have been reduced significantly. Permanent and seasonal ranger positions have been eliminated. Most summers, rangers are hard to find in many areas of the wilderness, leading to group camping in closed areas, fecal contamination of camp areas, trampling of heather and sensitive vegetation in alpine areas, illegal fires, firearm use, and other destructive activities. OPA continues to put pressure on Congress to restore full funding and to lobby Park managers for judicious use of limited funds—with resource protection paramount.
Meanwhile – Other Issues
- OPA continues to work for passage of the Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act currently before Congress.
- We are actively involved in fighting a Navy proposal to turn the airspace over Olympic National Park and Forest into a warfare training area.
- We are working to ensure that planned reconstruction of the Sol Duc Road is sensitive to old-growth forests.
- We actively support road closures in Olympic National Forest to eliminate siltation of salmon streams and to protect sensitive backcountry sites from trampling.
- We are participating in Congressman Kilmer’s Olympic Collaborative that seeks to promote sustainable ecological management of Olympic National Forest.
