Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
, USA. With an area of , it nearly surrounds
Olympic National Park
Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...
and the Olympic Mountain range. Olympic National Forest contains parts of
Clallam
Klallam (also Clallam, although the spelling with "K" is preferred in all four modern Klallam communities) refers to four related indigenous Native American/First Nations communities from the Pacific Northwest of North America. The Klallam cult ...
,
Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuary, estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington (U.S. state), Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the l ...
,
Jefferson Jefferson may refer to:
Names
* Jefferson (surname)
* Jefferson (given name)
People
* Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States
* Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...
, and Mason counties. The landscape of the national forest varies, from the temperate Olympic
rain forest
Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest ...
to the salt water fjord of
Hood Canal
Hood Canal is a fjord forming the western lobe, and one of the four main basins,Mt. Washington.
Annual precipitation averages about , giving rise to streams such as the
Humptulips River
The Humptulips River is a river in Grays Harbor County, Washington, in the United States. Its main tributaries are the East Fork Humptulips River, about long (32 km), and West Fork Humptulips River, about long (48 km). After the forks ...
.
Olympic National Forest was originally created as Olympic Forest Reserve in 1897, then renamed to Olympic National Forest in 1907. A portion of the National Forest became the Mount Olympus National Monument in 1909, which was later designated
Olympic National Park
Olympic National Park is a United States national park located in the State of Washington, on the Olympic Peninsula. The park has four regions: the Pacific coastline, alpine areas, the west-side temperate rainforest, and the forests of the drier ...
.
A 1993 Forest Service study estimated that the extent of old growth in the Forest was . It is administered in two ranger districts: the Pacific Ranger District on the west side of the
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...
, and the Hood Canal Ranger District on the east side.
Forest headquarters are located in
Olympia
The name Olympia may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games
* ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
, with
ranger
A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to:
* Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...
district offices in
Forks
In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods ei ...
,
Quinault Quinault may refer to:
* Quinault people, an Indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest Coast
**Quinault Indian Nation, a federally recognized tribe
**Quinault language, their language
People
* Quinault family of actors, including
* Jean-Baptis ...
, and Quilcene. The former office in Hoodsport closed in 2005, and now houses a local
Chamber of Commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
, which still sells Northwest Forest Passes.
Other Washington towns near entrances of the forest include
Port Angeles
Port Angeles ( ) is a city and county seat of Clallam County, Washington, United States. With a population of 19,960 as of the 2020 census, it is the largest city in the county. The population was estimated at 20,134 in 2021.
The city's har ...
Lake Cushman
Lake Cushman is a lake and reservoir on the north fork of the Skokomish River in Mason County, Washington. The lake originally was a long narrow broadening of the Skokomish River formed in a glacial trough and dammed by a terminal moraine from ...
Wynoochee Dam
The Wynoochee Dam is north of Montesano, Washington. It is owned by the city of Aberdeen, Washington, and was built by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in 1972. The dam regulates the flow of the Wynoochee River, creating Wynoochee Re ...
*
Lake Crescent
Lake Crescent is a deep lake located entirely within Olympic National Park in Clallam County, Washington, United States, approximately west of Port Angeles on U.S. Route 101 and nearby to the small community of Piedmont. At an official ma ...
Wilderness areas
*
The Brothers Wilderness
The Brothers Wilderness is a designated wilderness area located in the Olympic National Forest on the eastern side of the Olympic Peninsula south of Buckhorn Wilderness and north of Mount Skokomish Wilderness. The wilderness area comprises admin ...
*
Buckhorn Wilderness
The Buckhorn Wilderness is a mountainous U.S. Wilderness Area, wilderness area on the northeastern Olympic Peninsula in Washington (state), Washington, United States, USA. Named after Buckhorn Mountain (), the wilderness abuts the eastern bounda ...
*
Colonel Bob Wilderness
Colonel Bob Wilderness is a protected area located in the southwest corner of Olympic National Forest in the state of Washington. It is named after 19th-century orator Robert Green Ingersoll. Lake Quinault lies about 15 miles to the west. Eleva ...
*
Mt. Skokomish Wilderness
Mount Skokomish Wilderness is a designated wilderness area in the southeast portion of Olympic National Forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington in the United States. The wilderness area comprises administered by the U.S. Forest Service.
Hi ...
*
Wonder Mountain Wilderness
Wonder Mountain Wilderness is a designated wilderness area encompassing Wonder Mountain in the Olympic National Forest on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington in the United States. The wilderness comprises bordering Olympic National Park and admi ...
Wild Olympics
The Wild Olympics campaign is an effort to designate additional areas on the
Olympic Peninsula
The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and the ...
as protected.
Under a bill introduced by United States Senator
Patty Murray
Patricia Lynn Murray (; born October 11, 1950) is an American politician and educator who is the senior United States senator from Washington since 1993. A member of the Democratic Party, Murray was in the Washington State Senate from 1988 to ...
in January 2014 logging on an additional 126,554 acres (20%) of the Olympic National Forest's lands would be disallowed under the creation of nine new
wilderness areas
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
and expansion of the five existing ones.
Wild and Scenic River
The National Wild and Scenic Rivers System was created by the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-542), enacted by the U.S. Congress to preserve certain rivers with outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free- ...
designations would extend to 19 rivers, including those originating in the Olympic National Park, such as the Quinault, Hoh, Elwha, and Hamma Hamma, and some that do not, like the Middle Fork of the
Satsop River
The Satsop River is a stream in the U.S. state of Washington. It has three main tributary forks, the East Fork, West Fork, and Middle Fork Satsop Rivers. The main stem Satsop River is formed by the confluence of the West and East Forks. The Middle ...
. According to ''The Oregonian'', "the wilderness designation would permanently protect old growth and ancient forest habitat throughout the region. The wild and scenic rivers designation would add federal recognition to the outstanding river systems on the peninsula, protecting them as a source of clean drinking water and helping to keep Puget Sound clean for generations. This designation does not restrict private property rights."
Like the Northern Spotted Owl controversy two decades earlier, the action has met opposition from some residents on and near the Olympic Peninsula who see it as a threat to their livelihoods. Handmade "Stop Wild Olympics" signs can be seen in the Aberdeen area and on the peninsula, expressing displeasure, and an opposition group, Working Wild Olympics, was set up in 2011. The effort has the support of dozens of "major hunting and fishing organizations" who see it as a way to sustain elk, salmon and other fish. Debate on the topic in 2014 has included community meetings drawing hundreds of individuals on both sides, and full-page advertisements in local newspapers.
An episode of ''This American Land'' concerning the Wild Olympics proposal showed nationally on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
in 2014.
The Wild Olympics Wilderness and Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was reintroduced in 2019 as H.R.2642 and received a hearing in the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.