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History & Information ~
The Olympic National Park

It is not known how long the Indians have lived on the Peninsula. Many believe that they came from Asia thru Alaska. All indications are that they lived along the coast, venturing into the forests to gather berries and hunt elk and deer.

The first European to see the Olympic Peninsula was Juan Perez on August 10, 1774. He named the highest mountain El Cerro de la Santa Rosalia. In 1788, John Meres renamed it Mount Olympus and in 1792, Captain George Vancouver referred to the mountains as the Olympic Mountains. In 1846 the boundary between Canada and the U.S. was established and Europeans began to settle on the Olympic Peninsula.

What is now the Olympic National Forest was first explored in 1882 by soldiers from Fort Townsend. In 1885, Lt. Joseph O'Neil led a military expedition of the northeastern portion of the Olympics. In 1889 a group of civilians started across the Olympics, on a trip sponsored by a Seattle newspaper. Referred to as the Press Expedition, the trip is a story in itself. Not knowing what to expect, they started out with boats and horses, moving up the Elwha River. While they succeed in following the Quinault River out, it was an extremely hard trip. Today, the trip of about 50 miles is very popular due to the excellent trails.

Two million acres were set aside in 1897 as the Olympic Forest Reserve. In 1907 the name was changed to the Olympic National Forest and in 1909 President Roosevelt (Teddy) proclaimed 600,000 acres as the Mount Olympus National Monument. During World War I the acreage was cut in half. The Monument was transferred to the National Park Service in 1933. Congress established a national park in 1938 containing 648,000 acres. Later, fifty miles of beaches along the Pacific Ocean were added. Other additions have increased the size to about 900,000 acres and 95% remains in its natural state.

... from surf at sea level to ice at 8,000 feet in 34 miles ...

The Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary is our nation's fourteenth marine sanctuary. Its protected status complements the area's other designations, which include a National Wildlife Refuge, National Park, Washington Island Wilderness, Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site.
Twice the size of Yosemite National Park, the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary covers an area of approximately 3,300 square miles (8,575 square Kilometers) and contains some of the richest fishing and shell fishing grounds on our planet. Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary supports one of the world's most diverse kelp communities and is visited by 29 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises. The sanctuary contains some of the largest colonies of seabirds in the continental United States. Its coastline is home to one of the largest populations of bald eagles in the lower 48 states.

Marine Sanctuaries are part of our collective riches as a nation. They are treasures that belong to all of us as citizens that we have the right to enjoy and the responsibility to protect for future generations. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the U.S. Department of Commerce manages the Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary and other National Marine Sanctuaries to maintain their national beauty and diversity. The goals of the National Marine Sanctuary Program are to protect the marine resources through education and research and by encouraging compatible uses.

Animals found in the Olympic National Park

Because the park includes ocean coastline and mountain peaks, a wide variety of animals may be found here. There are over 300 species of birds and 70 species of mammals in the park. At least 18 are found no where else in the world. The following is only a partial list of what you might see in traveling from the surf of the Pacific Ocean to the top of Mount Olympus:

Climate of the Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park has often been referred to as three great parks rolled into one because of its rugged mountainous core, scenic ocean strip, and lush temperate rain forest. It is the rain forest for which the park has been recognized internationally as a Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site.

Take a mild coastal climate, which rarely freezes in winter or goes above 80 degrees in summer, add a good dose of rain - say twelve feet or so a year, add some summer fog, and you have the ingredients for a temperate rain forest.

The tree which is most closely associated with the temperate rain forest of North America is the Sitka spruce. It grows in a narrow band along the coast and up western facing river valleys from southeastern Alaska to southern Oregon, where it blends into redwood forest. Indeed, some use the terms Sitka spruce forest and temperate rain forest interchangeably.

However, when most people speak of the temperate rain forest in North America they are usually thinking of those found in the western facing valleys of the Olympic Peninsula.
A temperate rain forest is recognized by the following hallmarks when found in combination:

1. The presence of Sitka spruce.

2. Nurse logs - usually fallen Sitka spruce upon which seedlings of trees grow.

3. Colonnades - which are the trees standing in a row as a result of their getting a start on nurse logs.

4. Trees standing on stilts - a result of seedlings sprouting on stumps which later decay away leaving a tree standing on the roots.

5. A profusion of mosses and lichens.

6. Big leaf maples with club moss draperies.  Big leaf maples are really not that common in the temperate rain forest as they tend to be restricted to coarse, well drained soil.

People often wonder if the mosses and lichens hanging from the limbs of big leaf maples, vine maple, and other trees harms these trees. The answer is no, except for an occasional breaking of limbs from tremendous weight. In fact, these trees often send special roots out from the branch crotches into the mats of mosses and lichens and tap nutrients found there.

A temperate rain forest is more than a collection of trees, mosses, and other plants. Woven into the fabric is a population of animals including the Roosevelt elk, after whom the park was almost named. Birds such as the varied thrush, western robin, winter wren, pileated woodpecker, gray jay, junco, and raven add texture to the fabric of the temperate rain forest. Mammals such as black tailed deer, cougar, black bear, river otter, Douglas squirrel, jumping mouse, and shrew dwell there. So do insects, reptiles, and amphibians. There are no rain forests in the eastern Olympics. Indicator tree species for the "dry 100" side are western pine and Madrona. Big leaf maple are replaced by vine maples.

How do temperate rain forests compare with tropical rain forests? Both are the result of a great deal of rain. In tropical train forests, the rain tends to be more evenly distributed throughout the year, although there are still "dry" and "wet" seasons. In fact, there may be two of each during the year. Rain frequently falls as strong shower bursts. In temperate rain forests, there tends to be one long wet season and a fairly dry summer where fog provides the necessary moisture.
Average temperatures in a tropical rain forest are warmer and tend to vary less during the year, than do daily and nightly differences.

Tropical rain forests tend to look like the "typical jungle" with a profusion of vines and climbing plants such as strangler figs.

Plants and Trees found in the Olympic National Park

Because the park includes ocean coastline and mountain peaks, a wide variety of plants may be found here. At least 8 are found no where else in the world.

The most prominent species of trees are the Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, Western Red cedar, Sitka Spruce, Alaska Cedar, Grand Fir and Sub alpine Fir. Shrubs include willow, elder, sala, huckleberry, salmonberry, and our famous rhododendron. Smaller plants include Oregon grape, skunk cabbage and a wide variety of ferns, lichens and mosses.

Record Trees in and near the Park

• Douglas Fir - Circumference 533.3 inches, height 212 feet
• Western Hemlock - Circumference 316 inches, height 202 feet
• Sitka Spruce - Circumference 707 inches, height 191 feet
• Western Red cedar - Circumference 761 inches, height 159 feet
• Sub alpine Fir - Circumference 252 inches, height 125 feet
• Alaska Cedar - Circumference 452 inches, height 120 feet
• Grand Fir - Circumference 229 inches, height 251 feet

The most common trees are broad leaf evergreens; where in a temperate rain forest the most common trees are evergreen conifers, such as Sitka spruce, western hemlock, western red cedar, and Douglas-fir. The broad leaf trees associated with temperate rain forests, such as big leaf maple, vine maple, alder, and black cottonwood are deciduous, not evergreen. Whereas palms, bamboos, tree ferns, and similar plants grow in tropical rain forests, they are absent on the Olympic Peninsula.

There is a greater variety of plants and animals in tropical rain forests than in temperate rain forests, although surprisingly the latter may support more living material. This is because temperate rain forest trees tend to be taller and bigger around than their tropical counterparts, although the tropical trees often have large swollen bases called flying buttresses.
Much more animal life occurs in the canopy of tropical rain forests than in temperate rain forests, i.e., a host of monkeys, birds, snakes, and other creatures dwell there, some of which are brightly colored, some of which have loud piercing voices, and some which are poisonous.
Most of the animal life in a temperate rain forest are ground dwelling and Olympic National Park contains no poisonous snakes. Temperate rain forests are much gentler places on the whole.
Tropical rain forests are much more vulnerable than temperate rain forests. Once destroyed, they require a much longer time for their complex interdependent structures to rebuild. The torrential rains which rapidly leach the soils are probably also a key factor.

The stall of Olympic National Park hopes you will have many opportunities to explore and enjoy the temperate rain forests and other very special places which together form Olympic National Park.

Copyright 2007 Nanc Smith, Windermere /Sequim Central, 279 W. Washington, Sequim, WA -
360.683.1741. Email me.

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