Olympic National Forest

Forest Facts

LOCATION:

• Olympic National Forest is located on the Olympic Peninsula with the Pacific Ocean to the west, the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the north and Puget Sound to the east. The Forest surrounds much of the Olympic National Park.
• The Forest is within 35 air miles of down town Seattle and less than 120 miles via I-5, Highway 101 and other State and Forest routes.
• Over 3.5 million people live within 1-4 hours driving time to the Forest.

• Established as Olympic Forest Reserve in 1897
• Name changed to Olympic National Forest in 1907
• Mt. Olympus National Monument, established 1909 (approx. 610,560 acres)
• Mt. Olympus National Monument reduced to half its original size in 1915
• Olympic National Park created in 1938 (922,651 acres as of 2001)
• Last Boundary Adjustment with Olympic National Park 1987

• Forest total: 633,677 acres
• Hood Canal District: 361,045 acres
• Pacific District: 272,632 acres
• Forest by County:
  • Clallam 199,209 acres
  • Grays Harbor 139,501 acres
  • Jefferson 167,996 acres
  • Mason 126,971 acres

• Temperate rain forest
• Radiating mountain range
• Large lowland lakes
• Cascading rivers
• Saltwater beaches and tidelands

• Administrative Offices: 5 (Olympia, Forks, Hoodsport, Quilcene, Quinault)
• Roads: 2,178 miles
• Trails: 270 miles (182 miles outside Wilderness; 88 miles inside Wilderness)
• Campgrounds: 20 (3 O&M by concessionaire; 17 O&M by Forest Service) NOTE: Elkhorn Campground closed, road washed out)
• Sewer Treatment Plant: 1 (Forest Service managed and operated)
• Summer Homes: 64 (private homes under special use permits)
• Lodge: 1 (commercial resort under special use permit)
• Cabins: 3 (available for public lodging)

• Forest Supervisor: 1
• District Rangers: 2
• Supervisor's Staff: 5
• Law Enforcement: 4
• Full Time Permanent: 98
  • Supervisor's Office 44; Pacific District 19; Hood Canal District 35
• Part Time Permanent: 2
  • Supervisor's Office 0; Pacific District 1; Hood Canal District 1

• 1990: 338
• 2000: 123
• 2002: 112
• 2003: 100

• 1990: 22.2 million
• 2000: 8.9 million
• 2003: 8.3 million

• Prior to 1990: 250 + mmbf
• Forest Plan: 110 mmbf
• Northwest Forest Plan: 10 mmbf
• 2002: 5 mmbf
• 2003: 18 mmbf

• Forks Fire, 1951, 33,000 acres
• LeBar Fire, 1984, 495 acres
• Oh Brothers Fire, 1999, 294 acres

• 13 (Chehalis, Jamestown S'Klallam, Hoh, Lower Elwha Klallam, Nisqually, Makah, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Quileute, Quinault, Shoalwater Bay, Skokomish, Squaxin Island, and Suquamish)

• Clallam $2,388,296 Olympic Peninsula RAC
• Grays Harbor $ 703,820 Grays Harbor RAC
• Jefferson $3,221,181 Olympic Peninsula RAC
• Mason $ 757,657 Olympic Peninsula RAC

• 6 (Northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, bald eagle, bull trout, Hood Canal summer chum salmon and Puget Sound Chinook salmon)
• 4 Designated Critical Habitats (Northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, Hood Canal summer chum salmon, Puget Sound Chinook salmon)

• 13 (Wynoochee, Canyon, Satsop, Sol Duc, Cook Creek, McCalla Creek, Dungeness, Elwha, Skokomish, Lake Cushman/North Fork Skokomish, Duckabush, Dosewallips, and Big Quilcene)

• Five Wildernesses; 88,265 total acres (15% of Forest)
• Buckhorn 44,258 acres Hood Canal Ranger District
• Colonel Bob 11,961 acres Pacific Ranger District
• Mt. Skokomish 13,015 acres Hood Canal Ranger District
• The Brothers 16,682 acres Hood Canal Ranger District
• Wonder Mountain 2,349 acres Hood Canal Ranger District

• Thirteen Areas; 85,600 acres (14% of Forest); 64,800 acres are allocated as unroaded

• 76 recreation; 219 non-recreation

RECREATION VISITS:

• 455,900 visits (Year 2000 National Visitor Use Monitoring Results, next National Visitor Use Monitoring in Year 2005)

Forest Facts as of August 2004

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