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Olympic National Park
A Rare Haven
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![brown owl with spotted and streaked markings sits on lichen draped branch of old growth tree brown owl with spotted and streaked markings sits on lichen draped branch of old growth tree](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090513111107im_/http://www.nps.gov/olym/naturescience/images/stoc03150wide_2.jpg) |
Northern spotted owls, which depend on old growth forest, are listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. |
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Many wildlife species evolved in a Pacific Northwest where thousands of square miles of lowland forests covered what is now cities, farms, roads, and commercial timberlands. As little as five percent of the original lowland forest may be left. There are few places left for old-growth dependent species. Places like Olympic are essential for their survival and some research indicates even remaining preserved areas may not be large enough to keep some threatened species from declining.
The Old Growth Community
Species like spotted owls, marbled murrelets, northern goshawks, fisher, Cope’s giant salamanders, Vaux’s swifts, and many smaller, less charismatic amphibians, insects, small mammals, and plants are closely associated with these beleaguered islands of habitat. Humans too, have few places to experience the scale and humility these forests offer.
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![Mt. Olympus in winter Mt. Olympus in winter](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/eot2008/20090513111107im_/http://www.nps.gov/pwr/customcf/apps/CMS_HandF/Pictures/OLYM_baileyglow.jpg) |
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Did You Know?
That Mount Olympus receives over 200 inches of precipitation each year and most of that falls as snow? At 7,980 feet, Mount Olympus is the highest peak in Olympic National Park and has the third largest glacial system in the contiguous U.S.
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Last Updated: July 25, 2006 at 00:22 EST |