Learning Center

This multi-faceted elk habitat enhancement project was implemented June 2020 – December 2021 in the northeast corner of the Olympic National Forest. It included thinning young stands and piling slash, treating non-native invasive weeds, and planting and seeding genetically local native plants. 

Northeast Olympic Elk Habitat Improvements (.pdf)

Dog scent-detection teams are a cruicial tool to locate Taylor's checkerspot larvae in order to to determine the extent of the species occurrence and reproduction, which informs habitat management and species recovery. Since 2019 the Olympic National has used this unique survey method which can be time-consuming and tediuous for humans. 

In 2020, Olympic National Forest, in partnership with Olympic National Park, U.S. Geological Survey, and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, completed eDNA sampling at 20 high-elevation lakes in order to collect provide baseline information about these ecosystems.

There are 8 species of mustelids that make their home on the Olympic Peninsula and within Olympic National Forest: short-tailed weasel, long-tailed weasel, spotted skunk, striped skunk, mink, Pacific marten, Pacific fisher, and river otter.

Forest Service Wildlife Biologist Karen Holtrop and partners documented the first known site of the Beller’s ground beetle (Agonum belleri) on the Olympic Peninsula in June 2018. Partnerships are critical to conduct this work.

Want to improve pollinator habitat around your home? Plant a pollinator garden! Get some tips from a Forest Service botanist about how to create pollinator habitat at home: Provide a pollen and nectar source, Provide a water source, Provide shelter, Provide nesting sites, and use pesticides only as an absolute last resort. 

Improving Pollinator Habitat at Home (.pdf)

Olympic Forest Reserve was established in 1897 and transferred to the Forest Service as Olympic National Forest in 1907. Mt. Olympus National Monument, established in 1909, was designated as Olympic National Park in 1938 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. View historic highlights. 

Did you know the US Forest Service collects native plant seeds? Saving and growing seed from native plants helps us restore areas that have been disturbed or that need rehabilitation. Cheryl Bartlett, Olympic National Forest Botanist, explains her seed collection projects.

Betsy Howell shares wildlife sightings from around the forest and gives tips on what to look for depending on the season.

What signs of wildlife can you spot? Tag us @OlympicForest.

The Pacific Northwest is rich in many salamander species which are crucial in the process of forest carbon cycling. 

Salamanders are at risk from a number of threats, including habitat loss, wildlife trade, invasive species, and, most recently, fungal pathogens. (July 2016)

Wildlife biologists monitor changes in our environment and are often the first to recognize changes.

The historic High Steel Bridge was erected by the Simpson Logging Company in 1929.

Olympic National Forest has long been working to improve elk foraging habitat on the forest.

Pekania pennanti, or the Pacific fisher, disappeared from Washington State early in the last century. This housecat-size member of the Weasel family was trapped for its fine fur and suffered from the loss of the old growth forests it prefers; it now resides on the Washington State endangered species list. Learn more about the Olympic peninsula fisher & it's reintroduction to the forest.

Bower previously accompanied representatives from the United Kingdom Forestry Commission’s Bedgebury Pinetum, Westonbirt Arboretum, and the Oxford University Harcourt Arboretum on a seed collecting tour in the Pacific NW for propagation and long-term genetic conservation.

This case study provides a place-based example of how agencies and groups can work together.