Renowned for its old-growth rain forest, wilderness coast, and glaciated peaks, Olympic National Park is a living laboratory for ecological renewal, especially as the historic Elwha River basin regenerates in the wake of dam removal. In this classic guide to the park, Tim McNulty invites us into the natural and human history of these nearly million acres, from remote headwaters to roadside waterfalls, from shipwreck sites to Native American historical settlements and contemporary resource stewardship, along the way detailing the park’s unique plant and animal life. McNulty reminds us that though “the mountains and rivers remain ‘timeless,’ our understanding of the lifeforms that inhabit them—and the effects our actions have on their future—is an ongoing, ever deepening story.”Color photographsPractical advice on how to make the most of your visitHandy flora and fauna species checklistsInspiring descriptions of endangered species recoveryDetailed look at Elwha River restoration after dam removal
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Olympic National Park: A Natural History
Renowned for its old-growth rain forest, wilderness coast, and glaciated peaks, Olympic National Park is a living laboratory for ecological renewal, especially as the historic Elwha River basin regenerates in the wake of dam removal. In this classic guide to the park, Tim McNulty invites us into the natural and human history of these nearly million acres, from remote headwaters to roadside waterfalls, from shipwreck sites to Native American historical settlements and contemporary resource stewardship, along the way detailing the park’s unique plant and animal life. McNulty reminds us that though “the mountains and rivers remain ‘timeless,’ our understanding of the lifeforms that inhabit them—and the effects our actions have on their future—is an ongoing, ever deepening story.”Color photographsPractical advice on how to make the most of your visitHandy flora and fauna species checklistsInspiring descriptions of endangered species recoveryDetailed look at Elwha River restoration after dam removal
Renowned for its old-growth rain forest, wilderness coast, and glaciated peaks, Olympic National Park is a living laboratory for ecological renewal, especially as the historic Elwha River basin regenerates in the wake of dam removal. In this classic guide to the park, Tim McNulty invites us into the natural and human history of these nearly million acres, from remote headwaters to roadside waterfalls, from shipwreck sites to Native American historical settlements and contemporary resource stewardship, along the way detailing the park’s unique plant and animal life. McNulty reminds us that though “the mountains and rivers remain ‘timeless,’ our understanding of the lifeforms that inhabit them—and the effects our actions have on their future—is an ongoing, ever deepening story.”Color photographsPractical advice on how to make the most of your visitHandy flora and fauna species checklistsInspiring descriptions of endangered species recoveryDetailed look at Elwha River restoration after dam removal
Tim McNulty is a poet and nature writer living in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains.
Table of Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
An Island of Rivers 3
Part 1 The Mountains
1 Shuffled Texts of Stone 13
2 Legacies of Ice 32
3 The High Country Year 58
Part 2 The Forest
4 The Rain Forest 83
5 The Old-Growth Forest Community 102
6 The Lives of Olympic Rivers 124
Part 3 The Coast
7 Life at the Edge of Land and Sea 151
8 Seabirds and Mammals of the Outer Coast 176
Part 4 Humans and the Landscape
9 Footprints on the Land 215
10 Protection for Olympic's Wildlands 249
Visitor's Information
General Information 272
Where to See Wildflowers 275
Where to See Old-Growth Forests 277
Where to See Wildlife 280
Species Checklists 285
Notes 299
Bibliography 319
Index 329
What People are Saying About This
Robert Michael Pyle
"Any good guidebook should be accurate and reliable, and this one certainly is all that. But a big difference with Tim McNulty's Olympic National Park is that you will actually read it for pleasure and joy as well as consulting it for information. Both a superb naturalist and a highly respected poet, he brings to this magical landscape a voice and personal knowledge to match its mountains and its forests, glaciers and wildflowers, nudibranchs and otters. With this classic, newly revised, McNulty finds himself among a rarified pantheon of Olympics writers: Murray Morgan, Ruth Kirk, Bruce Brown, and very few others. This one too shall last."
