Brief History of the North Cascades National Park

Writing a brief history of the North Cascades National Park is a truly challenging endeavor. Harvey Manning's book, Wilderness Alps: Conservation & Conflict in Washington's North Cascades provides an unsurpassed wealth of historical detail. We strongly recommend that you read this book if you are interested in the history of conservation in the North Cascades. It's available directly from the North Cascades Conservation Council website.

The Campaign Begins

Creation of the North Cascades Conservation Council (N3C) in 1957 was a turning point for conservation in the North Cascades. This "single purpose" conservation group focused its energies specifically on land conservation and limited its attention to just the North Cascades. Current N3C Board members Patrick Goldsworthy, Polly Dyer, Phil Zalesky, and Laura Zalesky led the charge, with many friends and colleagues (including national conservation advocates David Brower and Howard Zahniser) providing encouragement and support. Others such as Joe and Margaret Miller joined soon after the founding of N3C and went on to dedicate their lives to North Cascades preservation.

An early 1960s postcard promoting a "Northern Cascades" National Park, calling it "the Wilderness Alps."

Initially, the Forest Service rejected Washington Congressman Pelly's 1959 request that the Forest Service conduct a study of the North Cascades for park potential. N3C did not take no for an answer, mobilizing a letter writing campaign and filing petitions with the Forest Service asking for a study. Other conservation organizations provided key support for N3Cs efforts at this point. The Sierra Club, National Parks and Conservation Association, Mountaineers, and Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs all called for the National Park Service and National Forest Service to enter into discussions about park creation.

Momentum Builds

Conservation allies rallied to the cause when it became apparent that the Forest Service of the 1960s was moving toward “sustained yield” as it guiding principle for the North Cascades. As vast swaths of old growth began to fall, conservationists began an all out campaign to alert the public to what was being lost. Pamphlets, newsletters, books, and films were used to educate residents of Washington State and beyond.

Bills were introduced in the US House and US Senate in the early 1960s directing the Forest Service to assess the North Cascades for park potential. By 1963, conservation advocates were helping draft bills to create the North Cascades National Park. Senator Warren Magnuson, Congressman Lloyd Meeds, and Senator Henry M. Jackson all became champions of the new park. By 1966, a study team had been formed and a report produced.

Senator Henry M. Jackson took the lead. A North Cascades National Park Bill was introduced in Congress in 1967. Unfortunately, the Bill that came out of the study team process had park boundaries drafted by Forest Service employee. N3C and other conservation advocates were not completely happy with the study team results, but were convinced by Senator Jackson that this was the best we could get in the short run.

A Major Victory

On October 2, 1968 the North Cascades National Park was signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson. The enabling legislation states in section 101, ,“In order to preserve for the benefit, use, and inspiration of present and future generations certain majestic mountain scenery, snowfields, glaciers, alpine meadows, and other unique features in the North Cascades Mountains of Washington State.”

Harvey Manning later reflected on the compromise legislation. “In 2000, they will say of the North Cascades Conservation Council, 'You were too timid. You compromised too much. You should have been more far-sighted, more daring.' I hereby place on record my personal apologies to the year 2000. In our defense, we will then only be able to say, 'We did not ask for protection for all of the land we knew needed and deserved protection. We did, for a fact, compromise in the name of political practicality. We tried to save you as much as we thought possible.'”

Click HERE to continue the story - what OUR generation is doing about this... TODAY!

"Classic vista in the proposed North Cascades National Park, Washington. Such a park would complete a Golden Triangle of National Parks unmatched anywhere in the world... Such places belong to our national gallery; they are the last of our primevel landscapes, the few surviving samples of a natural world... There isn't much of it left. What there is is all men will ever have, and all their children. It is only as safe as people, knowing about it, want it to be." -From the caption of a promotional postcard for the park, ca. 1962

You can see more classic N3C photos from the early days of the campaign to create North Cascades National Park HERE.

A detailed academic summary of N3C history is available at The University of Washington Libraries Special Collections.