Olympic Peninsula, Washington
Olympic Peninsula is known for its lush rainforests and rivers such as the Hoh, Elwha, Quinault and Duckabush. These and other iconic rivers of the Olympic Peninsula support some of the healthiest populations of salmon and steelhead in the region, and they provide critical habitat for wildlife, clean water and world-class recreational opportunities. They are vital to the health of Puget Sound. Yet hundreds of miles of the Peninsula's incredible rivers have no permanent protection from new dams and other threats.
But that is about to change. American Rivers is a core member of an exciting new “Wild Olympics” campaign to permanently protect over 400 miles of rivers and more than 170,000 acres of public lands on the Olympic Peninsula through Wild and Scenic River, Wilderness and willing-seller National Park designations. See a map of the area (PDF).
Wild and Scenic River designation will forever protect the free-flowing character, water quality, and special values of rivers such as the Dungeness, Bogachiel, South Fork Calawah and important salmon-bearing streams like Matheney Creek. Wild and Scenic designation is the strongest protection that we can grant to rivers.
Over the past year, the Wild Olympics Campaign has been reaching out to many local stakeholders on the Peninsula to build support, listen to concerns and get feedback on our draft proposal. We are now taking the campaign to the next level and launching a large grassroots outreach effort to build additional public awareness and support for the proposal.
Your voice can help ensure that these rivers and forests remain intact forever! Please visit the Wild Olympics Campaign website and tell Representative Norm Dicks you support permanent protection of these special places.
