Ebey's Landing National Historical Reserve

Silas Casey

Wind-driven waves and abnormally high sea levels contributed to hundreds of millions of dollars in flood and storm damage in the San Francisco Bay region, including Point Reyes National Seashore, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and Pinnacles National Monument. In addition to California, the 1997–1998 El Niño and the following 1998–1999 La Niña severely impacted the Pacific Northwest, including many National Park System units.

Eleven bat species occur in North Coast Cascades Network Parks. Each species is unique, except that they're all facing threats of some kind in their environments. Learn more about how scientists study bats and what you can do to help.

Bees are some of the most abundant and important pollinators in the world – especially in mountainous environments. Despite the importance of bees in our natural environments, many national parks do not know what species live within their boundaries. In 2016, to celebrate the Centennial of the National Park Service, North Coast and Cascades national parks focused on inventories of pollinators, including bees.

Across the US, changes in water availability are altering which plants grow where. These changes are evident at a broad scale. But not all areas experience the same climate in the same way, even within the boundaries of a single national park. A new dataset gives park managers a valuable tool for understanding why vegetation has changed and how it might change in the future under different climate-change scenarios.

Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve preserves and protects an unbroken historical record of Puget Sound exploration and settlement from the 19th century to the present. Located on Whidbey Island, the largest island in the conterminous United States, the reserve contains excellent examples of both glacial and post-glacial features and processes.

The North Coast and Cascades Network Exotic Plant Management Team (NCCN EPMT) manages a diverse array of exotic plants across the dramatic landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. The team works with partner parks and agencies to augment vegetation management across the network.

The Pacific Border straddles the boundaries between several of Earth's moving plates on the western margin of North America. This region is one of the most geologically young and tectonically active in North America. The generally rugged, mountainous landscape of this province provides evidence of ongoing mountain-building.

In an infamously wet region, water carries the physical, chemical, and biological fingerprints of the surrounding ecosystems. NPS monitoring of water quality reveals stories that are shaping parks—from pollution and erosion to changes in land use and climate. A new report synthesizes a decade of data from streams and rivers of five western Washington parks, and offers some good news.