[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 8]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 10974]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




   RECOGNIZING THE SEVENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

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                           HON. DEREK KILMER

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, July 8, 2013

  Mr. KILMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the 75th 
anniversary of Olympic National Park located on the Olympic Peninsula 
in the great State of Washington. Seventy-five years ago, on June 29, 
1938, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation that 
established the Olympic National Park. In the intervening years, the 
Olympic National Park has become one of the most beloved and visited 
national parks in the country.
  In establishing Olympic National Park, Congress defined the park's 
purpose as to: ``. . . preserve for the benefit, use and enjoyment of 
the people, the finest sample of primeval forests of Sitka spruce, 
western hemlock, Douglas fir, and western red cedar in the entire 
United States; to provide suitable winter range and permanent 
protection for the herds of native Roosevelt elk and other wildlife 
indigenous to the area; to conserve and render available to the people, 
for recreational use, this outstanding mountainous country, containing 
numerous glaciers and perpetual snow fields and a portion of the 
surrounding verdant forest together with a narrow string along the 
beautiful Washington coast.''
  The park combines three different communities into one--an extensive 
old-growth rain forest, mountains topped with glaciers, and miles of 
untarnished Pacific Ocean coast. In recognition of these areas, the 
World Heritage Convention named Olympic National Park as a World 
Heritage Site, and the United National Educational, Scientific, and 
Cultural Organization heralded the park as an International Biosphere 
Reserve.
  Olympic National Park has something that both tourists and scientists 
alike can marvel at--more than 650 archeological spots detailing 12,000 
years of human life.
  The Olympic National Park stands as a testament to the diverse 
heritage of America. As it has been for the last 75 years, Olympic 
National Park will be protected and preserved for generations.
  Mr. Speaker, our country is a better place because of the special 
landscapes like Olympic National Park. I commend the work of M. Sarah 
Creachbaum, the Superintendent of Olympic National Park, park staff, 
National Park Service, and all fellow citizens who have dedicated time, 
resources, and energy to protect and preserve this biological and 
historical treasure. I am pleased today to recognize the Olympic 
National Park in the United States Congress.

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