Here is an update from Olympic National Park on the work to remove two dams on the Elwha River:

As steady progress continues on dismantling the two Elwha dams, the canyons once blocked by the dams are coming into view.

Elwha Dam

Crews are nearly done removing the concrete gravity dam that filled the river’s original channel, and will soon begin to slowly return the river back to its original channel.

This final diversion will take place over a number of weeks, as contractors carefully control the flow by positioning and repositioning large boulders in the channel. During the

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The National Park Service is offering a free app to help with planning a trip to a national park.

Developed by the National Park Service’s long-time partner nonprofit educational partner, Eastern National, the new app provides links to all 397 national park websites for quick access to trip planning. The app also
allows users to keep track of the parks they’ve visited and add photos and
descriptions of the trip. You can also make a wish list of parks to check
out. Every park on your list gets a red push pin on the app map.

“This

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Olympic National Park superintendent Karen Gustin plans to retire March 2. Gustin has been the superintendent at Olympic since 2008.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed working at Olympic National Park,” she said in a prepared statement. “The staff is a great group of people to work with, as are the communities of the Olympic Peninsula.  The community support and our park neighbors have been wonderful here.”

In Gustin’s time at Olympic, the park started the removal of the Elwha River dam, the nationa;s largest dam removal. The project is scheduled to be complete in September 2014. The park has also started …

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Work continues to remove the two dams on the lower Elwha River.

This wbecam image is of this morning’s sunrise over the Lake Aldwell delta. As the Elwha and Glines Canyon dams are lowered, the upper reaches of each reservoir are slowly tranforming from lake to river.

Click here for more information on the dam removal process.

The U.S. Forest Service today announced eight dates when it will waive fees that are usually collected to support forest maintenance and amenities.

Visitors to national forests will not pay fees on the following dates in 2012:

• Saturday-Monday: Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend
• June 9: Get Outdoors Day
• Sept. 29: National Public Lands Day
• Nov. 10-12: Veterans Day weekend

Despite the Forest Service’s fee waivers, the agency does not usually charge for visitors to national forests. In fact, the Forest Service does not charge for access on 98 percent of its land, said a news release. More …

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If you’re looking for something to do with the kids on Veterans Day, or the weekend, consider a trip to Mount Rainier or Olympic national parks. The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is another option.

The entrance fee will be waived for all visitors Friday through Sunday in commemoration of Veterans Day.

At Mount Rainier, facilities within the park that will be open include the Longmire Museum (exhibits, information and books sales) the National Park Inn (lodging and meals) and the Longmire General Store (gifts and moderate food items) as well as the Henry M. Jackson Memorial Visitor Center …

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Olympic National Park road crews this week will remove a large rock that is obstructing the ditch near Milepost 11.5 of Hurricane Ridge Road.

The road will be closed to all pedestrian and vehicle traffic at points just above and below the “Double Parking” area from 8-11 a.m. Wednesday.

Early this week, park trail crews will drill blast holes using a pneumatic drill and air compressor, which will block the uphill lane in this area for several hours. The lane will be coned off and flaggers posted as required, but no significant delays are anticipated during the drilling process, said …

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Former Olympic National Park employee Dan Pontbriand is retiring as chief of the visitor resource protection division at Isle Royale National Park. His retirement will end a 31-year federal career.

Here is the rest of the news release:

Pontbriand began his ranger career in 1978 as a seasonal lifeguard and ranger at Sebago Lake State Park in his native state of Maine. Prior to that, he had worked in the family hardware store since the age of 12.

His National Park Service career began in 1979 as a seasonal river ranger at Grand Teton National Park, working alongside his identical

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