National Parks, Monuments, & Other Protected Lands
Puget Sound and Salish Sea is bordered by 68 state parks and 8 national parks and monuments, wildlife refuges, forests, and public lands. These assets help drive approximately $9.5 billion in travel spending, including 88,000 tourist-related jobs that bring $3 billion to the region, much of it to Washington State.
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Increased noise over the Olympic National Park threatens its status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve.
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The San Juan Islands National Monument encompasses 1,000 acres spread across a unique archipelago of 450 islands, rocks, and pinnacles that includes scientific and historic treasures, a refuge for wildlife, and a classroom for generations of Americans.
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Deception Pass State Park is Washington’s most-visited state park, offering fishing, swimming, hiking, and bird-watching opportunities. During flyovers by the jets, campers have chosen to pull up stakes and fold up their tents, shortening their stay to escape the noise.
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America has a proud tradition of setting aside lands for public enjoyment. Public enjoyment is inconsistent with the purposes of a military installation conducting warfare exercises.
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Pacific Northwest reserves, parks, and monuments provide a home for birds, mammals, and marine life. Migration patterns, mating habits, and feeding patterns are disturbed by noise from the Growlers. The presence of the Growlers conflicts with an important mission of the National Parks Service to preserve the soundscape of parks.