Current Resource Stewardship Activities

Snowmobiling at Mount Spokane, tree-thinning for fire control at Riverside and other park programs and policies are being studied by biologists to determine their effects on park ecosystems. Researchers are also extensively mapping the location and condition of vegetation on state park lands, completing more than 10,000 acres last year.

Archaeological test excavations are underway at Cama Beach and Beacon Rock in order to locate any sensitive cultural sites that should be accommodated in future park development. Archaeologists from Western Washington University are also excavating at Deception Pass.

In compliance with the federal native American Graves and Repatriation Act, forensic anthropologists are identifying all possible American Indian bones now in State Parks' collections. Parks will honor the wishes of affected tribes regarding the proper disposition of these human remains.

Central Washington University's Scholars in the Park program sends graduate students to do vital historical research on state park lands. Scholars are currently working on a complete cultural landscape inventory – from prehistory to the present – of the undeveloped Dalles Mountain Ranch property in Klickitat County.


Washington State Parks is responsible for more coastal military forts than any other state park system in the nation. With the help of a National Park Service grant, Washington State Parks is studying how to manage these important, but problematic, historic sites. Results of this study – from protocol testing of concrete to how to safely remove welded doors – will be of interest to governments around the globe who face similar problems in preserving their own historic coastal installations.