Washington's Mount Rainier National Park: A Centennial Celebration

From its place in ancient Native American legends as Tahoma, the "great white mountain," and Tacobet, "nourishing breast," to its position as a symbol of the Northwest today, Mount Rainier has always been a dominant presence in this region. In 1999 we will celebrate the foresight of those who, a century earlier, created Mount Rainier National Park. With that single act they protected for future generations the wild beauty of the area's alpine meadows, dramatic waterfalls and lowland forests--and the extraordinary mountain they surround.

In this, the official book of the centennial, Pat O'Hara and Tim McNulty view the mountain through all its facets: from the geologic and climatic forces that continue to shape it, to the rich legacy of humans' relationship with it, to its delicate ecosystems and what will be needed to protect them for the future.

Home to more than 120 alpine plant species, 3 of which are found nowhere else in the world, Mount Rainier remains a refuge for a diversity of flora and fauna. It is also a magnet for the hundreds of thousands of people who live within sight of its snowy slopes and for millions of visitors who arrive from around the world each year. O'Hara and McNulty explore the conflict this presents as park managers attempt to balance protection of the mountain's fragile ecosystems with the desires of the many who wish to seek solitude in its vast forests or challenge themselves on its daunting glaciers. Above all, this book celebrates this treasured place for anyone who has ever looked up and said, "Hey! The mountain is out!"