Mount Rainier, national parks receive ‘record-setting’ $1.1 million
Jan 26, 2023, 11:56 AM | Updated: 3:50 pm
Mount Rainier can be seen from Eatonville near Mount Rainier National Park. (Photo: Thomas O'Neill, Getty Images)
(Photo: Thomas O'Neill, Getty Images)
Washington’s National Park Fund (WNPF), the official nonprofit partner serving Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks, announced they were distributing $1.1 million to use at projects to improve the parks.
The WNPF allocates money to each of the parks based on “priority projects” submitted to them by park superintendents and their leadership teams. This year the $1,130,000 distributed will help run 42 priority projects.
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Founded by former governor and senator Dan Evans and legendary mountaineer Lou Whittaker, WNPF is the only philanthropic organization dedicated solely to Washington’s three largest national parks and has awarded more than $7 million to the parks in the last decade.
“It’s quite remarkable yet not surprising based on the generosity of our donors that we were able to fund nearly every project our three park partners requested funds for,” said Laurie Ward, CEO of Washington’s National Park Fund. “Year after year, more and more people are giving together for the parks, and once again, Washington’s National Park Fund had a record-setting fundraising year. I’m proud to say that we ended the year with an additional $380,000 on hand to distribute to the parks when they’re ready to implement additional programs – all thanks to our thousands of supporters and partners.”
WNPF raises funds to support projects at the national parks by collecting donations from individual and corporate donors and fundraising events, as well as the statewide national park license plate program.
The largest of the funds will be for Mount Rainier, which will receive $630,768 towards projects like the Wonderland Trail maintenance and the development of an online trail guide.
Other projects that will be funded include rare carnivore research, the “Adopt-A-Whitebark Pine” project, and the development of a Native Conservation Corps program.
