October 2024

Do you know your trees?

Tree IDing can be a challenge, even for park staff who work among trees every day. Indeed, there’s a lot to untangle: confusing jargon and terms, unpronounceable Latin names (it’s a dead language for a reason, folks!) and similar-looking species.

Over the coming months, our Arbor Crew will be writing blog posts to highlight favorite tree species, interesting tree specimens in our parks, memorable tree stories and natural history. We’ll share fun facts, children’s tales and other cool methods to learn about trees in our parks.

Start with our first one on the Douglas-fir — and stay tuned for more throughout the fall and winter.

Read some more!

Fall is here! Time for sweaters, PSLs, comfort foods and picnics. Wait? What? Yes, we did mean to say "picnics." With more than 30 picnic shelters across Washington — some that have fireplaces, stoves and year-round water and electricity — we've got you covered in all kinds of weather! Learn more about where and how to host your next cookout in our latest blog.

Try the Action Trackchair NOW through October

Two more weeks to get your Action Trackchair action at the Adaptive Cycling Center (ACC) within Lake Sammamish State Park! The ACC has extended its regular hours, weather permitting, through the end of October. After that, park staff are exploring options to make the chair available during the winter.

Temporary closure of some motorized Sno-parks

The Washington State Parks Winter Recreation Program will temporarily close 14 motorized Sno-parks for the 2024-25 winter season, due to a roughly 25 percent reduction in funds available from snowmobile registrations, which support the motorized part of the program. The number of registered snowmobiles has decreased by 52 percent over the past two decades, from a high of 38,331 in 2002 to 18,434 in 2024. 

The snowmobile program is self-funded from these snowmobile registration fees and a percentage of the gas tax. Funds are used to pay for services at motorized Sno-parks such as snow removal, sanitation, education, enforcement and trail grooming. The closures are for the 2024-25 winter season, pending future funding availability.

Forest thinning begins at Nisqually State Park

Between fall 2024 and summer 2025, Parks will complete a 189-acre forest health treatment inside Nisqually State Park. There will be intermittent trail closures in the project area during this time. 

Crews will focus on removing smaller and less healthy trees to reduce competition between remaining trees, which will help promote a natural, resilient, diverse forest. 

Long-term benefits of this work include overall tree health and beautification of the landscape within the former tree farms in the park.

Parks receives RAIN Outstanding Agency Award

We recently received the 2024 Rainbow Alliance and Inclusion Network (RAIN) Outstanding Agency Award in recognition of our commitment to creating inclusive and supportive environments for Queer joy and safety within the 2SLGBTQIA+ community!

The RAIN Outstanding Agency Award was created by RAIN to recognize state agencies (or specific programs within the agency) who have created/improved the safe, welcoming and inclusive environment for 2SLGBTQIA+ employees. These agencies were nominated by state employees and were voted on through an anonymous process by a panel of RAIN volunteers.

Looking for a new adventure? 

Join our team!

We are fortunate to manage one of the largest, most diverse — and most beautiful — parks systems in the country.

Nearly 1,000 employees help steward our parks, including park rangers, maintenance and construction specialists, customer service staff, planners, engineers, managers, administrative professionals and support staff serving in seasonal or career full-time capacities.

We invite you to join us on the adventure!