The North Cascades National Park was established in 1968 after a contentious and historic multi-year battle. Land at the time was under Forest Service rule and many people in the rural communities on both sides of the crest were against the formation of the park and surrounding wilderness areas.
The North Cascades National Park Service Complex is comprised of 684,000 acres of remote and wild land. It includes the park's north and south units, as well as Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. These "complementary protected lands are untied by a contiguous overlay" of the Stephen Mather Wilderness.
Also created in 1968 were the adjacent Pasayten Wilderness of 550,000 acres and the enlargement of the Glacier Peak Wilderness to 464,000 acres. In the 1980’s, more designated wilderness was established, also with opposition in nearby local communities, with the Chelan-Sawtooths and Mt. Baker wilderness areas.
Currently, the NCNPS Complex is administered by the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior. All other land in the proposed expansion area is under the jurisdiction of the United States Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture except along the North Cascade Highway, where the Washington State Department of Transportation is involved, as well as a few county roads like part of Cascade River Road.
The American Alps Legacy Project currently proposed by the North Cascades Conservation Council (NCCC), along with the Mountaineers (a "non-profit" outdoor activity club), would ultimately expand the NCNP to over 300,000 acres by including the RLNRA and adjoining USFS lands. The project would ultimately need legislative approval by Congress and the President.
The reasons given for the expansion are two-fold: One is to secure NPS-type protections for what they believe are potential long-term threats like logging, mining, hydroelectric projects and climate change. The second reason is to increase visitation to the park through developing greater amenities and access in the front-county of the proposed “study areas” and the gateway communities outside the new park boundaries and theoretically helping these rural areas economically while encouraging families and children to appreciate their public heritage.
