Why Form 8815 Dependent 2023-2024

North Cascades National Park is an American National Park in the state of Washington, encompassing more than 500,000 acres (200,000 hectares). It is the largest of the three National Park Service units that make up the North Cascades National Park complex. The park is divided into a northern and southern section, with the Skagit River running through the middle. Ross Lake National Recreation Area and Lake Chelan National Recreation Area are located on the southern border of the South unit of the park. In addition to these recreation areas, the park is surrounded by national forests, wilderness areas, and Canadian provincial parks in British Columbia. The park is known for its rugged mountain peaks, which are part of the North Cascades Range, as well as its expansive glacial system. It is home to the headwaters of numerous waterways and vast forests with a high degree of flora biodiversity. The region was initially inhabited by paleo-Indian Native Americans and later by the Skagit tribes. European American explorers arrived in the 19th century, followed by fur trappers and companies competing for control over the fur trade. After the international boundary between Canada and the United States was established, explorers came to chart potential routes through the mountains. Limited mining and logging activities occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but the first significant human impact on the region came with the construction of dams in the Skagit River Valley in the 1920s. Environmentalists campaigned to preserve the remaining wilderness, leading to the designation of North Cascades National Park on October 2, 1968. Due to heavy snowfall and the risk of avalanches, visitation to the park is severely limited in the winter. State Route 20 provides access to the park, but it is often closed for months at a time during winter. Despite the...