U.S. #3378
33¢ Pacific Coast Rain Forest
Set of 10
Issue Date: March 29, 2000
City: Seattle, WA
Quantity: 10,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: Serpentine die cut 11.25 x 11.5
Color: Multicolored
The Pacific coast rain forest is an... more
U.S. #3378
33¢ Pacific Coast Rain Forest
Set of 10
Issue Date: March 29, 2000
City: Seattle, WA
Quantity: 10,000,000
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: Serpentine die cut 11.25 x 11.5
Color: Multicolored
The Pacific coast rain forest is an area of pristine wilderness protected by the National Park Service. It lies on the Olympic peninsula of Washington state in the valleys of the Quinault, Queets, and Hoh rivers.
Between 140 and 167 inches (12 to 14 feet) of rain falls in this area each year. The temperature rarely drops below freezing during winter, and summertime highs are usually 80 degrees. The Olympic Mountains to the east protect the rain forest from severe weather.
Nearly every bit of space in the Pacific rain forest is inhabited by flora and fauna. Towering Sitka spruce and western hemlock trees, which can grow to 300 feet in height and 23 feet in circumference, dominate the landscape. Douglas fir, western red cedar, big leaf maple, red alder, vine maple, and black cottonwood trees can also be found in the forest. Mosses, lichens, and ferns are plentiful in the Pacific rain forest as well.
The rain forest is one of three distinct ecosystems of Olympic National Park. Glacier-capped mountains and over 60 miles of wild Pacific coast comprise the rest of this biologically diverse park. A distinct array of plants and animals developed on the Olympic Peninsula because of its isolated location near glacial ice, the waters of Puget Sound, and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
The Wilderness Act
On September 3, 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act. The act protected 9 million acres from development and created the National Wilderness Preservation System that consists of more than 111 million acres today.
There has long been a debate over the protection of wilderness areas. Wilderness is defined as “an area where the earth and community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”
Some believed that it was important to protect these areas; that they are necessary to balance out industrial expansion. Those that oppose it argued that it was senseless to lock away the valuable resources that these lands held.
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