{"id":32494,"date":"2018-04-13T13:07:48","date_gmt":"2018-04-13T20:07:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=32494"},"modified":"2018-06-08T14:49:48","modified_gmt":"2018-06-08T21:49:48","slug":"parks-lover-bette-wallace-leaves-1m-to-wa-national-parks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/parks-lover-bette-wallace-leaves-1m-to-wa-national-parks","title":{"rendered":"Parks Lover Bette Wallace Leaves $1M to WA National Parks"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a time when national parks run on tight budgets, a recent $1 million gift from the estate of national parks lover Elizabeth \u201cBette\u201d Ruth Wallace will support much-needed infrastructure updates in Washington\u2019s Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks.<\/span><\/p>\n

Washington\u2019s National Park Fund (WNPF)<\/span><\/a>, which supplements federal funding of the state\u2019s national parks, announced the donation\u2014the largest in the nonprofit\u2019s history\u2014last week. Since 2014, WNPF has donated more than $4 million to the parks.<\/span><\/p>\n

The gift will be split evenly between the three parks. Laurie Ward, executive director of WNPF, called the gift \u201clife-changing,\u201d highlighting the need to help fund Washington\u2019s parks as national parks are operating on small budgets, sometimes with limited staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to the National Parks Conservation Association, national parks collectively face an $11.6 billion backlog, despite a 19 percent increase in visitors between 2011 and 2017. In the same amount of time, the park system has seen an 11 percent reduction in staff. The National Park Service (NPS) comprises a small part of the federal budget each year\u2014for example, funding for the NPS accounted for $3.2 billion of the recently approved $1.3 trillion spending bill for the 2018 fiscal year. In addition to taxpayer dollars, parks rely on donations from private citizens and philanthropies to fill in critical funding gaps.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wallace\u2019s contribution is expected to help lessen some of the financial strain felt by Washington\u2019s national parks. Park lovers are celebrating coverage of the donation by outlets ranging from the Associated Press to Saturday Night Live, and supporters like WNPF hope that making parks a part of the national dialogue may inspire similar donations on both a local and national scale. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis million-dollar gift is absolutely catapulting Washington’s National Park Fund to the next level. It\u2019s the gift we\u2019ve been waiting for and is having a significant impact on Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks. We see this as the start of giving at this level,\u201d Ward said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe parks want and need that support\u2014and in my opinion, they deserve it,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

How can the public expect to see Wallace\u2019s dollars in action? Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks plan to combine their funds to purchase a computer-aided dispatch system and equip a greater number of park employees with personal locator beacons. This will allow dispatchers to monitor the location of park employees using a single centralized display, keeping staff and visitors safer\u2014especially during emergency-response situations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOur country\u2019s national parks have experienced many financial challenges in recent years and there is a significant maintenance backlog. This wonderful donation via WNPF enables us to invest in much-needed safety technology that can quite literally save lives in Washington for years to come,\u201d Olympic National Park Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum said in a statement. <\/span><\/p>\n

North Cascades National Park will use the funds to make infrastructure improvements for park volunteers, including those who support the visitor center, youth and education programs, campground hosting, search and rescue, maintenance and science and inventory monitoring. <\/span><\/p>\n

All three parks will use the funds to support their youth and family programs, which improve access to Washington\u2019s national parks for low-income families and provide interactive displays and hands-on exhibits for young children. <\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to helping to finance key updates, a portion of Wallace\u2019s gift will be invested in each of the three national parks’ endowments, helping to safeguard the livelihood of the parks for years to come. As a world traveler and adventurer who enjoyed skiing and playing golf, this was Wallace\u2019s wish.<\/span><\/p>\n

WNPF was co-founded by mountaineer and glacier-travel guide, Lou Whittaker. Lou\u2019s brother, Jim Whittaker, served as REI\u2019s first full-time employee, retiring as President and CEO after 25 years with the co-op. REI supports Washington\u2019s National Park Fund through Climb for a Cause.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At a time when national parks run on tight budgets, a recent $1 million gift from the estate of national parks lover Elizabeth \u201cBette\u201d Ruth Wallace will support much-needed infrastructure updates in Washington\u2019s Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks. Washington\u2019s National Park Fund (WNPF), which supplements federal funding of the state\u2019s national parks, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":72,"featured_media":32499,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[685],"tags":[727,113,115,1515,1541,1484,480],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-32494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-latest-posts","tag-national-park","tag-nonprofit","tag-northwest","tag-pacific-west","tag-staff-society","tag-stewardship"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/news\/parks-lover-bette-wallace-leaves-1m-to-wa-national-parks","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Parks Lover Bette Wallace Leaves $1M to WA National Parks","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/parks-lover-bette-wallace-leaves-1m-to-wa-national-parks","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/news\/parks-lover-bette-wallace-leaves-1m-to-wa-national-parks"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/04\/Schroeder_081114_0152.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/04\/Schroeder_081114_0152.jpg?fit=2000%2C1333"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jessica Bernhard"}],"creator":["Jessica Bernhard"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["latest posts","national parks","nonprofits","northwest","pacific west","staff society","stewardship"],"dateCreated":"2018-04-13T20:07:48Z","datePublished":"2018-04-13T20:07:48Z","dateModified":"2018-06-08T21:49:48Z"},"rendered":"