When the first wildlife survey was made in 1897 it is likely that the conditions of that year came nearest to representing the original status of the various species—a status that has changed drastically in many instances in the years that have followed. At that time the park was little known and the faunal relationships were relatively undisturbed. In the years since 1900, however, the region has experienced radical changes. Trappers have reduced the fur bearers in large numbers, logging activities in the valleys and on the mountain slopes near the park have entirely changed the ecology of the region. Many important predators, such as the wolf and wolverine, either became extinct or virtually so, while the changing forest scene due to fires and logging brought new species into prominence, such as the porcupine and coyote. Recently elk, released in the nearby valleys, have entered the park and are now firmly established, promising still new changes in the mammal picture as time goes on. In many respects Mount Rainier has become a biotic island in a region where the original conditions no longer exist except in the park. The smallness of this biotic island makes it impossible for even an undeveloped area of this type to represent really primitive conditions. Thus the park today cannot be considered as representing the original wilderness as seen by the first white men to enter the region. It is merely as near the original wilderness as it has been possible to keep it in the midst of all the changes brought about by man.

However, by the preservation of the natural environment, the National Park Service does much to conserve the wildlife as well. In many instances the national parks are among the last remaining refuges for rare and vanishing species of wildlife. The wolverine, the grizzly bear, and the wolf, now extinct over much of their range in North America, may still be found in these sanctuaries, and, along with other species, these creatures of the remote wilderness are fighting their battle of survival in the only areas left to them.