This mostly pristine ecosystem has over 1,200 species of vascular plants, and a rich variety of birds, mammals, fish, shellfish, invertebrates, fungi, reptiles, and amphibians. These rangers, who are joined by an additional 28 seasonal rangers during the three peak visitation months in summer, routinely do resource protection patrols. In addition to resource protection, all law enforcement rangers have other duties such as search and rescue, fire fighting and emergency medical services. Because they spend a large portion of their time on visitor services and safety issues, there is less time for resource protection, especially during the summer. This thin coverage is compounded by the 90 percent of the park boundary accessible by logging roads.
Easy access means thieves have more opportunities to steal resources virtually undetected.
The resources of the park have essential biological roles in the ecosystem in addition to being enjoyed by visitors and studied by researchers. However, to some, these public resources are targets for personal economic gain. In 1993 there were 106 cases of resource crimes within the park, a 60 percent increase over 1992. Resource crimes range from stripping moss from trees to well-organized wildlife poaching rings. The recent increase is due to a greater emphasis on resource crime detection at the park.