page_title: Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest
section_title: Glaciers
hierarchical_section_title: Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest / Geography / Glaciers
caption_attribution_description: English: Twin Sisters Mountain South Twin (7000+ feet, 2134+ m, center); North Twin (6640+ feet, 2024+ m, right); Sisters Glacier; Marmot Ridge (middle distance)
context_page_description: The Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington is a National Forest extending more than 140 miles along the western slopes of the Cascade Range from the Canada–US border to the northern boundary of Mount Rainier National Park. Administered by the United States Forest Service, the forest is headquartered in Everett. There are local ranger district offices in North Bend and Skykomish.
context_section_description: The forest is home to more glaciers and snow fields than any other national forest outside Alaska. As of 1971, the largest glaciers—with surface areas greater than 2.5 km² (0.97 sq mi)—are:
  Mount Baker
  Roosevelt
  Mazama
  Park
  Boulder
  Easton
  Deming
  Coleman
  Sentinel Peak
  South Cascade Glacier
  Glacier Peak
  Suiattle
  Honeycomb
  White Chuck
  The number of glaciers in the forest has decreased from 295 in 1971 to fewer than 287 in 1998. This is a part of the global phenomenon of glacier retreat. Forest glaciers have lost between 20 and 40% of their volume between 1984 and 2006. This is due to continued warm conditions and negative mass balance. White Chuck Glacier (Glacier Peak) is no longer on the list of large glaciers, above. It shrank from 3.1 to 0.9 km² (1.20 to 0.35 sq mi) from 1958 to 2002. With the shrinking of the glaciers, summer glacial runoff has been reduced by 65 to 80%. This reduces streamflow and sediment and increases water temperature. Salmon and many other species are adversely affected by such changes.
caption: Twin Sisters Mountain in the Mount Baker Wilderness
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