A $1 million gift to Washington's National Park Fund will benefit North Cascades (above), Mount Rainier, and Olympic national parks/Andy Porter via WNPF

As beautiful as Mount Rainier National Park is during warm, calm weather, it can be extremely dangerous when a snowstorm rolls in with rangers or researchers on the mountain or in its forests without cell coverage. Thanks to a seven-figure gift from the estate of a Washington woman, it soon will be easier to track those individuals, even at the height of a storm.

With federal funding to the National Park Service largely flat over the past decade, government spending on safety items for park staff is not always quickly had, as there are many funding requests essentially dueling against one another. But a $1 million grant to Washington's National Park Fund will allow that nonprofit organization to help Mount Rainier and Olympic national parks purchase a Computer Aided Dispatch system that will enable real-time tracking of field personnel in the best, and the worst, of weather.

"This one is pretty precious to all of us," said Laurie Ward, executive director of the fund. "When you go into the backcountry at Mount Rainier, at all three of our parks, actually, you’re off-line. There’s no way to reach you. These are millions of acres that these rangers are monitoring. And scientists. It’s folks who are going up to monitor the glaciers, etc. ... This new CAD system is going to enable the dispatch team to know exactly where all of the employees are at all times in case of emergencies or in case of snowstorms blowing in. So they’re going to be able to track their employees at all times.

“It's something they’ve wanted for a long time. This is probably very low on the National Park Service’s priorities, but it’s really high for these two parks because they’ve been through a lot. They want to watch out for those people," she said the other day.

Across the National Park System, there are many needs that don't get funded. Employee housing might be run-down, communications systems might be held together with the proverbial baling wire and duct tape, research often goes unfunded or underfunded. But some friends groups, such as Washington's National Park Fund, which raises philanthropic dollars for Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic national parks, increasingly are able to help pick up the slack. Last week the fund announced a $1 million gift from the Elizabeth Ruth Wallace Living Trust, with the funds to be split equally between those three parks.

“Every year we’re raising more and giving more to these national parks. We’re not surprised by that," Ms. Ward said during a phone call. "This area is just very invested, heavily invested, in these three national parks, and awareness continues to grow. We’re very excited up here, very hopeful for great things ahead for Washington’s National Park Fund. (We have a) strong belief that it’s going to continue to pop like this. We’re going to continue to see gifts like this.”

Olympic National Park will benefit from a $1 million gift to Washington's National Park Fund/Andy Porter

At Mount Rainier and Olympic, the CAD system will hone in on personal locator beacons park employees and researchers wear when they go into the field. Each PLB will have a specific code and number that will appear on computers in the parks' dispatch centers. At North Cascades, some money from the gift will be used to improve conditions for volunteers who spend long days in the park, while other dollars will go towards youth and education programs, search-and-rescue needs, and research.

“All parks, as you know, are relying more and more on volunteers. And the value that the volunteers bring to the national parks is incredible," said Ms. Ward. "And when they are up there, they both need and deserve a dry place to either put their heads, no rain, a shelter over them as they’re cooking, or facilities to plug in their RVs if they bring them up. That’s a lot of what North Cascades is going to be investing in. Just rebuilding and strengthening the facilities that they have available for volunteers to make life a little bit easier when they’re up in the parks, out on the trails, rebuilding, etc.”

Park Service officials say such gifts are increasingly critical to their operations.

“This funding comes at a pivotal time for Washington’s three largest national parks,” said Olympic Superintendent Sarah Creachbaum. “Our country’s 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.”

The $1 million gift to WNPF is the largest in the organization's 25-year history.

Bette Wallace lived a life full of adventure. She traveled the world, skied, played golf, and in her last years had a special relationship with the squirrels outside her back door. She was born in 1924, grew up in Washington State and was a 1942 graduate of Edmonds High School. Between 1942 and 1949, she worked as a civilian employee for the U.S. Army in Seattle, Alaska and Tokyo. Shortly after her return, she met Bryan Walker Wallace, also a Washington native, whom she married in 1950 in San Francisco. They lived most of their married lives in Mountain View, CA, but she always considered Washington her home and visited often. With most of her family living in Washington, she knew it was special place and that many of her family enjoyed the state’s National Parks.

“On behalf of her trust it was our family’s honor to make this donation on her behalf to the Washington’s National Park Fund knowing it will be used for many projects including a combination of saving lives and supporting volunteer infrastructure in the parks,” said Cheri Ryan, Bette Wallace’s niece and trustee of her estate.

In recent years Washington's National Park Fund has awarded nearly $4 million to Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic national parks for needs ranging from critical gaps in science and research and trail maintenance to , improving visitors’ experiences, search and rescue, and youth and family programs.