By Pat Jenkins
The Dispatch
2016 was another record-setting year for attendance at Northwest Trek, thanks partly to kid power.
The wildlife park near Eatonville topped the quarter-million mark for the first time in its 41-year history with 250,893 visitors. That was 36,197 more than the previous attendance record of 214,696, set the year before.
Tacoma Metro Parks, which operates Northwest Trek, attributed the record-smashing year to the added attraction of Kids Trek, a half-acre, $1.9 million play area that opened April 2.
Officials said another draw was the addition by birth of more native Northwest animals for which the park is best-known. A combined 24 animals, including bison, elk and moose, bighorn sheep, deer and beavers, were born in the free-roam and wetland areas of the 725-acre zoological preserve.
Metro Parks Commissioner Erik Hanberg said Kids Trek “was a validation of voters’ confidence in Northwest Trek’s ability to provide a fun experience, while at the same time instilling an appreciation for nature.”
Kids Trek was built in part with bond money approved by voters in the Metro Parks district, which is in Tacoma. Donations from the Northwest Trek Foundation, grants, businesses, corporations and individuals covered about 75 percent of the cost of the construction of a giant replica tree stump for kids to climb into and out of, a pole and three slides for sliding, nets to climb and play on, a beaver dam replica, a toddler play area with sand, and a meandering stream.
A family that recently moved to the Puget Sound region from Boise, Idaho provided the 250,000th-visitor milestone when they walked through the Northwest Trek gates shortly after 12 noon on Dec. 30. At the request of Trek officials, seven members of the Norling clan – Melissa Norling, Kara Bryant, Payton Norling, Renee Norling, Bailey Norling, Cynthia Correll and Jackson Bryant – posed for a commemorative photo in front of a statue of a moose.
The start on trying to set another attendance record in 2017 took a hit when the park was closed Jan. 2 because ice on pathways and roads raised safety concerns. The park had planned a special opening for the official observance of the New Year’s Day holiday, which was on the previous weekend.
Counting last year, more than 7 million visitors have walked through the turnstiles at Northwest Trek since it opened on July 17, 1975. It’s one of the relatively few large-landscape wildlife parks in the nation.
“We’re gratified that so many people see the value of connecting with nature through the many touchpoints we offer at Northwest Trek – from viewing animals to touching animal artifacts like pelts and antlers to get a closer feel for the world around them,” said Alan Varsik, director of zoological and environmental education for Metro Parks Tacoma. “The work we do to introduce generations more closely to nature is crucial. We will continue our conservation of wildlife in 2017.”
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