Shortly after Sula Jacobs began working for the National Park Service, she told a friend she wanted to be the superintendent of Olympic National Park.

Jacobs first experienced Olympic National Park decades ago during a family trip, she said. She began working as the superintendent of the park 3 1/2 years ago.

Jacobs said the biggest event that happened in Olympic National Park in 2025 was the Bear Gulch fire, which started as a relatively minor event July 6. The fire was close to being contained, but then it exploded, growing by 5,000 acres in 24 hours.

“That’s a huge growth in September,” Jacobs said.

The fire was caused by humans, she said. She also said the park always has a person on duty during fire season to keep an eye out for any developments.

This upcoming summer, Jacobs said there will be road work projects taking part in two significant areas. The first will be on the road just past the Mora Campground; the road will be closed while the campground will remain open. The second project will include a one-lane closure in the Hoh Rain Forest.

“We have a very limited window to do road work,” Jacobs said.

Although the December visitation numbers are not available yet, Jacobs said the park saw about 3.6 million visitors in 2025.

She also provided metrics for 2024, which included 3.7 million visitors. Those visitors spent $380 million, with 33 percent going to lodging and about 20 percent going to restaurants. That influx of visitor spending generated 2,880 jobs in the community, Jacobs said.

Overall, visitors to the Olympic Peninsula generated $516 million in economic output to the community, she said.

“That shows how important it is for the park to listen to local businesses,” she said.

Another update for 2025 was that the Utilities Team at Olympic National Park won the award for Best Maintenance through all U.S. national parks, Jacobs said.