The Endangered Species Act requires all federal agencies to conserve federally listed species and avoid any actions that would jeopardize their existence. Management actions for these species range from standard protection and monitoring to restoring species to their former habitat from which they have been extirpated (totally removed).

The National Park Service's prime mission is "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such a manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for future generations" (National Park Service Act 1916).

From its inception, the North Cascades National Park Service Complex (NOCA) was realized primarily as a wilderness park. In 1988, the Washington Park Wilderness Act set aside 634,614 acres, or 93 percent, of the Complex as The Stephen Mather Wilderness. The Complex encompasses some of the most rugged and magnificent alpine wilderness in the United States and contains almost half the glaciers in the in the lower 48 states.

NOCA staff conduct studies to assess the status and monitor the population of wildlife in the Complex. The scientific information is used to assess habitat and work towards restoration of a viable population of endangered species and to prevent habitat destruction related to all native species.