Mount Rainier in the news

Lots of things in the news and blogs lately that have a volunteer element:

The Northwest Parks and Public Lands Storm Recovery Coalition blog has a good summary of our event at REI on Monday, "Taking the Parks by Storm." While fewer people showed up than we'd have liked, those who attended were attentive and engaged and asked some really good questions after presentations by representatives of three national parks, two national forests, two Congressional districts, and a state senator. The discussion ranged from the status of storm damage and repairs, to the role of global climate change, to how people can help as volunteers, to the implications for future policy decisions. Reporters from Q13 Fox News and TVW, Washington State's Public Affairs Network, were at the event, and in fact TVW will air it in its entirety tonight at 7:00 p.m. Pictures from the evening, by photographer DJ Bradley, can be found here. The irrepressible Jeff Mayor from The News Tribune was there, too.

Thanks to Sean Smith at NPCA for directing my attention to a great piece in the December issue of Outside Magazine, naming Mount Rainier's flood recovery efforts, including your work as volunteers, as one of the top 100 good ideas of 2007.

Over at the Washington Trails Association's blog, there's a good summary of storm recovery efforts throughout the region, including ways that you can help. WTA played a very positive role in lobbying for federal support of flood recovery efforts at Rainier and elsewhere last year. They also now have a presence on Facebook--a fascinating idea intended to reach out to young audiences. Maybe we should try it with our volunteer program too, what do you think?