Take Pride in America® Announces Recipients of the 2008 National Award for Federal Land Managers

Here's some "breaking news," as they say--yet another award for our volunteer program! This one recognizes Superintendent Dave Uberuaga as one of the nation's top federal land managers for his commitment to Mount Rainier's volunteer program. Here's the press release that went out today from Take Pride in America:

(Washington, D.C.) – Today, Executive Director Katie Loovis announced the recipients of the 2008 Take Pride in America National Award in the Federal Land Manager category. Presented annually, Take Pride in America’s National Awards recognize outstanding volunteer projects and efforts in a variety of categories.

This year’s awardees, representing the National Park Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Reclamation are honored for their innovative and successful approaches to recruiting volunteers and cultivating their volunteer programs.

"I take great pleasure in recognizing these outstanding Federal employees who continuously engage all levels of volunteers on our nation’s public lands," Loovis said. "By improving and increasing volunteer opportunities at their site, these individuals are providing a priceless service to their community, and especially to our lands. Take Pride in America proudly recognizes their service."

The following are the 2008 Federal Land Manager Award recipients:

• Charles Holbrook, Project Leader, Aransas/Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Austwell, TX
• Lynda Roush, Field Office Manager, Arcata Field Office, Bureau of Land Management; Arcata, CA
• David V. Uberuaga, Superintendent, Mount Rainier National Park, National Park Service; Mount Rainier, WA
• Doris Murphy, Park Ranger, Bardwell Lake, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Forth Worth, TX
• Warren Sedlacek, National Resource Specialist, Lake Cascade Field Office, Bureau of Reclamation; Cascade, ID

These individuals join a list of eleven previously announced volunteers who will be honored at a ceremony in Washington, D.C. on July 18.

Take Pride in America is a national partnership program aimed at increasing volunteer service on America’s public lands. It is the goal of Take Pride to empower volunteers from every corner of America to maintain and enhance our natural, cultural, and historical sites. Take Pride encourages citizen stewardship through an innovative public awareness campaign and an interactive website that showcases volunteer opportunities at natural and cultural sites.
For more information, visit www.TakePride.gov.

This award joins the Cooperative Conservation Award and George B. Hartzog Jr. Award presented to our volunteers earlier this year. Congratulations, Dave!

It's a Parade!

Yes, it is time for the annual 4th of July Parade in Eatonville.

I'm looking for some park employees/volunteers to be part of our presence in this grand affair. If you would like to spend an hour walking, waving, and spreading good will in the gateway community of Eatonville, please let me know. The parade starts at noon so you would need to be near the Eatonville High School no later than 11:45 AM. We are usually done by 1:00 PM.

As long as we've being doing it, it has not rained on our parade.

Jim Ross
Outreach Specialist
Mount Rainier National Park
360-569-6045

Click here for another photo from last year's parade. If you'd like to participate, give Jim Ross a call or send him an e-mail at Jim_Ross@nps.gov.

We've added a bunch of new projects to our calendar. Watch for more details here tomorrow; meanwhile, check out the listings on the calendar at the top of this page!

A report from Meadow Rover Training

The Meadow Rover training on Saturday was a resounding success! I'm still sorting through all the paperwork related to the event, but at one point I counted 57 people in attendance, not counting the park visitors who sat in on various sessions. Many of the participants were brand new to the park's Meadow Rover program--so to all of you, welcome!

Here's a few follow-ups and reminders for those who were there and those who couldn't make it:

- You can still download a copy of our Meadow Rovers handbook.

- Kirsten Ronholt and Madison Jones will be coordinating the Meadow Rover programs at Paradise and Sunrise, respectively, this summer. If you'd like to contact them, you can leave them messages at 360-569-2211, extensions 3601 (Kirsten at Paradise) or 3602 (Madison at Sunrise). Let them know when you're coming to rove and they'll be prepared with an assignment for you!

- Tomorrow, I'll be posting copies of the three PowerPoint presentations from the training on our new Rainier Volunteers discussion group on Yahoo.com. You can join the group with free registration. The three presentations include: Meadow Rovers at Mount Rainier (Kevin Bacher); Subalpine Ecology and Revegetation (Julie Hover); and (as soon as I can get a copy of it) Wildlife Habituation (Alyssa Herr).

- Watch for more opportunities later this summer! As Kirsten and Madison noted, we'll be expanding our Rover program down into the forest trails, the viewpoints, and even onto the shuttle buses. We hope to arrange an "advanced meadow rover training" later this summer, including plant ID (if the snow ever melts), along with the Wilderness First Aid classes already on the calendar.

Meanwhile, come out and put your training into action any time! As we learned Saturday afternoon, just because there's still a lot of snow on the ground doesn't mean there aren't important things to do. Keep those trails marked and the routes shoveled, and when the ground finally does appear, we'll be all that much farther ahead in protecting those beautiful wildflowers.
Since I don't have pictures of wildflowers to share with you, here are a few photos of wild rovers in their native habitat:

Interpreter Jim Hinote explains informal interpretation

Ranger John Piastuck answers questions about regulations and emergency response

Huh? Whose baby carriage is this? And how did it get here? (Thanks to Ginnie Miller for the photo!)

Ranger Rich Lechleitner trains the group in how maintain snow poles in the snow-buried meadows

Mount Rainier recollections

Submitted by Pete Sabin, Fremont Lookout Summer of 1963, now a Meadow Rover. Pete sent this after the Rover training on Saturday, which included a presentation by wildlife biologist Alyssa Herr, saying, "Thanks for the training. The presentations gave us good tool to help explain why people should stay off the flowers and avoid feeding the animals. The story is my "A fed bear is a dead bear" personal experience. The squirrel was on duty at Sunrise."

Bear Hunt at Sunrise

In the summer of 1963, I worked as a Fire Control Aide at Mt. Fremont Lookout near the Sunrise Ranger Station in Mount Rainier National Park. In those days, there were still car campgrounds on Mount Rainier at Paradise and Sunrise. Bears were more prevalent too.
With a little mutual respect, bears and people were able to share the same space. There would be an occasional bear who became aggressive and had to be killed but these bears were usually too old to survive much longer on their own.

One evening Gil, the Sunrise ranger, returned from park headquarters with a pickup full of weapons. He explained that the bear, who had already been trapped once, was back, was "raising hell in the campground," and would have to be destroyed.

Of course I eagerly volunteered for the hunt. In addition to Gil and myself, our party included his summer assistant Bill, a teacher from Southern California. I doubt that Bill had ever seen a rifle before except on TV. It turned out that Gil didn’t have much experience with firearms either but he looked impressive with a 38 revolver strapped to his hip.

Our plan was to drive around the campground in the evening and wait for the bear who usually made her visit at dusk. All the campers were in their cars. They were afraid of the bear but the real danger was probably the three of us.

Gil decided I should shoot the bear since I was in ROTC at the University. Of course, I didn’t tell him they only taught us how to march. He said, "wait until the bear reaches the road and aim for the head." "She’s too heavy to carry very far and I don’t want a wounded bear running around the campground." For safety’s sake, I could shoot from the bed of the pickup. This all sounded like a good plan to me but the bear wouldn’t co-operate.

Since the bear wouldn’t approach the truck, Gil suggested I stand in the road between her and the campground. Bill would back me up with the shotgun while he kept the motor running for a quick getaway.

Soon enough, the bear decided it was time for dinner and headed for the campground. Bill and I were in her way but she had learned people would run. She stood on her hind legs to look us over then gave a growl. Suddenly, Bill shouted, "Look out, she’s going to charge," and he dashed for the pickup.

Fortunately, I was too surprised to be nervous and I my first shot hit the mark. Looking back now, I realize my luck was much better than my shooting.

We need a new ranger, Alyssa says we can't eat candy.

A Meadow Rover's Short Story from the Heart

Submitted by Greg Carstens, Paradise Meadow Rover

I have come a long way since 2006 when I first looked into the Meadow Roving program at Mount Rainier. A lot sure has happened since that day when I first met Kevin Bacher in July of 2006. I am forever grateful to him and many other park staff to this day all the way up to Superintendent Uberauga for giving me a chance to help the park in any way I can.

Many of you do not know my background and there are still many of you I have yet to meet and shake hands with personally. I was happy to finally meet Pete Sabin yesterday at the meadow rover training because I have heard and read about this man and how he has been involved so much with park for quite some time.

Back in 2005 I was working fulltime for Horizon Air on the Seatac ramp servicing aircraft. I did this until October of 2006. Unfortunately I damaged my left leg severely and it made it very hard to walk on by September of 2006. It was discovered in 2007 by Doctor Robert Osborne in Puyallup at Cascade Vascular Associates that I have an incurable disease known as lymph edema. It's not contagious at all but it is common across the world. It basically is build up fluid in the lymph nodes which makes the limbs swell which can sometimes be uncomfortable. Fortunately I am still able to walk and enjoy the park in any way. I just can't bang the leg on anything or put it in harms way so some trail work and perhaps a lot of the work the trail crews do might be out of the question but I did talk to Jill Baum with the SCA and she said I would probably be able to do some raking and that sort of thing. Generally anything not to heavy. I agreed with her on that.

In 2006 of May my Step Father Robert J. Eckroth died of liver cancer. This man worked in public service as a firefighter from 1965 to 1995 for the Tacoma Fire Department. After he died I wanted to change my life and go into another direction and also follow in his foot steps sort of. I knew that with the leg the way it was I would not be a firefighter like he was and age was probably at the time an issue also. There was another option though and that was to begin looking at agencies like the National Park Service that I always had interest in but it was usually in the back of my mind but always my heart made me wonder. What if?

Now I am exploring all the possibilities with the National Park Service as I currently intern at Longmire in the Natural and Cultural Resources Division. A division in the National Park Service I had never even known about until this summer. I will forever be grateful to my Supervisor Darin Swinney for calling me back in April and asking me if I was still interested in working with him. The answer was of course a resounding, yes! I do have Rick Zamore to thank as well with the SCA also.

This is my third summer in the meadow rover program at Mount Rainier. I sign up for it because I simply care about the park. It helps that the park is only 45 miles from home also. I love all the parks I have been to. I volunteered for a short time at the Old Faithful Visitors Center in 1985 at Yellowstone National Park. I have also spent some brief time in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Crater Lake, and North Cascades as a visitor as well.

One thing I love more than even all the parks and probably anything in the world though is my Mother. She really did well since May of 2006 but I remember her telling me how she cried after my Step Dad died when she went to trim the plants in the many gardens he left behind that had some of the most beautiful flowers you will ever see.

I am hear to tell you all right now I spent nights myself crying as I worried so much about her becoming lonely after being married to my Step Father for 36 years. It hurt me as well because he was the only real father I ever had from the time I was five years old. To this day I still visit my mother twice a week and I take care of a lot of those flowers for her in the yard. The flowers continue to grow more beautiful than ever under my care. I had many rhododendrons bloom out to about twelve inches across this spring. When I saw this I knew I had a true knack for caring for natural things and when the flowers grew so well I got a little emotional because I know my Step Father in spirit must have showed me what to do when I tried to take care of them for the first time.

My mother is doing a lot better these days. She has met a retired school councilor from Olympia and he has told her that he loves her and they have already been to Hawaii together and are planning more trips together including the Inside Passage to Alaska. I am a little envious and would love to travel in both those places and who knows maybe one day I will work in one of our parks in those areas one day.

I plan on building up my college credits this fall, winter, and spring coming quarters at Pierce College. I should have about 60 overall and will have some where over 500 hours of service time alone just this year in the park. Right now I am working on getting a Associates transfer degree for a major university and my ultimate goal is to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science (Meteorology). Short term at least by next summer I hope to apply as one of the many of the many seasonal staff with the National Park Service and I am very open to going to many parks that would have an opportunity for me for my first summer. It would be incredible and great to be at Mount Rainier though.

I hope you all enjoyed this story because it is from my heart and how I feel right now. I am hoping that everyone will have a awesome summer as I am already having this summer at Mount Rainier.

Greg Carstens
SCA Natural Resources Planning Intern
Paradise Meadow Rover
Mount Rainier National Park

Sunrise snow shoveling photos

Jack Leicester, who has served as a volunteer patrol ranger at Sunrise for about 15 years, sent us these pictures of the crew that shoveled snow there on Saturday the 21st. For those of you who participated, he was very impressed! "The volunteers did a great job at Sunrise," he says. "They worked very hard." Given the amount they accomplished in an amazingly short time, I have no doubt that's true!

Volunteers in the News

I have far too much to share with you to pack into a single blog entry! Therefore, brace yourself for a flurry of reports. I have contributions to share from Greg Carstens and Pete Sabin; reports on an event a week ago (snow shoveling at Sunrise) and this Saturday (Meadow Rover training); lots of projects and training opportunities coming up; lots of "volunteers in the news"; and even another award to announce!

So let's start with volunteers in the news:

The National Parks Conservation Association has a nice article in National Parks Magazine this month called "After the Storm," following up on our recovery from the storms of November 2006, including the phenomenal efforts of volunteers. Thanks to NW Regional Director Sean Smith for this PDF copy.

The News Tribune has an article called "100 adventures in centennial forests" that helpfully notes how important volunteers are on federal forest land: "All of the national forests are anxious to get volunteer help to help maintain their trails... From patrolling climbing routes to weeklong trail maintenance work parties, there are numerous opportunities to volunteer in the forest." So, so true! So true, in fact, that it bears repeating. See numbers 32 and 71. The McClatchy news service has picked up this story, so you'll also find it in the Bellingham Herald.

Fellow bloggers are also picking up the cause: see this shout-out to our volunteer program, for example, at the website "WSR Mt Rainier NP," maintained by photographer Scott Knowles.

And finally, in case you thought summer was here, here's a picture taken just a week ago at Indian Bar:

That's the Indian Bar Shelter under all that snow! Paradise is no better--I'm told we had 117 inches on the ground at the weather station this morning (and I believe it based on what I saw there on Saturday). The water is running off the bottom of the snowpack in rivers, overwhelming the drainage systems at Paradise, but there's a long way to go.Still, we recorded a temperature of 98 degrees at Longmire on Sunday--yes, you read that right! That means that after the coldest first week of June in over a hundred years, we're ending the month with... the warmest June day since the park began keeping records in 1931! (See full data here and here.) The previous record was set on June 16, 1961 with a temperature of 97 degrees. (In case you're wondering, the all-time record for Longmire was July 14, 1935, when the mercury hit 105.)

A Meadow Rover's Short Story from the Heart

Submitted by Greg Carstens, Paradise Meadow Rover and Student Conservation Association Intern

I have come a long way since 2006 when I first looked into the Meadow Roving program at Mount Rainier. A lot sure has happened since that day when I first met Kevin Bacher in July of 2006. I am forever grateful to him and many other park staff to this day all the way up to Superintendent Uberauga for giving me a chance to help the park in any way I can.

Many of you do not know my background and there are still many of you I have yet to meet and shake hands with personally. I was happy to finally meet Pete Sabin yesterday at the meadow rover training because I have heard and read about this man and how he has been involved so much with park for quite some time.

Back in 2005 I was working fulltime for Horizon Air on the Seatac ramp servicing aircraft. I did this until October of 2006. Unfortunately I damaged my left leg severely and it made it very hard to walk on by September of 2006. It was discovered in 2007 by Doctor Robert Osborne in Puyallup at Cascade Vascular Associates that I have an incurable disease known as lymph edema. It's not contagious at all but it is common across the world. It basically is build up fluid in the lymph nodes which makes the limbs swell which can sometimes be uncomfortable. Fortunately I am still able to walk and enjoy the park in any way. I just can't bang the leg on anything or put it in harms way so some trail work and perhaps a lot of the work the trail crews do might be out of the question but I did talk to Jill Baum with the SCA and she said I would probably be able to do some raking and that sort of thing. Generally anything not to heavy. I agreed with her on that.

In 2006 of May my Step Father Robert J. Eckroth died of liver cancer. This man worked in public service as a firefighter from 1965 to 1995 for the Tacoma Fire Department. After he died I wanted to change my life and go into another direction and also follow in his foot steps sort of. I knew that with the leg the way it was I would not be a firefighter like he was and age was probably at the time an issue also. There was another option though and that was to begin looking at agencies like the National Park Service that I always had interest in but it was usually in the back of my mind but always my heart made me wonder. What if?

Now I am exploring all the possibilities with the National Park Service as I currently intern at Longmire in the Natural and Cultural Resources Division. A division in the National Park Service I had never even known about until this summer. I will forever be grateful to my Supervisor Darin Swinney for calling me back in April and asking me if I was still interested in working with him. The answer was of course a resounding, yes! I do have Rick Zamore to thank as well with the SCA also.

This is my third summer in the meadow rover program at Mount Rainier. I sign up for it because I simply care about the park. It helps that the park is only 45 miles from home also. I love all the parks I have been to. I volunteered for a short time at the Old Faithful Visitors Center in 1985 at Yellowstone National Park. I have also spent some brief time in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Crater Lake, and North Cascades as a visitor as well.
One thing I love more than even all the parks and probably anything in the world though is my Mother. She really did well since May of 2006 but I remember her telling me how she cried after my Step Dad died when she went to trim the plants in the many gardens he left behind that had some of the most beautiful flowers you will ever see.

I am here to tell you all right now I spent nights myself crying as I worried so much about her becoming lonely after being married to my Step Father for 36 years. It hurt me as well because he was the only real father I ever had from the time I was five years old. To this day I still visit my mother twice a week and I take care of a lot of those flowers for her in the yard. The flowers continue to grow more beautiful than ever under my care. I had many rhododendrons bloom out to about twelve inches across this spring. When I saw this I knew I had a true knack for caring for natural things and when the flowers grew so well I got a little emotional because I know my Step Father in spirit must have showed me what to do when I tried to take care of them for the first time.

My mother is doing a lot better these days. She has met a retired school councilor from Olympia and he has told her that he loves her and they have already been to Hawaii together and are planning more trips together including the Inside Passage to Alaska. I am a little envious and would love to travel in both those places and who knows maybe one day I will work in one of our parks in those areas one day.

I plan on building up my college credits this fall, winter, and spring coming quarters at Pierce College. I should have about 60 overall and will have some where over 500 hours of service time alone just this year in the park. Right now I am working on getting a Associates transfer degree for a major university and my ultimate goal is to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science (Meteorology). Short term at least by next summer I hope to apply as one of the many of the many seasonal staff with the National Park Service and I am very open to going to many parks that would have an opportunity for me for my first summer. It would be incredible and great to be at Mount Rainier though.

I hope you all enjoyed this story because it is from my heart and how I feel right now. I am hoping that everyone will have a awesome summer as I am already having this summer at Mount Rainier.

Greg Carstens
SCA Natural Resources Planning Intern
Paradise Meadow Rover
Mount Rainier National Park

Season's first backcountry project posted!

The summer's project calendar continues to fill up! Our latest offering is the first of several planned backcountry projects, running from July 22 to 26, in Mount Rainier's beautiful Stevens Canyon. We'll be rebuilding a section of the Wonderland Trail damaged by the storms of November 2006. This is a relatively short hike in from the road but a great location; and for just $25 per person, we'll provide all of your meals! Come take a vacation in the wilderness, and leave having made a positive difference for Mount Rainier National Park!

Full details and registration are available here.

Final Agenda and Details for Meadow Rover Training

All right, Meadow Rovers, here's the "final" agenda for the training on Saturday! (Of course, nothing is ever really final until after the fact, but this is about as close as it gets.)

Registration: Space is still available on our Eventbrite page. Sign up ahead of time so we know how many to expect!

Agenda: Click here for the "final" version of the agenda. It's going to be an exciting training with lots of opportunities for learning from lots of different people!

Pre-Training Homework: If you have time, download a copy of our 2008 Meadow Rover Handbook and look it over prior to attending the class. It'll give you an overview of what the program is and how it works.

Carpooling: Lots of you have asked about carpooling options. You can still post a request for carpooling partners on our Google discussion group... however, in response to popular demand, I have also created a...

Yahoo Group: The new Yahoo group at groups.yahoo.com/group/RainierVolunteers has advantages over the Google group in that you can share files and photos and, most helpfully, post your own entries on a group calendar. Let each other know when you're coming up to the Mountain, and solicit ride-share partners using the interactive calendar.

Camping: Lots of you have asked about camping options this weekend. Here's the scoop (literally): The group campsite at Cougar Rock is still buried in snow! Therefore, the rangers have set aside sites R13 and R14 for use by volunteers. Check in at the campground entrance as you would for any site, but let the rangers know you're a volunteer who will be using one of the sites we've reserved. Hopefully that will be enough for everyone who wants to camp. In addition, consider bringing a "scoop" (shovel) from home and digging out a space in the group site! The rangers can direct you where it is.

What to Bring: Bring a lunch, water, jacket, sunglasses, sunscreen, hat, and good hiking boots (for going out on the snow). If you're a new Rover and plan to sign up for a recurring assignment, come prepared with your calendar and your shirt size!

Counting our SCA Conservation Corps, we have about 50 people signed up to attend Meadow Rover Training, and the forecast looks great! I'm very excited about the program this year: with all the interest we have, and with lots of new resources (including online tools, dedicated coordinators, and training opportunities), this should be our best year ever in the meadows. See you Saturday!

Newsletter 3.3

Hello again, Mount Rainier volunteers! It's been a busy two weeks since our last newsletter, and I have much to bring you up to date about.

Projects
The calendar is slowly starting to fill with projects! Here's a summary of what you'll find on our calendar so far:

• June 21, All Ages Work Party with WTA
• June 21, Sunrise Snow Shoveling. The deadline to sign up for this event has passed, but read all about it anyway, and watch our blog for photos!
• June 23 through July 15, Greenhouse Planting
• June 24, Paradise Snow Trails
• June 26, Kautz Creek Trail Construction
• June 27, Kautz Creek Trail Construction
• June 27, 28, or 29, White River Entrance Trails with WTA
• July 3, Longmire Campground Restoration
• July 4, 5, 6, 11, 12, or 13, Glacier Basin Trail with WTA
• July 19, Revegetation and Exotics Removal with the Mount Rainier National Park Associates

Training
Lots of training opportunities are coming up, too--both in Wilderness Medicine and Meadow Roving:

• June 27, Photography Class with John Chao
• June 28, Meadow Rover Training--preliminary details are now posted!
• July 12-13, Wilderness First Aid
• July 26-27, Wilderness First Aid
• August 14-17, Wilderness Advanced First Aid
• September 7-14, Wilderness First Responder

There is a fee for the wilderness medicine courses, but it has been drastically reduced with the help of a grant from Boeing Corporation. Thanks, Boeing!

Also in development: Soundscape Monitoring
How many jet planes pass over the mountain? Learn about the soundscape at Mount Rainier and how to use a Palm Pilot to periodically monitor the acoustics at specific sites throughout the park. Join us for a couple hours of training on either July 11 or July 19 for this important new citizen science project, which is taking place at selected parks throughout the country. Trained volunteers are needed to travel throughout Rainier and sit quietly to gather an hour's worth of ambient sounds. Project logistics are highly flexible. Some sites involve independant, off-trail hiking and/or backcountry overnights; others may require additional sherpa support. Come learn more so that you can sign up to be involved!

Rainier Roving Opportunities on the horizon
We're pleased to welcome Kirsten Ronholt and Madison Jones to our interpretive staff this year. Kirsten and Madison will be working with our interpreters at Paradise, Sunrise, and Ohanapecosh to provide additional opportunities for our Meadow Rover teams, including snow trail marking, forest trail roving, mentoring opportunities, and advanced training in subalpine ecosystems and geology. Watch our blog for details about these future opportunities, or come to our Meadow Rover training on June 28 for more information!

Ride-Sharing
The cost of commuting to the Mountain is one of the biggest challenges for our volunteers. We've started a discussion group topic for people to request or offer rides when they come to the park to volunteer. Other options are available through local websites and park-and-ride services. Please contribute your own ideas as well. It shouldn't be too expensive to volunteer!

Camping
Several of you have written to us to inquire about camping during volunteer projects. Like last year, we've set aside a group site in the Cougar Rock campground for use by volunteers throughout the season. Now it just needs to melt out... If you're volunteering on the east side of the park, we can set aside camping for you at Ohanapecosh or White River Campgrounds, but need at least a week's notice. Contact your project supervisor, or send me a note at this e-mail address, to request a site. Free camping is available to volunteers on the nights before and/or after a project.

Meanwhile, we're making progress on shower facilities in the old historic Longmire Campground. Starting next year, this campground should be available for use by volunteers. We just need to finish restoring it. You can help make it happen by joining us for our Longmire Campground Restoration project on July 3rd.

National Trails Day
Our biggest event in the past two weeks was National Trails Day, which brought out seventy volunteers on the Longmire side of the Mountain and more working with the Washington Trails Association out of Carbon River. Volunteers from the Washington Geocachers shoveled snow in the Longmire Campground. Boy Scouts spruced up the Trail of the Shadows after winter storms. SCA volunteers maintained the Eagle Peak Trail, snow trails at Paradise, and the snowy pathway leading to the viewpoint at Christine Falls. Check out our event photos and a video clip on YouTube!

New volunteer projects!

We've recently added several new volunteer project opportunities to our calendar! Check out these new options:

• Paradise Snow Trails on June 24
• Kautz Trail Construction and Maintenance: both June 26 and June 27
• Longmire Campground Restoration on July 3
• Soundscape Monitoring Project information session, either July 11 or July 19

More will be coming soon... and, of course, don't miss our complete list or calendar of projects and training opportunities, including many already posted earlier.

Don't forget the Washington Trails Association calendar as well, which includes several trail maintenance opportunities in Mount Rainier National Park.

Google vs Yahoo?

An issue I've been wrestling with forever is the relative merits of Google online services versus those of Yahoo and Microsoft. I've gone with Google for this blog, for example, because 1. the Mount Rainier Climbing blog was already on Google, 2. Microsoft doesn't really have blog resources, and 3. Yahoo 360 is flagged as an "inappropriate" website by our government network and is therefore inaccessible from my work computer (go figure).

I've set up a Google discussion group, calendar, and photo collection on Google mainly because the blog is already here. However, Yahoo's discussion groups have a lot of very attractive features, including the ability to easily share photos and files with other group members, and an integrated calendar shared by group members. The Sunrise Meadow Rovers have a great Yahoo group in which they've used this calendar feature to share offers and requests for rides to the Mountain. I'm not very familiar with the options available through MSN. Google has a calendar feature that is available to multiple users, but each person has to be added individually (i.e. it's not integrated with the Google Groups feature).

Both Google and Yahoo have great photo sharing resources (Yahoo's is called Flickr), and I have an ongoing debate with friends of mine about which service is better. I personally think they're comparable except for Yahoo's superior ability to form "photo pools" among multiple users whose pictures share a common theme--which, you have to admit, would be a cool tool for promoting our volunteer program.

Both Google and Yahoo allow "non-members" to browse their content, but you have to be a member to contribute (e.g. to the discussion groups, photo pools, and calendars). Membership is free, but it's another login and password to remember--and if you're active on both Yahoo AND Google, it's two of them. So if you have a blog on Google and photos or a discussion group on Yahoo, you have to log in twice.

Ultimately, these resources are meant to benefit our volunteers, so I'd like to know what you think. Which option is best?

1. Keep everything on Google, even if some applications like discussion groups and calendars are imperfect;
2. Use the most functional pieces of both services, e.g. a Google blog but Yahoo discussion group; or
3. Use both services simultaneously, e.g. have both a Google discussion group and a Yahoo one; or
4. Are there other services, notably through Microsoft, which is in our back yard after all, that I haven't even considered yet?

Meadow Rover Training details, first draft

Our annual Meadow Rover training is coming up on Saturday, June 28. For all of you who have been waiting on pins and needles for details, thank you for your patience--it's been a quirky Spring!

But--we now have a date and time (June 28, 2008, from 10:00 am -- 4:30 pm) and a location (the auditorium of the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise). We have a draft agenda that I'm very excited about; it includes some of the regular topics we cover every year, including subalpine ecology and emergency response, but also some new subjects, including habituated wildlife and "Snow Roving." That last is especially relevant this year because we still have 13 feet of snow on the ground at the Paradise weather station! I'm also hoping to arrange a tour of the new visitor center under construction. Not sure whether I'll be able to pull that off, but it would be cool to give you a sneak peek.

I'm also excited that we have two Student Conservation Association interns this summer who are dedicated full time to the volunteer programs under our Division of Interpretation, including meadow roving. Their names are Kirsten Ronhold and Madison Jones. They will provide additional meadow rover training, mentoring, and shadowing opportunities throughout the summer, work on implementing your feedback, and provide better coordination of our efforts out on the trail. They'll plan an Advanced Meadow Roving course later in the summer (when the snow melts) including units on plant identification and geology. They'll also be working with our supervisors to expand the Rover program to other areas, including forest trails at Ohanapecosh and Longmire, viewpoints, and the shuttle buses that will be running from Ashford to Paradise on Friday through Sunday.

To get involved:

1. If you haven't done so already, register for the June 28 training through our listing on Eventbrite.
2. If you would like to participate but can't make it to the June 28 training, let me know and we'll make sure you're on our Meadow Rover mailing list for group or one-on-one training opportunities later in the summer.
3. Download our 2008 Meadow Rover Handbook, with updated information about Paradise and Sunrise and helpful information to help out as you rove the trails.
4. Consider carpooling to go green and save gas. Post a note on our volunteer discussion group to find a ride share partner.

For those who are unfamiliar with our Meadow Rover program, these are a team of dedicated volunteers whose mission is to hike the trails at Paradise, Sunrise, and other subalpine locations, assisting visitors and educating them about the importance of staying on the trails in these fragile environments. Search the blog for past entries, and check out our photos of Meadow Rovers in action. If it looks interesting to you, sign up, attend the training, and see if it's for you!

Resources for Ride-Shares

One of the most critical issues our volunteers continually raise is the high cost of transportation from Seattle/Tacoma/wherever to Mount Rainier. One solution: share the ride with a fellow volunteer!

I've created a topic in our volunteer discussion group for sharing offers/requests for ride sharing. You'll need to sign up as a member of the discussion group (registration is free). Then simply click on the "RIDE-SHARE" topic and reply with your request or offer. Edit the subject line so that your dates, starting point, and end point are clear at a glance to those looking through the list.

Other good resources: offer to meet your fellow volunteers at a public park-and-ride location. You'll find them all over; here are links to the locations in Pierce, King, and Thurston counties.

Specific ride-share websites exist, including RideShareOnline, eRideShare, and Craigslist. If any of you have experience with these tools, reply and let us know how well they work.

Former geology volunteer goes to the bottom of the ocean

I got a note today from former Geologist-in-Parks volunteer Lindsey Doermann, whom some of you may remember from Sunrise during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Here's what a geology volunteer goes on to do after her experience at Rainier:

Right now I am on a research cruise in the eastern Pacific Ocean. I am on the Woods Hole ship Atlantis, and we were using the manned deep submergence vehicle Alvin to explore the East Pacific Rise spreading center. The group I'm with (from Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, where I've been a research assistant for 1.5 years now) is making bottom pressure measurements in hopes of understanding the evolution of the magma chamber beneath the seafloor. This area seems to erupt about every 15 years. I was lucky enough to travel to the seafloor (2500 m depth) in Alvin and see some absolutely incredible geology (2-year-old basalts, great pillows and flow features) and biology at black smoker vents. The experience of going to the bottom of the ocean is difficult to articulate.

Is that cool or what?!

Orlando man to climb Mount Rainier, raise money for MS

There are all kinds of ways to serve as a volunteer. This one isn't on our official volunteer roster, but we're proud to see Mount Rainier play a key role in it:

Chuck Norman has two reasons for risking life and limb to conquer Mount Rainier. He's a self-styled adrenaline junkie, who sees a challenge in Rainier, one of America's most dangerous peaks; but he's also got a soft heart and is using the climb to raise money for a friend with multiple sclerosis.

The full story is in the Orlando Sentinel.

The latest observations from the Trail of the Shadows

From Greg Carstens, SCA Natural Resources Planning Intern at Longmire:

It has been an interesting Spring since I started interning at Longmire with the NPS and SCA. I am forever grateful of all the learning I am getting a chance to do this summer.

Each day after my office time I take at least a small walk out onto the Trail Of The Shadows across the main park road from the National Park Inn at Longmire and I am always intrigued by what or who I may run into out there. I always follow pretty much the same routine and cover every inch of the trail including sitting for a little while at the travertine mound and soaking in the noise of the bubbles of the spring and the view of Eagle Peak above when the clouds are not blanketing it. Overall as far as the trail itself goes it is in great shape. A little muddy in a few spots but unlike many trails in the park it is snow free all the way around.

Footnote to the above: All the folks who worked on the boardwalk to the travertine mound did an awesome job. A few weeks ago some of the boards were lose but not anymore. Kudos to all of you on that project.

As you all may or may not know lately we had a pretty good snowfall for June at Longmire. As I walked around the trail I observed how much of the skunk cabbage had been matted down. A little dismaying actually because I am also aware there has been a lot of flower picking as well on the trail with this plant. It will certainly be interesting to see how well the plants make out this late spring and into early summer from all of what they are having to go through.

Deer are plentiful at Longmire and below there right now. I see them every day as I drive up into the park before I start my work in the office. They appear to almost be bottling up just below the snowline and are waiting for the snow to melt further up The Mountain sides so they can partake in more eating of the fresh plant shoots that gradually arise once the snow melts. Black Tail Deer love new green shoots as they come up and there are plenty of those for them to eat right now at Longmire. They are a true delicacy for the deer.

A little news flash here as well. A lady from my neighborhood here in Spanaway, Washington made it up to the view point on Rampart Ridge this past Thursday. She notes that snow is about three feet deep at least. She was well equipped for the outing. I would highly recommend the heavy boots she had on that were water proofed and the trekking poles she had to use for good balance on the trip up as well as the trip down. She says take your time up and you will have an enjoyable trip and not slip very much at all especially if you have good boots.

Inversion

Here's a current live webcam image from Seattle:

Now here's the current webcam image from Paradise:

It's 50 degrees in Seattle, and 55 degrees at my home in Eatonville. Here's our air quality camera at Paradise, looking down toward the valley. Note the current temperature: 58 degrees!

Now here's the explanation. A still from the current Seattle satellite image (you can clearly see snow-capped Mount Rainier in the center of the picture):

The clouds are coming in off the ocean, rising into the mountains... and evaporating. That's because it's colder at lower elevations than it is at higher elevations. Moisture condenses into clouds at cold temperatures and evaporates at warm temperatures. What we have here, folks, is a classic inversion!

The moral? When it's cloudy and cool in town, check the weather maps... and if we have inversion conditions, come up into the sunshine and volunteer!

Sign up now for courses in Wilderness Medicine!

We are pleased to announce a schedule for our suite of wilderness first aid courses at Mount Rainier National Park this summer! These courses will be offered to our volunteers at a significantly reduced rate thanks to our partnership with the Student Conservation Association and a major grant from Boeing.

Based on your feedback, we've secured instructors (from Aerie Backcountry Medicine), locations (the Community Building and Campground in Longmire) and dates (see below) for 4 courses this season:

Wilderness First Aid July 12 - 13 (2 days)
www.eventbrite.com/event/125489342

Wilderness First Aid July 26 - 27 (2 days)
www.eventbrite.com/event/125495360

Wilderness Advanced First Aid August 14 - 17 (4 days)
www.eventbrite.com/event/125499372

Wilderness First Responder September 7 - 14 (8 days)
www.eventbrite.com/event/125501378

Please register online at the appropriate link listed above (or see all current listings at www.eventbrite.com/rest/user_list_events/81537797). These classes are first come, first served and we expect that at least the WFA classes will fill, probably with waitlists.

There are no prerequisites for any of the classes, so if you have the interest and time available, I strongly encourage you to consider WAFA or WFR. All of Aerie's courses are fun, thorough and provide an intense, hands-on educational experience.

We will provide camping space in the Longmire Campground and all meals during the courses. Costs are listed on the registration pages and will be payable in advance to hold your spot. More details regarding payment and packing lists will follow once the classes fill. Please note that we need a minimum of 12 to run any of the classes and maximum class size varies by course, but space is limited. These courses are for adults only and are intended to provide professional development opportunities for our committed pool of fabulous volunteers.

Thanks again for your support of and on-going interest in the Mount Rainier Volunteer program! Happy trails and please be safe out there -- jill

Jill Baum
Program Director
SCA Mount Rainier Recovery Initiative

Want a sneak preview of Sunrise?

We just got a call from Dale Harvard in our maintenance division. He's looking for help getting the facilities shoveled out at Sunrise, in preparation for a late opening due to the snow. We just opened administrative access today, and our rangers are working feverishly to get utilities de-winterized and turned on in preparation for opening to the public on July 3rd. There's an amazing amount of snow still on the ground this year. We have heavy equipment on the job, of course, but gaining access to the bathrooms, the pathway into the visitor center, and the fire hydrants, and exposing the historic rock walls without knocking them apart with our snow machines, requires hand shoveling to do right.

Last year, a class from Evergreen State College helped us dig out (photo above by Mount Rainier Recovery Corps member Rachel Fair). This year, we'd like to open it to anyone interested in helping. This is your opportunity to get up to the highest point in the park accessible by road a full two weeks earlier than anyone else. If the weather next weekend is as beautiful as it is today, it'll be spectacular. I'll do everything in my power to ensure that's the case. (Lest anyone misunderstand, it's not within my power! But as one of our volunteers likes to say, "there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad gear." Right!)

Go to our listing on Eventbrite for all the details and to sign up:

Wilderness intoxication

I just came in from hiking up the Kautz Creek Trail with Jill Baum of SCA and Jenn Glyzinski of our NPS trail crew, inspecting the work that our SCA-crews-in-training have been doing there. The smell of fresh cedar and alder, mingled here and there with a faint, acrid whiff of skunk cabbage, is intoxicating. I could stay out on such trails in the sun and the breeze all day and be quite content.

It is in fact therapeutic after this week we've had. Anyone who follows this blog is probably also aware of the Search and Rescue we've been busy with all week. Besides the long hours and the loss of two and a half days at a time of year when most of us are already behind on our work, these events can be emotionally exhausting and it's good to get refreshed in the wilderness. It's worth remembering that that's what drew the individuals in this incident onto the mountain as well--that same intoxication with wilderness, and a choice to accept as their allotment of risk the challenges of hiking in the mountains, rather than, say, sailing or motorcycling or playing football or skiing or driving or any of a thousand other things that don't attract as much attention when they go wrong.

Those are my thoughts as I hike through the sun-dappled forest under the merrily dancing alder leaves, listening to the creek tumble along through the canyon beside me...

More real volunteer news in a bit.

News and volunteer opportunities for meteorologists

From volunteer Greg Carstens:

I got an email from Ted Buehner at the National Weather Service last night that was originally written by Mark Moore, the Director of The Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center, and Mark says that their sensor at the weather tower at Paradise has received 36 inches of snow so far this month. This breaks the old record of 21.50 inches set back in June of 2001 which unlike this year was a low snow season of 476.5 inches. Mark also said the water equivalent percentage is a little over half right now and if you were melt all of the Paradise snow down it would be equivalent to about 95 inches of water.

The snowfall on June 10th at Longmire marks the latest snowfall ever at Longmire according to records listed at the Western Regional Climate Center. The last latest snow before this was on June 6th of 1954 when a half inch fell, so the 3 inches that fell the other morning also breaks the most snow for June record as well. A little side note here as well. I observed snow falling on June 1st of 1999 but that snow amounted to only a trace as it was very wet and usually snow in June anywhere on The Mountain does have a tendency to be wet.

Greg also passed along this information earlier in the week:

Apparently Arthur Gaebel at NWS Seattle is looking for a volunteer COOP weather observer there in Eatonville. The NWS would provide equipment and training for free and all the observer would need I believe is Internet access of some sort.

I passed this on your way because I was thinking you might know someone in Eatonville who might want to help them out. I told Ted Buehner at the NWS Seattle office I would do it if I lived in that area but as luck would have it I am to far away from Eatonville. I am not sure if they have found anyone yet.

Anyway if you know anyone interested in Eatonville. They can contact Arthur Gaebel at the following email. He is the Observing Program Leader for the NWS Seattle area.

arthur.gaebel@noaa.gov

Or they may also call him at the NWS Seattle Forecast Office at 206-526-6095 ext. 229.

Mount Rainier Celebrates Toilet

Today, we activated the high-tech biotoilet that had been donated last summer by Groundwork Mishima, an environmental group in Japan, and installed with the help of our Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association volunteers. We put out a press release about the upcoming ribbon-cutting, which led to some of the funnier headlines I've seen in the local press. A sampling:

Mount Rainier's $70000 toilet

Mount Rainier celebrates $70000 toilet

The $70000 toilet

A $70000 toilet?!?

$70000 bio-toilet a stinky token of friendship (which, by the way, is inaccurate--it has no odor)

and, of course,

Mount Rainier National Park celebrates toilet

I took a lot of ribbing from friends about that last one, especially when they learned that I'd written the original press release (but not with that headline)!

The toilet is pretty special, by the way. For $70,000 you get a completely bio-friendly toilet donated by the Japanese environmental group Groundwork Mishima, with low energy consumption, a self-contained, self-cleaning water recycling system, no odor, and (Japan is wonderful this way) a heated seat! It uses a cedar chip and microbe system to literally "digest" the human waste. They've been using them in Japan on Mount Fuji for almost ten years, and they require virtually no maintenance besides adding a few cedar chips now and then. When they winterize them by letting the water out of them, it tests so clean that you could literally drink it. (The inventor of the toilet was here for the dedication today and said he has actually demonstrated that! Superintendent Uberuaga's reaction was "we won't go there today!")

I took some photos of the event, which I've posted on my personal website if you're interested. KOMO TV was on hand and did a great story about it, which you can read on their website and watch on YouTube. Here's my favorite screen capture:

That, of course, is not Superintendent Uberuaga, but Sho Morita, the group's translator. Other than that one misplaced label, KOMO's report was outstanding... and even managed to avoid making cheap jokes about our expensive toilet!

June-uary at Mount Rainier

KOMO news this evening called our recent weather "June-uary." Seriously, is this forecast normal for June 9?!

In fact, it isn't normal. Check out this statistic:

To our Corps members shivering in their platform tents in the Longmire Campground, I salute you. Now, where's the hot tub already?!

Those amazing geocachers

WOW! I just checked out the page for the Washington Geocachers event at Cougar Rock Campground yesterday, for National Trails Day. I am absolutely floored by the amount of work those guys accomplished! For comparison, here is what the campground amphitheater looked like when I stopped by at noon:



Now here's what it looked like at the end of the day (I've also UPDATED the image above with a photo from the exact same location):

Check out all of their photos here.

I had seriously thought maybe we wouldn't be able to do evening programs in the campground until September. It's looking a lot more optimistic now. One member of the group estimated they must have moved 50 tons of snow! I especially like this comment by TotemLake:

I'm making the rare move to count this as an ATTENDED WITH PRIDE to have worked as hard with a great bunch of people in the Geocaching community and with a very impressively energetic organization such as the SCA.

The members promise to post more photos and videos later, which I will link to here, so stay tuned. THANK YOU, Washington Geocachers!!

National Trails Day on YouTube

Here's a short (7-minute) video from our National Trails Day events near Longmire yesterday. Enjoy -- and check out our full collection of videos on our new YouTube page!

National Trails Day at Mount Rainier!

It's National Trails Day already! At Longmire, seventy volunteers didn't let a little snow stop them from putting in some hard work preparing the trails for the summer. Today's crew included members of a Boy Scout Troop; the Washington State Geocacher's Association; and several groups of Student Conservation Association crew leaders in training.

Meanwhile, up at Carbon River, two teams led by the Washington Trails Association were hard at work on the Boundary Trail... but I don't have pictures from that project! Here's a selection of the images I captured today. For the complete set, check out our Picasa photo album.

Newsletter correction

It's just been pointed out to me that the web address I listed in the newsletter for the Mount Rainier National Park Associates is incorrect. (Thanks to the individual who caught the error!) The correct address is:

www.mount-rainier.org

The Mount Rainier National Park Associates are a valuable partner whose members contribute to the park both through monthly volunteer projects in the summer and through advocacy. Check out their website for details!

Routine erased at Mount Rainier

From the News Tribune:

11 ways a visit to the park will be different this summer

4. Other trail repair
Fabiani says work on the top flood repair projects – rerouting the Wonderland Trail in the Carbon River area and repairing it in Stevens Canyon and fixing the Glacier Basin Trail – could be as much as two months behind schedule because of heavy snow.

“We just can’t get to the project area because of the snow,” Fabiani said. While Fabiani said he still expects to complete this year’s projects, he says prepping open trails for this year will be the first priority when the snow melts.

Read the whole article on The News Tribune website... and then check out our list of projects to see how you can help!

Newsletter 3.2, June 4, 2008

Hello friends,

It's hard to believe that it's June already! National Trails Day is coming up this weekend, our Conservation Corps has arrived and is completing its training, the snow is slowly melting, and we have our first public projects posted on our new and improved volunteer calendar. As our Corps members complete their training and move into their assigned roles, the calendar will fill up rapidly. In addition to volunteer projects, we have a full slate of training opportunities planned for the summer, beginning with Meadow Rover training later this month and continuing with Wilderness First Aid in July. Plan to join us for another exciting year at Mount Rainier National Park!

Father/Son/Daughter Project

Join us for our first public project of the year on Saturday, June 14th in honor of Father's Day weekend. We'll have a variety of Longmire-based projects to choose from, including winter debris clean-up, campground restoration and exotic plant control. This is great chance to spend quality time assisting Mount Rainier alongside your kids or Dad. Please wear sturdy shoes and long pants. Bring a lunch, layers, rain gear and work gloves if you have them. We'll provide the tools, instruction and, of course, fun. Sign up online to participate!

Meadow Roving

One of our most popular ongoing volunteer opportunities is our Meadow Rover program. Meadow Rovers patrol the trails at Paradise and Sunrise, assisting visitors and educating them about the importance of staying on the trails in those fragile subalpine environments. It's a great way to enjoy the park and help out at the same time! There will be several opportunities to learn more about this program and to get involved this summer, beginning with our spring Meadow Rover training at Paradise at 10:00am on June 28th. We'll be sending out more information about this within the next week or so, so if you're not already on our mailing list, sign up to receive updates. Throughout the summer, our Mount Rainier Recovery Corps will offer repeat trainings and opportunities to get out on the trails with an experienced rover. Due to heavy snow this winter and a slow melt this spring, there will undoubtedly also be opportunities to help with snow shoveling and trail wanding as well. Watch our blog for updates!

Wilderness First Aid
Coming up on the training front: Wilderness First Aid! Mark your calendars for July 12-13, when Aerie Wilderness Medicine will present the course at Mount Rainier. Final details are still being worked out, and will be posted here on the blog and on our calendar, along with an online signup, within the next week or so. The course will be offered through our partnership with the Student Conservation Association at a steep discount thanks to a grant from Boeing Corporation. Also on the long-range calendar: Wilderness Advanced First Aid and possibly Wilderness First Responder. No prerequisites are required for any of these classes. WAFA is just a more hands-on version of WFA. WFR is a much more thorough and complete class in general, but all three courses start with the basics and provide a great overview of wilderness medicine.

Awards Update

Mount Rainier National Park's volunteer program received two major awards this year. In April, the Department of the Interior presented us with the Cooperative Conservation Award for our high-successful partnerships with the Student Conservation Association and the Northwest Parks and Public Lands Storm Recovery Coalition. (Congressman Dave Reichert even read a commendation into the Congressional Record on our behalf!) On May 8, we received the George B. Hartzog Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, the National Park Service's highest honor. Superintendent Dave Uberuaga and Volunteer Program Manager Kevin Bacher traveled to Washington D.C. with volunteers Eva Meassick and George Coulbourn, who represented the 1,724 of you who participated in our program last year and received the beautiful award on your behalf. Congratulations, everyone--you are the best!

Volunteer Calendar

We now have a new and improved volunteer calendar posted on our volunteer blog! On it, you'll find everything you need to know about opportunities to get involved at Mount Rainier National Park, including short-term volunteer projects led by park staff, the Mount Rainier Recovery Corps, the Washington Trails Association, and the Mount Rainier National Park Associates. (NOTE: link corrected.) These projects are highlighted in green and range in length from one day to a full week. Several training opportunities are coming up as well, and these are highlighted in brown. Other events at the park, including the projected opening dates for park roads and facilities, are highlighted in purple. Click on any calendar entry for more information and to sign up to participate!

Coming Up

• June 2-July 15: Greenhouse replanting, Mondays through Thursdays. Choose three or more days of your choice on which to participate.
• June 7: National Trails Day projects with the Washington Trails Association, at Huckleberry Creek (snow permitting) and the Boundary Trail .
• June 14: Father/Son/Daughter Project with the Mount Rainier Recovery Corps.
• June 14: Trail repair project with the Mount Rainier National Park Associates. (Note: link has been corrected.)
• June 20: White River Entrance Trail Work with WTA
• June 21: All-Ages Work Party with WTA
• June 22: White River Entrance Trail Work with WTA
• June 27: Photography Workshop with park photographer John Chao (see calendar for details)
• June 27: White River Entrance Trail Work with WTA
• June 28: Meadow Rover Training at Paradise
• June 28: White River Entrance Trail Work with WTA
• June 29: White River Entrance Trail Work with WTA
• July 12-13: Wilderness First Aid Class
• September 27: National Public Lands Day
• Check out our complete calendar for more events!

Long-term and Recurring Opportunities
Don't forget our list of long-term and recurring opportunities, too! Current positions we're hiring for include:

• Meadow Rovers
• CPR and First Aid Trainer
• Volunteer Program Assistant
• Education Program Assistant
• Sunrise Bookstore Clerk

Volunteer Surveys
This spring, 157 of you responded to our volunteer survey. We've finally finished organizing the results, which provided a wealth of information about your favorite projects, training opportunities, suggestions for camping and carpooling, and advice for new volunteers. Check out the complete results on our website, including the raw data and a PowerPoint presentation summarizing the results. Our next step: begin implementing some of your suggestions!

In Other News...
A lot has been happening at Mount Rainier National Park! Forty-two people showed up for the Meadow Rovers Brunch in Tacoma on May 9th to learn about roving and volunteering in general. Next year's gathering is already scheduled, so mark your calendars for May 9, 2009! On May 16, the renovated Paradise Inn reopened. Volunteer Allan Dreyer contributed
four beautiful paintings to a fundraiser at the Inn on opening night, which raised $650 for the park! And in spite of the late snow, volunteers like John Walsh continued to volunteer and to enjoy the magnificent beauty of our park.

Share your stories
Share your own stories, photos, and videos! We'll gladly post anything related to your volunteer experience here on our blog. Send us your files or links and we'll add them here. Also, don't miss our Picasa photo site, our discussion group, and our brand-new prototype YouTube page!

See you on the trails,

Kevin Bacher
Volunteer Program Manager
360-569-2211 ext. 3385

Wilderness First Aid?

Plans are slowly taking shape to offer several versions of Wilderness First Aid this summer for our volunteers, offered by Aerie Wilderness Medicine and heavily subsidized by the grant the Student Conservation Association received this winter from Boeing Corporation. Plans are still coming together, but you can sketch these dates onto your calendars:

Wilderness First Aid will almost certainly be offered on July 12-13. We're checking instructor availablity to see how large that class can be (one instructor per 15 or so students). We're thinking we'll offer a second WFA later in the season -- maybe mid-August or perhaps early September?

Wilderness Advanced First Aid: Both the mid-August and early September dates would also/instead be good for a Wilderness Advanced First Aid (WAFA) course, or even late July. That will be a 4-day weekend offering -- arrive Thursday night, leave Monday night or Tuesday morning.

Wilderness First Responder: We'll also post a WFR, probably for mid-August, and we're toying with the idea of 3 weekends in a row -- long weekend, normal weekend, long weekend. We're not sure we'll have enough interest in that one and Aerie would prefer to run it as one continuous, 8-day session -- what do you think?

FYI, there are no prerequisites for any of these classes. WAFA is just a more hands-on version of WFA. WFR is a much more thorough and complete class in general, but all three start with the basics and provide a great overview of wilderness medicine.

So, watch this blog and our project calendar for details. When they're finalized, you'll be able to register online from this website. Meanwhile, if you haven't done so already, feel free to let us know if you're interested in any of these courses, and when you're available.

Complete Volunteer Survey Results

At long last, here are the complete results of the volunteer survey we completed in April. It has been a fascinating process, wading through 157 detailed responses and compiling them into a cogent summary! I hope you will find it as interesting as I did.

First, the raw data:

• Survey results summary
• Survey raw data (with names of respondents removed for privacy)

And finally, a thorough analysis of the results, including statistics, quotes, and action items, as a PowerPoint presentation:

• PowerPoint presentation of complete survey results

Enjoy!

Two new opportunities

Two new volunteer opportunities are available this week:

Father/Son/Daughter Project

Join us on Saturday, June 14th in honor of Father's Day weekend! We'll have a variety of Longmire-based projects to choose from, including winter debris clean-up, campground restoration and exotic plant control. This is great chance to spend quality time assisting Mount Rainier alongside your kids or Dad. Please wear sturdy shoes and long pants. Bring a lunch, layers, rain gear and work gloves if you have them. We'll provide the tools, instruction and, of course, fun. Register online if you'd like to participate!

Bookstore Clerk

(Not exactly a volunteer opportunity, but NWIA is a major partner of the park:)

If you would like to work at Mount Rainier National Park this summer, the Northwest Interpretive Association is looking for someone to work in the Sunrise Visitor Center selling items and providing information to visitors. Housing would be at White River. Anyone interested in learning more can contact Sherry Paul at 360-569-2211 ext. 3320 or email her at mailt:Sherry_Paul@nps.gov.