Monday, June 30, 2008

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

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