May Newsletter

Volunteer Brunch Tomorrow!
Volunteers and potential volunteers! We would like to remind you to join us for the annual Volunteer Brunch this Saturday, May 16th! It will be held at the Mountaineers Clubhouse in Tacoma, 2302 N 30th St. Kevin Bacher and Crow Vecchio will be on hand to answer all those burning questions you've been wanting to ask, and will update you on all the things happening in the park this summer. If you can, please bring a breakfast/brunch dish to share.

Meadow Rover and MeadoWatch Training now June 13-14
Meadow Rover/Meadow Watch training dates and locations have been finalized, and are different than the tentative dates advertised last month. On Saturday, June 13th, MeadoWatch training will start at 10:30 AM to be followed by Meadow Rover training at 12:30 PM. Advanced Meadow Rover training will be held on Sunday June 14th from 9 AM - 3:30 PM. These trainings will all be conducted in the Longmire Community Building. Please join us there!

Welcome Back, Maureen McLean! Meadow Roving has already begun
The inimitable Maureen McLean rejoins us this season as Meadow Rover Manager. Ah, yes... those of you who have worked with her know exactly what I mean! And Rovers, she wants you to know that your services will be much in demand almost immediately. The number of visitors to our fragile meadows will be increasing rapidly as the little lingering snow disappears. Maureen has quite a summer ahead of her, so please join me in welcoming her back! Contact Maureen_McLean (at) nps.gov.

Spring Opening Starting now!
Spring Trail Opening is a huge task which involvs marking and maintaining trail locations by installing ropes and wands and shoveling steps to keep visitors on established routes and preventing meadow damage. Work parties will leave the Jackson Visitor Center at Paradise every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in May and June (and maybe longer). Note that this is different (and more strenuous) duty than Meadow Roving. Contact Maureen_McLean (at) nps.gov to sign up to help!

Part-time Campground Hosts Needed throughout the Summer
We're still looking for people to host volunteers at the Longmire Campground this summer. If you can help, even a few weekends, check out a calendar listing the dates we need help on our blog.

Interpretive Training June 1-12
If you regularly encounter visitors in your volunteer activities or even if you would just like to learn more about interpretation, volunteers will be welcomed at our annual Interpretive Training sessions during the first two weeks of June. A detailed schedule will be posted later, but we anticipate interpretive presentation training from June 1-5 and 12; history and cultural resource training on June 8; the ever-popular geologic history of Mount Rainier as presented by Tom Sisson on June 9; a geology field trip on June 10; and ecology training on June 11. Due to limited transportation resources, participants of the field trip may need to carpool among themselves. If you are interested in attending any of the sessions, please RSVP to Kevin_Bacher (at) nps.gov.

Washington Trails Association Work Begins June 5
Are you interested in trail maintenance? If so, you may want to sign up for one of the Washington Trails Association (WTA) work parties. WTA will be working in the Park every weekend (Friday-Sunday) starting June 5. Sign up as soon as projects are posted at http://www.wta.org/volunteer/trail-work-parties.

Mount Rainier National Park Associates: Next Project June 13
Mount Rainier National Park Associates (MRNPA) hosts monthly volunteer projects throughout the Park: trail maintenance on June 13 and August 15; invasive species removal on July 11; revegetation planting on September 12. Visit their website at mrnpa.org to learn more, or contact John Titland at volunteer (at) mrnpa.org.

Geocachers Kick Off the NPS Centennial June 13
Every year, local geocaching enthusiasts gather at the Longmire Campground for a "Cache In, Trash Out" volunteer event. Despite the name, the project usually involves setting up wall tents and helping with general maintenance in the campground and, occasionally, elsewhere in the park. This year's event will be followed by the kickoff of a two-year GeoTour sponsored by Visit Rainier in Ashford. Visit http://coord.info/GC5TFR7 and http://coord.info/GC5T8CD to learn more -- and note that you don't have to be a geocacher (yet) to participate in either event!

For a broader scope of volunteer activites for the summer months, please see our earlier blog post. There are dozens of ways you can take an active role in keeping Mount Rainier National Park the best place to visit in the Pacific Northwest!