2016 Annual Activity and Expense Report

Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Volunteers In Parks

Annual Activity and Expense Report

Mount Rainier National Park

Report Date: Nov 22, 2016

Fiscal Year: 2016 

   

Volunteer Coordinator and Park Information 

Total Volunteers: 2,154

Alpha Code: MORA

VIP Coordinator: Kevin Bacher

VIP Coordinator Phone: 360-569-2211

Coordinator Email: kevin_bacher@nps.gov 

   

Volunteer hours by category: 

 

Administration:  850.50

Campground Host:  2,761.50

Cultural Resource Management:  4,878.75

General Management:  369.00

Interpretation:  11,868.00

Maintenance:  26,834.80

Natural Resource Management:  11,740.20

Protection/Operations/Law Enforcement:  8,672.20

Training:  1,676.50

   

[Total hours: 69,651.45]

Hours no longer counted as volunteers:

Student Conservation Association Interns: 8,674
Geoscientist-in-Parks Interns: 3,652.5

[Total volunteer and intern hours: 81,978]

 

Volunteer Program Highlight

  

Mount Rainier had a banner year for volunteers, with more volunteer and intern hours than any year except 2007 and more volunteer numbers than we've ever recorded. Highlights this year include:

• A trial Service-Learning program with Girl Scouts was very successful within our Education and Keep Wildlife Wild programs.
• The Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association, based in Tokyo, added 704 international volunteer hours.
• Three SCA Community Crews, totaling 30 youth, contributed 2,400 hours.
• Our ongoing partnership with the Washington Trails Association brought 6,615 hours of trail maintenance by 476 people. This accounted for about a quarter of the 25,142 total hours reported in Trail Maintenance, by far our largest volunteer program.
• 29 Community Groups were active in the park, including several local schools, business groups, and Tourism Cares, which brought 100 volunteers to the park at one time for an enormous volunteer work day.
• National Trails Day and National Public Lands Day continue to be some of our most popular drop-in volunteer days.
• 11 SCA interns contributed 8,674 hours and 7 Geologist-in-Park interns contributed 3,653 hours (neither are included in "volunteer" totals).
• Citizen Science volunteers contributed 3,574 hours, surveying amphibians, butterflies, wildflowers, and wilderness hikers.
• Meadow Rovers set records with 7,877 hours by 186 people patrolling subalpine trails.

Training

  

How many people at the park require VIP Program Management Training: 18

   

Optional Information Regarding Housing VIPs and Campground Hosts

  

Number of Campground Hosts: 11

Number of VIPs housed in Permanent Structures: 30

Number of VIPs housed in Trailers: 0

   

Trailer Pads for Volunteers: 8

   

Other Information

  

Number of SCAs: 41

SCA Hours: 11,074

Number of Artists in Parks: 1

Artist in Parks Hours: 200

Number of International VIPs: 15

International VIPS Hours: 704

Number of Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps: 0

Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps Hours: 0

Number of Boy Scouts: 0

Boy Scout Hours: 0

Number of Girls Scouts: 11

Girl Scout Hours: 110

Number of Wounded Warriors: 0

Wounded Warriors Hours: 0

Winter Operations/Snow Rover Training

Save the date for Mount Rainier Winter Operations training (also known as Snow Rover Training), which will be held on Saturday December 3^rd in the Longmire Community Building.

 

Who: Those who plan on volunteering this winter.

When: Saturday December, 3

          9:00am-4:45pm (experienced winter rovers end at 3:45 PM)

Where: Longmire Community Building

What we will discuss:

·         Road Closures/Rules of the Road

·         Winter ecology

·         The 10 winter essentials

·         Winter driving tips

·         Radio protocol and procedure

If you wish to volunteer this winter, you need attend an orientation/training. Individual training takes up lots of extra time and resources. Please do your best to attend. 

 

RSVP to Mark Loper at Mark_Loper@partner.nps.gov

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Good-bye!

Another beautiful summer has come to a close and it is time for me to leave the mountain for the winter.  Once again, Meadow Rovers have given their hearts, souls, aching feet, and 6709 hours to the visitors at Mount Rainier National Park.  You have deputized at least 50,000 young hikers as caretakers of the flowers, distributed thousands of flower brochures, answered a million questions, and carried out way too many bags of garbage.  All in all, your total contacts numbered 137,237 visitors.

Sunrise roving has ended with the closing of the White River WIC.  Paradise on the other hand will be open to rovers with the following guidelines:

Weekdays

1. Pick up radios at the Longmire museum which opens at 9:00.
2. Return radios before 4:30.
3. Be sure to sign out and sign back in.
4. Solo Rovers must remain below Glacier Vista, below the Skyline/Golden Gate junction, and below the Skyline/Mazama Ridge junction.
5. Weather pemitting, teams may do the complete Skyline.

Weekends

1. Sign out and radios will be in the Rover Office in the JVC opening at 10:00.
2. Return to JVC by 4:15 p.m.
3. Check with rangers on duty or designated supervisor  as to needed areas of coverage.

On Any Given Rove

1. Be sure that you are carrying the 10 Essentials at all times.  In an emergency situation, you may be out longer than anticipated.  
2. Check the weather forecast before going out on the trail.
3. Allow yourself enough time to return radios at the end of the day.  
4. Alert your supervisor or JVC (dispatch is last resort) of anything that might delay you.
5. Keep your radio on and listen for safety updates.
6. BE SAFE – you are most important to our program.

UNIFORMS

If you are not planning to return to meadow roving, would you kindly return your uniform shirt? They can be washed and re-issued.

ARM-BANDS

Please oh please, check your backpacks for the elastic/Velcro armbands used during the cold days of May and June.  We started with 15 and now have 3.  They are much needed by the winter Snow Rover Program.  They can be mailed to:

Meadow Rover Program
c/o Kevin Bacher
55210 238th Ave E
Ashford, WA 98304

I have enjoyed making new friends and welcoming the returning rovers.  I look forward to seeing all your bright and shiny faces next summer!  Be safe and enjoy the winter.

Maureen McLean
Coordinator MORA Meadow Rovers

October Newsletter

The October Newsletter is now available on Google Drive!

Nisqually to Paradise, Oct. 6-13

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Nisqually to Paradise, Sept. 29- Oct. 6

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ROVING AFTER SUNRISE VISITOR CENTER CLOSES

Greetings to all the wonderful rovers.  It is hard to believe summer has ended and fall is here. Yesterday the Sunrise Visitor Center closed after I think its biggest summer ever! However, the road to Sunrise will remain open through possibly the end of October and rovers can still make a difference.  

While we truly appreciate your commitment to the preservation of Mount Rainier National Park, we are also concerned for your safety.  After the visitor center at Sunrise closes, there is a lack of back-up for our dedicated volunteers.  For that reason the following regulations will be in effect:

1.  SOLO rovers must remain within 1 mile of the parking lot/Visitor Center

2.  Those roving in pairs are limited to the following trails –

a.  Sunrise Nature Trail - .75 miles

b.  Silver Forest Trail – 1 mile

c.   Shadow Lake – 1.3 miles

d.  Frozen Lake – 1.5 miles

e.  Sourdough Ridge to Dege Peak – 2.1 miles

3.   When signing out, be specific about where you will be.

4.   Rovers must return radios and check-in at WIC before closing time – hours are 7:30 am to 5:00 pm daily until 10/10.

5.   If for some reason, there is no Law Enforcement Ranger or General Ranger available between White River and Sunrise, Rovers should return to the parking lot area and rove near by. 

These regulations will be in effect until the WIC closes on 10/10.  Roving after that will depend on the ability to provide back-up for our rovers.

Nisqually to Paradise, September 22-29

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National Public Lands Day, September 24

Mount Rainier National Park will celebrate National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 24, 2016, with two large volunteer projects open to public participation. The work day caps a busy summer in which nearly 2,000 people have contributed to the protection of Mount Rainier's natural and cultural treasures and helped serve its visitors.

Supt. Randy King (left) poses with volunteers on NPLD in 2015

National Public Lands Day is an annual celebration of public involvement in the stewardship of America’s national, state, and local parks and forests. More than 170,000 individuals are expected to participate in events all over the country. In recognition of this, entrance fees will be waived at all national parks for the day. Volunteers will receive an additional coupon for free admission on a day of their choice.

 

Members of the public are invited to join in the day’s work. The National Parks Conservation Association will coordinate registration for the event beginning at 8:00 a.m. at the White River Campground, six miles west of Highway 410 in the northeast corner of the park. After a brief welcome at 9:00, participants will divide into work groups. The Washington Trails Association and Park Service crew leaders will lead trail maintenance projects at Sunrise, while other volunteers will work with the park’s revegetation crew to plant native plants in a restoration area about a mile from the Sunrise Visitor Center. Trail work is suitable for ages 16 and up, while planting is good for all ages.

Volunteers should come prepared for any kind of weather, with warm clothing, rain gear, sturdy footwear, and gloves. Knee pads are also recommended for planting. If the weather is nice, sunglasses, sunscreen, and hats are recommended. Volunteers should also bring water, snacks, and a lunch.

Volunteers at Mount Rainier National Park maintain and patrol trails, assist and educate visitors, conduct research as citizen scientists, and plant native plants. Last year, 1,778 volunteers and interns contributed 65,538 hours of service, an effort valued at $1.5 million.

Information about Mount Rainier’s volunteer program, including a list of open positions, a calendar of activities, and pictures and videos of volunteers in action may be found on Mount Rainier National Park’s website at www.nps.gov/mora.

Nisqually to Paradise, September 15-22

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A big THANK YOU to Michaela Lawrence!

 

Michaela Lawrence worked 320 hours as a volunteer this summer. She is the 3rd Wooster College student in the program to use geochemical means to detect stagnant glacier ice for geohazard recognition. the lead professor plans on publishing the results this year.

 

Below is a poster she created school. Michaela looks to have a bright future ahead of her!

Click the image to enlarge.

 

Adopt-A-Highway Volunteers

For a little over three years now, Mount Rainier volunteers have been participating in the state's "Adopt-a-Highway" program through the Dept. of Transportation. Three times every year, we go out and patrol a two-mile section of SR 706, collecting multiple bags of trash each time we work. It's not a glamorous job, but we like to think it makes the journey to the Park a little more pleasant for visitors.

Our pickup dates vary, but we always schedule one in April and September, with the third frequently occurring just before or after the Fourth of July weekend. We're done for 2016, but we hope you'll join us next year!

Westside Road Project - Thank You!

A big thank you to those volunteers who have been working on the Westside Road with Jeni! Some of their work included: shoveling soil, using tools to cut down young willow and alder branches for live staking, using rock bars to move rocks for site preparation, moving soil via wheelbarrow, and hammering live stakes into the creek bed.

Lots of hard work - thank you!!!

Nisqually to Paradise - September 8-15

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Meadow Rovers Rock

Summer 2016 has forged new records in Meadow Rover hours and contacts.  Our volunteers have come from as far away as Florida, Colorado, and California, and as close as the concession employees in the park.  But we aren't done yet!  With warm sunny weather predicted for the next week or two, visitors will continue to hit the trails.  Even in the cold wet weather, rovers do tremendous work in preventing people from going forth unprepared.  So keep on roving until the road is closed at Sunrise or the snow flies at Paradise!!

My season as coordinator will wind down by mid-October. During this time, I would like to hear from you. Your observations as to issues with trails, crowd control, or anything you feel park management should know, are welcomed.  These will be included in the End-of-Season report that is prepared before I leave for winter.

Also, please let me know what you would like to see, hear, or do with training next June. I always want your needs met and to make training worthwhile. So send me your ideas.

And for those of you who just can't get enough....keep your eyes open for Snow Rover training!

Maureen McLean
Coordinator MORA Meadow Rovers
Maureen_McLean@nps.gov

Reveg at Sunrise

Mount Rainier National Park Associates would like to remind everyone that their last work party of the year will be a revegetation project in the Sunrise area on Saturday, September 10th. If you are interested in participating, please contact John Titland at volunteer@mrnpa.org for more details.

Stitchers Needed for Bat Bags!

An unusual request for volunteer help comes from Wildlife Biologist Tara Chestnut: she needs bat bags...600 of them, as a matter of fact, and if you're adept with a sewing machine, you can help out.

You've undoubtedly heard about White-Nose Syndrome, a fungal disease which is devastating bat populations across the country. It has been reported in Washington in several areas including one just 30 miles north of Mount Rainier National Park. Tara and her team will be capturing bats next spring in order to test them for the disease, and that's where the bat bags come in. Each bat captured will need to be retained in a bag until they have been examined for evidence of White-Nose Syndrome, and since there is a risk of transferring the disease from one bat to another, the bags cannot be reused until they have been thoroughly washed. You can read more about White-Nose Syndrome in this NPS article.

Tara gives the specifics based on a commercially-produced holding bag. "It's a simple rectangular bag, sewn with a finished hem (a turn under hem - folded over twice with a runner stitch - is simple and easy) and sturdy ribbon tie.  The material needs to be cotton but I'm okay with any pattern (given that it's near Halloween, I suspect there are lots of fun bat themed fabrics available). The ribbon tie can be any material that will hold up to boiling water and lots of washing."

If you're interested in bat conservation and want to help in a tangible way, please contact Tara_Chestnut@nps.gov for more details.

Photo courtesy of US Forest Service

Nisqually to Paradise, September 6-9

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Volunteer Newsletter - September 2016

The Volunteer Newsletter is out and available on Google Drive!

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwA95hiqLwbPZGhzelhZanh6R0U

September 10 Reveg!

From John Titland:

Greetings, Alpine Gardeners and Trail Work Volunteers!

The annual Mount Rainier National Park Associates meadow revegetation work party will be Saturday, September 10th. That is the Saturday following the Labor Day weekend. MRNPA volunteers again will be assisting the Mount Rainier ecological restoration crew in planting wildflower seedlings, working to convert a historic campground area near Sunrise back into a sub-alpine meadow. I am told this will be the last year for reveg at Sunrise for some time. Next year the reveg work will begin again at Paradise.

On the morning of Saturday, September 10th, MRNPA volunteers will meet in the Sunrise parking lot between 8:30 and 9:00 AM. As you arrive at Sunrise, MRNPA volunteers will parked generally in the far left (south) corner of the parking lot. We will be the people who look like they know what is going on.  Please check in with me as soon as you arrive. I need to get a count and the names of all MRNPA volunteers. There will be volunteers from other organizations milling about so stick close with the MRNPA group and be ready to move out at 9:00 AM. Because MRNPA volunteers have been involved in planting at Sunrise for so many years, we are normally the first ones to head out to the work site. We normally work until at least 3 PM and will take a break for lunch at about at noon.

Be prepared for almost any fall weather. In the past we have experienced everything from warm and sunny days to a driving blizzard. In addition to your sun hat, sunscreen, and your rain gear, bring a lunch, plenty of fluids to drink, gardening gloves, and a hand digging tool you like to use. If you have no gardening tools, the NPS crew will provide small hand tools. Most of the day you will be working on your hands and knees to do the planting, so you should bring some kind of protection for your knees. The pads available at your local gardening retailer work for most people. The work site is about a mile hike from the Sunrise parking lot, so plan on carrying everything you need to and from the work site.

This is a great outing to share with your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend and even your kids. It is a beautiful location. It is also very instructive to see that much of the area has been replanted and is now slowly returning to being a meadow.

There is no charge for volunteers to enter the Park. When you enter at the White River Entrance, tell the gate attendant that you will be doing volunteer work on the meadow restoration project at Sunrise.  

If you plan to join the MRNPA volunteers on Saturday, September 10th, for this meadow revegetation work party, please reply to volunteer(at)mrnpa.org confirming that you are coming and indicating the number of volunteers that you will bringing with you.

John Titland
Volunteer Coordinator
Mount Rainier National Park Associates

Volunteers needed for the State Fair

Mount Rainier is in urgent need for people to staff our booth or snowshoe track for the following days and times:

 

 

 

 

Snowshoe track:

Friday the 2nd from noon to 3 PM

Saturday the 10th from 3 to 6 PM

Friday the 16th from noon to 3 PM

Friday the 16th from 3 to 6 PM

Saturday the 24th from 3 to 6 PM

Information Booth:

Saturday the 3rd from 1 to 5 PM

Sunday the 25th from 9 Am to 1 PM

 

If none of these work for you, you can check the following link and sign up (email Jim_Ross@nps.gov) for a shift that has only one person listed. We always prefer two people (except for evening shifts) but shifts with no one are of course high priority.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RVDy-FrronJW4ec2ao5cZCtTnPZJLiVZCSadvmtwm38/edit?usp=sharing

For those who have already signed up - thanks and your passes are in the mail.

 

Jim

Jim_Ross@nps.gov

Nisqually to Paradise, August 25-September 1

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High Visitation Expected at Mount Rainier National Park During Centennial Weekend

Mount Rainier National Park News Release

Release Date: August 19, 2016

Contact: Kelsea Holbrook, 360-569-6510

With an extended forecast for sunny, summer weather, Mount Rainier National Park officials advise park visitors to anticipate high traffic volumes and full parking areas in the park for the National Park Service Centennial Weekend, August 25-28. This summer visitors to Mount Rainier National Park have experienced hour long waits at park entrance stations during mid-day peak travel times, particularly on weekends. With the nice weather and park entrance fees waived, the park expects a very busy Centennial Weekend.

In recognition of the National Park Service’s anniversary date of August 25, 1916, throughout the National Park Service entrance fees will be waived for the extended weekend dates of August 25 through August 28.

For visitors to Mount Rainier National Park on Thursday, August 25, the park invites visitors to celebrate the National Park Service Centennial with some special activities around the park at Longmire, Ohanapecosh, Paradise and Sunrise between9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

At Longmire, the park is celebrating the history of the park. At the historic gas station you can visit with the park’s curator while viewing some of the rarely seen items from the park’s museum collection. Every hour, beginning at 10:00 a.m. and ending at 2:00 p.m., the park’s living history team will be presenting programs that feature stories about people from the park’s past. On the half hour, beginning at 10:30 a.m. and ending at 2:30 p.m., there will be walking tours of the Longmire Historic District led by the park’s historic architect and historic landscape architect.

At Ohanapecosh, the park is celebrating the next generation of park stewards with special Junior Ranger activities beginning every half hour from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. These programs will be followed by a National Park Service birthday celebration and Junior Ranger ceremony at the Ohanapecosh Amphitheater at 2:00 p.m. Kids can earn their Junior Ranger badge while learning about birds, bugs, animals, and more!

At Paradise, the park is celebrating the work that park rangers and park partners do to run the park. Visitors can roam the plaza outside the Jackson Visitor Center to learn about the work and the specialized equipment used to keep Mount Rainier National Park going. From tracking fox to rescuing climbers, there is no shortage of interesting work in national parks. Meet rangers between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., followed by a Centennial birthday celebration at 2:30 p.m. with speaker Randy King, Superintendent.

At Sunrise, the park is celebrating the science conducted in the park to learn about and protect park natural and cultural resources. Through activities, demonstrations and guided walks learn about the work archeologists, botanists, ecologists and geologists do in the park. Meet scientists between 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., followed by a Centennial Birthday celebration in the Sunrise Picnic Area at 2:30 p.m. with speaker Tracy Swartout, Deputy Superintendent.

For those wishing to celebrate the anniversary with a service project, there will be volunteer projects at both Longmire and Paradise, beginning at 9:00 a.m. and lasting about four hours.  Meet at the Longmire Museum to volunteer for maintenance projects at the Longmire Stewardship Campground. To volunteer at Paradise, meet outside the Jackson Visitor Center at the staircase with the John Muir quote for a trail brushing project. Please bring water and snacks; tools and gloves will be provided.

www.nps.gov

Park information, announcements, and the Mount Rainier webcams are posted on the park’s official website, nps.gov/mora.

• Get additional information and updates by joining the Mount Rainier community on Facebook: facebook.com/MountRainierNPS
• Find out breaking news and road status updates through Mount Rainier’s Twitter feed: twitter.com/MountRainierNPS
• Explore the park and behind-the-scenes operations with our videos on YouTube: youtube.com/MountRainierNPS
• Share your own photos of Mount Rainier with other visitors in the Mount Rainier Flickr group: flickr.com/groups/MountRainierNPS

About the National Park Service- More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 412 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities.

Litter Patrol Recruiting Now!

Put yourself in this picture by joining our small  but dedicated task force of litter pickers: the Mount Rainier Volunteers Adopt-a-Highway crew!

A lot of litter has accumulated over the summer as record numbers of visitors have been streaming into the Park. Our team goes out with long-armed grabbers and heavy plastic bags three times each year to patrol the two-mile section of SR 706, a stretch which includes the frontage of the Park's Tahoma Woods administrative facilities as well as the only good view of Mount Rainier along the highway. We want it to keep our "front step" clean for our visitors, so please consider joining us for our next pick-up on September 11. Crew size is limited to 12, so reserve your volunteer opportunity now! Please RSVP by September 6. For more information, contact Crow at petrina_vecchio@partner.nps.gov.

A big THANK YOU to Mount Rainier's awesome volunteers!

Sunrise Meadow Rover Picnic
Photo by Glenn Baldwin

Hello everyone! Ranger Kevin here with a story to share:

I spent last weekend (Friday and Saturday) out in the park, preparing and hosting the annual volunteer picnics; then hiked the Skyline Trail at Paradise with my family on Monday. As manager of Mount Rainier's volunteer program, my job has me in the office in front of a computer and telephone too much of the time, so I value these opportunities to actually get out in the field and see things happening. I encountered many volunteers on these three days, and want to take a moment to say how thoroughly impressed I am by the work you all are doing!

We're at peak season right now, and the park is overflowing with people. The pressures have never been greater, on our park and on the people who manage it. And yet, the volunteers I encountered invariably bore smiles and enthusiasm for their work.

At Longmire, I chatted with a campground host who was so excited about his job that he was already making plans to recruit students at his local college for volunteer work. At Sunrise, I found the parking lot so efficiently organized that it looked like the cars had been parked by a valet service, even in places where there were no painted lines marking the parking spaces, and two volunteers directing traffic in the hot sun. They were grateful for a cold diet soda from my cooler, but had no complaints about taking on duties that would tempt a paid employee to surliness, and dozens of visitors benefited from their efforts, whether they were aware of it or not. At Paradise, my family and I encountered several Meadow Rovers as we made the loop of the Skyline Trail, all of whom greeted us and the other visitors around us with big smiles and helpful information, in spite of all the other visitors they were dealing with who ignored the "stay on trails" signs to cross fragile meadows in search of snow or better wildflower pictures.

This weekend was not unique. Last week I served as the Public Information Officer for a search and rescue effort in the park, and took reports of Mountain Rescue volunteers who responded on short notice from Olympia, Seattle, and Everett to help with the (ultimately successful) search. I received a copy of a comment form filled out by a visitor who was grateful for the help provided by our Emergency Roadside Assistance volunteers. Another note expressed gratitude for the help provided by volunteers to an injured hiker on the Silver Forest Trail at Sunrise. A trail maintenance volunteer passed on to me how frequently passing visitors thanked her group for the work they were doing to keep the trails in good condition.

And these are only the higher profile ways that volunteers help out, the ones that generate visitor comments and feedback. Other volunteers work behind the scenes, less obvious but no less important in their contributions to the National Park Service: surveying plants and animals, curating the park's historical artifacts, removing invasive species, repairing erosion damage from winter floods, maintaining campgrounds and campsites, and dozens of other tasks that ensure that Mount Rainier remains as pristine as possible for future generations as well as our own.

When visitors' cars line up for more than a mile at the park's entrance station, and it seems like you've asked the 50th person in the past hour to stop trampling the meadows, it can be difficult not to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task. And yet, imagine what the park would be like without the help of our volunteers! The meadows would have little protection from well-meaning visitors who don't understand how sensitive they are to being trampled, and would go unrepaired by overworked revegetation crews. The trails would deteriorate faster than our paid crews could keep up with repairing them. Parking at Sunrise would be haphazard and dozens of families would not be able to find anywhere to park. Lost hikers would take critically long to find. Park managers would lack important data on the abundance and distribution of park species. Campers would have no one to talk to when they needed assistance in the middle of the night, and visitors who locked their keys in their cars or ran out of gas would go hours before patrol rangers could respond.

And on and on. No matter how busy the park seems, and how much there remains to do, we couldn't possibly keep the park looking as good as it does, nor assist our visitors as well as we do, without our volunteers. Volunteers make a difference!

And so, I want to recognize each and every one of you who makes some part of our mission your own, to preserve and protect Mount Rainier for the enjoyment of present and future generations. Whether you come up only once for a few hours, or return day after day for years on end, every one of you makes a difference. I, and my family hiking the trails with me, and my grandchildren and great grandchildren yet to come, are all grateful.

Thank you.

Kevin Bacher
Volunteer and Outreach Program Manager
Mount Rainier National Park

Call for help at the State Fair

We still need lots of help, especially on the weekends!

I know, many of you work or volunteer on the weekends but if you are not otherwise tied up, consider helping out.

Check out the following link to see what time slots are available. Time slots highlighted in yellow for the Information Booth are shifts we have the greatest need. I didn't mark the time slots of greatest need for the Snowshoe Track since we need someone for every shift! 

Remember this link is a view only site. You may not sign up at this link.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1RVDy-FrronJW4ec2ao5cZCtTnPZJLiVZCSadvmtwm38/edit?usp=sharing


Informational Booth shifts are:   

Mon, Wed-Fri:  first shift 10:00-1:30, second shift 1:30-5:00, third shift 5:00-8:30.

Sat-Sun:  first shift 9:00-1:00, second shift 1:00-5:00, third shift 5:00-9:00.

  
Snowshoe Track shifts are:   
Fri-Sun:  first shift Noon-3:00, second shift 3:00-6:00

How to sign up: 

Send me an email (Jim_Ross@nps.gov) and include the following things:

1. Which activity you would like to work

2. The date(s)

3. The time shift(s)

4. Your current mailing address (so I can mail instructions, maps, and tickets) 

You may sign up for multiple dates, times, and activities.

Doesn't this look like fun? Last year we talked with nearly 3000 kids and parents at the snowshoe track. Fortunately we didn't put snowshoes on every one of those people. 

Thanks, and we’ll see you at the fair!

 

Jim

Jim_Ross@nps.gov