We're Open!

Thank you, everyone, for your patience and support while we were shut down. Note that it'll take a day or two to be fully back up and running again... volunteers, please continue to be patient with your supervisors as they get back to their offices and restart their programs. We look forward to working with you again just as soon as we can! Meanwhile, it's gorgeous up here today (we're well above the fog line). And did I mention that we're open?!

Adopt-a-Highway Needs YOU!!!

State Route 706 extends from Elbe to the Nisqually Entrance of Mount Rainier National Park. This short length of highway is the primary gateway to the Park, and an area which gives visitors their first introduction to the wild and scenic beauty they will soon experience more fully.

In recent years, litter patrols of this highway have been infrequent or nonexistent, and to say that the highway looked "untidy" would be to put it mildly. We believe that as the pathway leading to our "front door," State Route 706 should make a good impression on incoming visitors, so the Volunteer Program contacted the State Dept. of Transportation to inquire into their "Adopt-a-Highway" program for citizen maintenance.

We are pleased to announce that as of August 27, 2012, the Volunteer Program has completed the adoption of the two-mile section from Milepost 2 to Milepost 4, a stretch of road which encompasses the Park's Tahoma Woods frontage. Now we are asking for your participation as a Volunteer!

This is an excellent opportunity for our Volunteers to benefit both the Park and the community! Per our agreement, we will make three litter patrols per year. The first will occur on National Public Lands Day, September 29, 2012. The next will occur in April and another in late June 2013.

Crews will consist of no more than twelve individuals. Members of the litter patrol should be physically able to walk from two to four miles, and be able to bend or stoop repeatedly throughout the day, and we'll be working rain or shine. In exchange, our reward will be to present a better face to incoming visitors, and an official Dept. of Transportation sign at either end of the patrol area acknowledging the participation of Mount Rainier National Park's wonderful Volunteers.

For further information on this on-going Volunteer activity and to reserve a spot on the crew, please contact Crow Vecchio at 360-569-6567 or email Crow.

Volunteers needed to distribute Washington's National Park Fund information at Nisqually gate

Mount Rainier National Park and Washington's National Park Fund are looking for three good volunteers to help distribute information about the Fund at the Nisqually Entrance for four hours on Saturday, August 20.

The volunteers will talk to visitors as their cars wait in line at the entrance during the peak 11am to 3pm period, hand out brochures about the Fund and its activities, and answer questions. They will meet at 10:30am for a brief training and safety orientation.

Laurie Ward, Executive Director of the Fund, explains that "No solicitations will take place....Just friendly outreach with offers of information."

If enough volunteers sign up, we may also distribute information on the following day, Sunday the 21st.

To sign up for this project, please contact Laurie Ward at 253-566-4644 or laurie@wnpf.org