Leave No Trace Trainer Course

Mount Rainier Volunteer Brian Carpenter has announced that he will be giving a "Leave No Trace Trainer" course through the Mountaineers. The class is open to non-members and will include an easy overnight backpacking trip to Ancient Lakes in Eastern Washington. It is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 25-26. Participants will examine research covering recommended "best practices" and will discuss the spectrum of personal comfort levels, ethics and philosophies which determine how individuals make choices in the backcountry.  For more details, visit the Mountaineers' listing here: Leave No Trace Trainer Course. Course graduates will earn the nationally-recognized title "Leave No Trace Trainer" and will receive a certificate of completion. 

Fee is $40 for Mountaineers members, $60 for non-members. Participants must supply their own backpacking gear and food. Registration closes on March 20.

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

Click to enlarge

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.