Cascade Butterfly Project at Mount Rainier

Mountain ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and butterflies are bellwether species, moving north in latitude or up in elevation as temperatures warm. As part of the Cascades Butterfly Project, you can help track changes in butterfly species distribution and relative density. Just grab a butterfly net and join a three-person team on a designated one-kilometer south-to-north route through an alpine meadow. Each of the 10 routes is monitored weekly during the summer, and both long-term and one-time volunteers are welcome. Even if you can’t make one of the survey days, you can still help: Upload your butterfly pics, along with location info, to the photo inventory project.

Cascades Butterfly Project: https://www.nps.gov/noca/getinvolved/supportyourpark/butterfly-project.htm

Photo Inventory: http://www.butterfliesandmoths.org/

Volunteers survey butterflies at Mount Rainier and North Cascades

One of the biggest challenges faced by natural resource managers is knowing what resources, exactly, they have to manage. How can you know, for example, whether your amphibian species are in decline, as they are so many places, unless you first find out which ones you have and then monitor their populations over time? Mount Rainier's Citizen Science program was created a few years ago to address this issue with the help of volunteers, and now a similar program is beginning to monitor butterflies.

Butterflies are a great species to study because they come in so many varieties, each focused on a particular niche in the ecosystem for feeding and reproducing. Jim Burnett explains on the National Parks Traveler website: "Subalpine meadows are projected to shrink dramatically due to the effects of climate change, but the rate and magnitude of this change are unknown. Butterflies make ideal indicator species because they are particularly sensitive to climatic changes, and are relatively easy to identify in the field by scientists and volunteers alike." They also capture the imagination as they flutter colorfully among the summer flowers.

Now, volunteers will conduct regular survey transects at four sites in Mount Rainier National Park, along with sites at North Cascades National Park and four other locations in the Cascade range, to determine which varieties of butterfly make these mountains their home, and whether each is increasing or decreasing in numbers. Like the amphibian surveys, it's a critical but time-intensive project that will take many years of dedicated study to complete, and one that would be impossible without the dedicated assistance of volunteers.

The "Cascades Butterfly Project" will engage volunteers to inventory butterflies and upload photos and locations onto the Butterflies and Moths of North America website. The volunteers will also note how many of each species of butterfly they see, and which flowers are blooming.
Training of volunteers took place on July 23 at Sauk Mountain and on August 13 at Mount Rainier, though the survey transect at Paradise was still under snow. Other areas included in the study include the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest, Skagit Valley Provincial Park, and Manning Provincial Park.

Survey locations at Mount Rainier include Mazama Ridge, Naches Peak, Berkely Park, and Spray Park. Volunteers at North Cascades National Park will survey Maple and Easy Pass, and in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Yellow Aster Butte and Skyline Divide.

The National Park component of the butterfly survey project involves Wildlife Biologists Mason Reid, at Mount Rainier, and Bob Kuntz, at North Cacades, along with Botanists Lou Whiteaker and Mignonne Bivin. The monitoring program was developed by Dr. John McLaughlin, of Western Washington University, with help from teams of high school students from the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry for two years of field testing. The program is modeled after a similar program in the Rocky Mountains, which has been monitoring butterflies for 14 years now and has contributed to a significant increase in the number of documented species in Rocky Mountain National Park. A preliminary survey of butterflies at Mount Rainier was completed in 2008 by Dr. Dana Garrigan of Carthage College, including a checklist of 65 species.
Volunteers are still being recruited for this long-term project. To join the Cascades Butterfly Project, contact Jeff Anderson, North Cascades Institute Science Coordinator, at jeff_anderson@ncascades.org or 206-526-2574. Download the project's Resource Brief here. You can also check out the Cascades Butterfly Project Group on Yahoo.

Cascade Butterfly Project Trainings

This year, there will be two indoor orientations (trainings) for the Cascade Butterfly Project as well as two field trainings. More information is given below. If you have any questions, contact Regina_Rochefort@nps.gov

1) Webinar: June 22, 6 pm - this webinar will be about 30 minutes in length with time for questions. Registration link is given below. There will be a toll free phone number to listen in:

Please register for Orientation to the Cascade Butterfly Project on Jun 22, 2016 6:00 PM PDT at:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/1291928736522716931

Learn the basics of the Cascade Butterfly project - Why, What, Where and How you can be a part of the project.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

2) June 25, 4 - 5 or 5:30 pm, University of Washington Burke Museum - Come and learn about Monitoring Butterflies in Mount Rainier and North Cascades National Parks and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie & Okanogan-Wenatchee Nation Forests

This will be a short powerpoint presentation with plent of time to talk. Parking is free in the afternoon!

This orientation will be following the MeadoWatch Orientation (MeadoWatch is a Plant Phenology monitoring program at Mount Rainier). If you are interested in both programs please attend both. Here is the website for MeadoWatch:

http://www.meadowatch.org/get-involved.html

3) July 8 - Field Training! at Sunrise in Mount Rainier National Park - meet us at 10 am in the Sunrise parking lot in front of the Visitor center. - Bring a lunch and practise netting, butterfly identification, and plant identification. We will bring a calendar and have sign-ups for surveys.

4) Coming Soon - Sauk Mountain Field training - when this scheduled, Regina will send out a notice.

Citizen Science programs are busy working (and looking for help)

As I write this, three different volunteer programs are underway in Mount Rainier National Park that work with volunteers to improve our understanding of the park's natural resources and how they are changing over time. One of those, the Cascades Butterfly Survey, is actively looking for additional participants.

Started two years ago by resource managers at North Cascades National Park, the Cascades Butterfly Survey enlists volunteers to cover transects throughout Washington's Cascade Range, including four sites at Mount Rainier. Participants slowly walk their appointed route with a butterfly net, collecting butterflies that cross their path as they flit through wildflowers at peak bloom. Each is carefully identified, recorded, and released. Over time, changing patterns of butterfly range and behavior will give us clues to how our environment is changing under both natural and human influences.

Crews will be working at Rainier next week: Monday August 12 at Naches Peak, Tuesday August 13 near Berkeley Park, Wednesday August 14 on Mazama Ridge, and Thursday August 15 at Spray Park. If you're interested in getting out in the sun, wildflowers, and butterflies, contact volunteer coordinator Michelle Toshack as soon as possible at Michelle_Toshack@nps.gov. You can also visit the group's website and read previous articles on this blog.

Meanwhile, the brand new MeadoWatch program is up and running, with volunteers working almost daily to keep track of which flowers are budding, flowering, and setting seed at Paradise and Reflection Lakes. Like the butterfly project, this one will monitor changes in when flowers grow and bloom over time, especially as the climate changes. MeadoWatch is a program run by the University of Washington in partnership with the National Park Service, and a training session last month was well-attended. If you're interested in participating with the program next summer, get on the mailing list by contacting Anna Wilson at mwatch@uw.edu.

Mount Rainier's first official Citizen Science program was initiated half a dozen years ago to survey frogs, salamanders, and other amphibians in the park's remote lakes and ponds. As with later Citizen Science programs, it was born out of the challenge of collecting large amounts of vital data about the nature of park resources, without enough paid staff to do so. Questions as simple as "how many frogs do you have in the park, and what kinds?" are impossible to answer unless someone actually first looks. This year's surveys are being organized by Student Conservation Association intern Annie Tran, and will be making forays to Mazama Ridge, Bench Lake, Three Lakes, Laughingwater Canyon, Golden Lakes, and Mystic Lake over the next month. Get on the mailing list for next year's program by filling out a volunteer application online.

Whatever they're doing, Citizen Scientists aid our understanding of the magnificent and often endangered resources of our National Parks. We could not protect those resources as effectively without their help, and for this we are deeply grateful!

Butterfly Survey

"Oh, look! What a pretty blue butterfly!" Yes, but did you know that there are at least four separate species of Blues to be found in Berkeley Park? That's what Michelle Toshack and a crew of five volunteers discovered during the weeks of late August and early September 2011. Thirteen species of butterfly were detected at four transects (Naches Peak, Berkeley Park, Mazama Ridge and Spray Park) in a series of fifteen surveys.


With late-lying snow hampering the project in two of the areas, the group was able to collect data which may be used in determining how butterfly populations are affected by climate change. The volunteers were trained beforehand in collection protocols and identification procedures. Each five-meter "box" was carefully and slowly paced out on days when the weather met specific criteria. Volunteers showed great enthusiasm for identifying each species and came away from the project with a greater sense of the value in collecting scientific data such as this.

"Glaucopsyche lygdamus! I see a Glaucopsyche lygdamus! Check it out!" Now there's something to get excited about!

Butterfly Surveys

From Michelle Toshack:
Happy August, fellow lepidopterists!
I wanted to give a mid-season update on what's been happening at our butterfly monitoring sites...and it's pretty exciting! July was an incredibly sunny month, with many of the monitoring sites snow-free sooner than we've seen in the last couple of years.
17 surveys have been completed, compared to 5 completed in July 2012.19 butterfly species have been detected, compared to 6 species in July 2012.16 citizen scientists have volunteered with the project (Thank you!), compared to 5 in July 2012.and...942 individual butterflies have been detected while conducting surveys. In July 2012, 71 individuals had been detected. I think that's pretty impressive! The butterflies that we have seen include the following:
* Clodius Parnassian
* Anise Swallowtail
* Margined White
* Western White
* Sara's Orangetip
* Silvery Blue
* Anna's Blue
* Boisduval's Blue
* Arctic Blue
* Purplish Copper
* Mariposa Copper
* Moss' Elfin
* Western Meadow Fritillary
* Arctic Fritillary
* Mormon Fritillary
* Edith's Checkerspot
* Anicia Checkerspot
* Milbert's Tortoiseshell
* Vidler's Alpine
Keep up the good work!
Next week we will be conducting butterfly surveys at both Mount Rainier National Park and the North Cascades National Park. Let me know if you are interested in volunteering!
Mount Rainier schedule: James Heintz and Tanner Humphries
August 12-Naches Peak (Tipsoo Lake trailhead)
August 13-Berkeley Park (Sunrise trailhead)
August 14-Mazama Ridge (4th Crossing trailhead, near Paradise)
August 15-Spray Park (Mowich Lake trailhead)
North Cascades schedule: Michelle Toshack
August 12-Cascade Pass
August 13-Sauk Mountain
August 14-Skyline Divide

Cascade Butterfly Project Volunteer Training POSTPONED

As you may have read on our blog this week, the Cascade Butterfly Project is seeking volunteers to work within Mount Rainier National Park!

Unfotunately due to a lingering heavy snowpack, the intial training (originally schedule for Thursday, July 28th) has been postponed. A new date volunteer training date is in the works though, so stay tuned to the Mount Rainier National Park blog!

In the meantime you may learn more about this exciting project by visiting http://www.nps.gov/mora/supportyourpark/upload/2011-07-12-Butterfly-NOCA-Resource-Brief-2011_v2.pdf.

You may also contact Jeff Anderson at 206-526-2574 (jeff_anderson@ncascades.org) or Mason Reid at 360-569-6771 (mason_reid@nps.gov).

Butterfly Survey completes successful season

I received the following summary on Wednesday from our Cascades Butterfly Survey volunteers. Let me add my own thanks for all of the awesome Citizen Science that was done this summer!

The total tally for the season has been completed and within our study transects we saw a total of:

1,671 butterflies!

Including incidental species we saw a total of:

35 different butterfly species!

This project wouldn't be as successful without the help of outstanding citizens like yourselves and we hope to see you all again next season.

Always watching those butterflies flutter-by,

The Leaping Lepidopterists

Aiding Paradise: Volunteers are helping us understand and prepare for climate change

Volunteers make survey measurements
on the Nisqually Glacier

Many of you have already read the excellent 16-page special section in The News Tribune that came out last month called "Losing Paradise: Climate Change is Changing Mount Rainier." If you haven't done so, it's an excellent read, covering everything from the science behind climate change (both what we know and what's still uncertain) to its effects on the mountain's glaciers, rivers, plants, animals, visitors, and caretakers.

The one tiny flaw in this exceptional and comprehensive story is that nowhere are volunteers mentioned -- at least, by that title. But anyone who knows anything about Mount Rainier knows that volunteers are intimately involved in everything we do, and that is certainly true of our efforts to understand and prepare for climate change.

This mountain is one of the best places on the planet to study the local effects of changing climate, and as the article suggests, it has attracted a swarm of graduate students. Many are independent researchers, working with their universities under research permits. Others are hired as volunteers or interns by the National Park Service through programs like the Geoscientists-in-Parks program, a partnership with the Geologic Society of America (whose interns have contributed greatly to Mount Rainier over the years, and whose 2015 positions are accepting applications until February 3rd). Scott Beason, a park geologist, began his career as a "GIP" intern. John Beyeler and Rebecca Rossi, who spent the summer of 2013 gathering stream data in the Carbon River channel, and who are featured on the cover the special section in the News Tribune, sitting on an island surrounded by the rushing river, were two more such interns. Emily Knoth and John Russell, 2014 interns, are photographed conducting surveys at Longmire. Mitch Haynes, pictured mapping the Nisqually Glacier, was a 2014 summer volunteer working with park geomorphologist Paul Kennard.

MeadoWatch volunteer Karen Murante
surveys wildflowers on Mazama Ridge

Volunteers help in other ways, too. They survey sensitive animal species on our wildlife crews, and serve as Citizen Scientists, documenting the changing populations of amphibian surveys in wilderness lakes and ponds. "MeadoWatch" volunteers monitor the timing of when flowers bloom and set seed, and its Park Service and University of Washington facilitators are working with NASA satellite imagery to develop predictive snow melt models. The volunteer Cascade Butterfly Survey tracks fluctuations in butterfly populations over the years. Even casual park visitors can get involved, by submitting their geotagged photos for researchers to analyze. The deployment of volunteers gives us hundreds of data points where, if we relied solely on paid staff, we would have only dozens.

And, of course, when the rivers rise, causing damage like that of the November 2006 floods that wiped out roads, bridges, trails, and campgrounds, volunteers respond to make repairs. Miles of trail were rebuilt almost entirely by volunteers; it's no exaggeration to say that large swaths of the park would still be closed off without the help of partners like the Washington Trails Association and Student Conservation Association who helped organize work crews. Community groups representing REI, Boeing, Starbucks, the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, church groups, military units, geocaching clubs, and dozens of others joined hundreds of individuals to grade and build and brush and plant.

You can make a difference! Volunteer with our MeadoWatch, Butterfly Survey, or Citizen Science programs to help gather data for researchers. Share your photos of flowering plants (how simple is that)! Work with our Trail Crews, and with our partners at the Washington Trails Association, to continue repairing and maintaining damaged trails. Support the work of other partners like Washington's National Park Fund and the National Parks Conservation Association. Join other volunteer efforts throughout the year, and encourage your employee associations, church groups, civic groups, and community organizations to contribute. Together, we can make a real difference. See you on the Mountain!

Volunteers Needed for the Cascade Butterfly Project

The Cascades Butterfly Project needs you! Get out into the beautiful mountains of North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and help wildlife biologists identify and count alpine butterflies.

Alpine meadows in these two National Parks are expected to shrink dramatically due to the effects of climate change, but as of now, the rate and magnitude of this change is unknown. Butterflies make ideal indicator species because they are particularly sensitive to climatic changes, and are relatively easy to identify in the field by scientists and volunteers alike. So come for a hike in some of the Northwest’s most scenic alpine meadows and help contribute to this important research!

Volunteer Training:

We will be holding a volunteer training in which participants will learn more about the project and the ecology of Cascades butterflies. The trainings will have two components: an hour-long classroom session, followed by a longer afternoon field excursion where we will practice field ID and scientific research protocols in subalpine meadows.

Volunteer training is highly recommended, but not mandatory for participation in the project.

THIS TRAINING HAS BEEN POSTPONED - A NEW DATE WILL BE POSTED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
July 28, 2011- Mt. Rainier National Park
Training will run from 9:00am to 3:00pm
Paradise Jackson Visitor Center

For more information please visit http://www.nps.gov/mora/supportyourpark/upload/2011-07-12-Butterfly-NOCA-Resource-Brief-2011_v2.pdfor contact Mason Reid at 360-569-6771 or mason_reid@nps.gov

Butterfly hunters at Mount Rainier this weekend

Are you interested in helping survey butterflies at Mount Rainier?

This is your reminder that the Cascades Butterfly Project will be in the park this Friday and again the following weekend. Stop by, join the fun, and become your own Curiosity Rover for a day!

Here's a note from Michelle Toshack, coordinator of the project, with details. You can also review previous blog entries about the Cascades Butterfly Project for more information:

---

Thanks so much for coming out to in the field with us! I wanted to let you know that Melanie Weiss, field lead volunteer, will be at Berkeley Park on August 17th and could meet up to 4 volunteers at the Sunrise trailhead at 10 am.

I will be in Rainier from August 27-30 as follows:

Aug 27-Naches Peak (meet at Tipsoo Lake trailhead at noon)
Aug 28-Berkeley Park (meet at Sunrise trailhead at 10)
August 29-Mazama Ridge (meet at 4th crossing trailhead at 10)
August 30-Spray Park (meet at Mowich Lake trailhead at 10).

It would be great to have more volunteers!

Thanks,
Michelle

Volunteer Newsletter, September 2013

National Public Lands Day, September 28

Our biggest volunteer event of the year is coming up on Saturday, September 28! National Public Lands Day is a nationwide effort by volunteers on public lands that often draws more than a hundred people to Mount Rainier National Park.

This year’s event will take place on the west side of the park, with registration by the National Parks Conservation Association beginning at Longmire at 8:00am and the day’s work kicking off at 9:00. Trail crews will carpool up to Paradise and Pinnacle Peak to do trail maintenance in partnership with NPS and Washington Trails Association crew leaders, while other volunteers will gather in the Longmire Volunteer Campground to continue its historic restoration and take down wall tents in preparation for winter. Other projects are also being organized, so watch the volunteer blog for details!

As always, free camping in the Longmire Campground is available for anyone who volunteers, and participants will receive a coupon for free entrance into the park on a later date. Please RSVP if you plan to camp, and we look forward to seeing all of you here!

Special Thank Yous

Volunteers always play a special role at Mount Rainier National Park, contributing more than a million and a half dollars worth of work every year. We could never protect our park and its resources, nor serve its visitors, as well as we do, without the help of our volunteers! At no time in the park’s history, with the possible exception of the years following the great flood of 2006, has our volunteer team been more critical to the mission of the park than it has been this summer. The automatic budget cuts known as "sequestration" reduced our budget by 5% over 2012 levels, following several years when our appropriations had already fallen behind inflation. Volunteers have stepped up to help fill the gap, as they always do – serving in visitor centers, patrolling frontcountry and wilderness areas, conducting research, assisting with search and rescue operations, maintaining trails and backcountry facilities, and in general performing work equivalent to almost 150 additional seasonal employees.

Reports of your good efforts come across my desk in the volunteer program office every week: campground hosts setting up makeshift visitor centers and deputizing Junior Rangers when regular visitor centers are closed, meadow rovers helping to respond to emergencies, youth trail crews assisting grateful visitors in spots where trails have washed out, and much more.

Our volunteer program thrives also on the support of partners and sponsors. Washington's National Park Fund has contributed generously to our budget through the financial support of people like you, making possible the purchase of project supplies, housing and vehicle rent, uniforms, and student internships, among others. Additional funding this summer has come from the Youth Partnerships Program, National Park Foundation, Keep America Beautiful, and Glad Corporation, which have made possible youth crews and the purchase of materials to build new picnic tables. The Washington Trails Association continues to coordinate trail work throughout the park on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays all summer long. The Student Conservation Association and Geologic Society of America work with us to field student interns. Community groups like the Mount Rainier National Park Associates, Japan Volunteers in Parks Association, and Boy Scouts of America work hard to make sure we have the hands we need to get work done. And hundreds of other individuals and groups contribute their time and sweat every day.

We could not do what we do without your help. On behalf of all of us who work at Mount Rainier every day, all of us who recreate and renew our spirits here, all of us who look up to see if The Mountain is out when we begin our commutes every morning, and all of us who support the purpose and ideas of national parks, thank you.

We Have Opportunities For You!

While the season is winding down, there are still ways to get involved as a volunteer!

Trail Maintenance

The Washington Trails Association continues to lead projects every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through September 29. The next two weekends are scheduled for the Pinnacle Peak trail, including September 14th's 20th Anniversary of WTA. The final weekend of the month is anticipated to be on the Skyline Trail. These are great places to enjoy fall colors while making a contribution to the park! Visit http://www.wta.org/volunteer/trail-work-parties to sign up.

Meadow Roving

Meadow roving will continue through the months of September and early October. Mount Rainier's autumn days bring in many visitors who will find themselves drawn to our beautiful trails. Although Sunrise Visitor Center will be closed, our east-side radios and log books will be at the White River WIC. Continue making radio and campground reservations for Sunrise through mora_meadow_rovers@nps.gov and check in with the rangers at the information desk. They will sign out the radio to you. This is also true if you want to wander the Grove of the Patriarchs or Silver Falls trails at Ohanapecosh. There is a radio at the Stevens Canyon Entrance along with a sign-in/out sheet. E-mail your hours and contacts to Maureen_mclean@nps.gov. Check in for Paradise roving at the visitor center as usual.

September 21 Adopt-A-Highway Litter Patrol

Crow is looking for twelve good men/women who are willing to commit approximately three hours the community service we provide in partnership with the Washington State Dept. of Transportation. We will be gathering at Park Headquarters at Tahoma Woods, three miles east of Elbe on SR 706 on Saturday, September 21, 9 AM, and work will go forward rain or shine. "Long-armed grabbers," litter bags, and safety vests will be provided. We will have a limited number of gloves available, so if you have your own, please bring them.

In order to participate in the upcoming patrol, volunteers who have not already done so will need to watch a short training video which features a very young and goofy Bill Nye ("the Science Guy"). The video can be found on the DoT's website at http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/operations/adoptahwy.

To sign up for this Adopt-a-Highway event, contact Crow at petrina_vecchio@partner.nps.gov by September 17 to confirm that you've watched the video.

Winter Operations

It's not too soon to start thinking about ways to help out during the winter. While most park operations that volunteers help with go into hibernation, we still seek volunteers to assist with public snowshoe walks and with the Nordic Ski Patrol. Watch the volunteer blog for information about transitioning from summer meadow roving to winter snowshoe walks; and visit the Washington Ski Touring Club at http://www.wstc.org to find out about Nordic Patrol.

Summer 2014 Campground Hosts

It's also not too soon to apply for next summer’s campground host positions! We hire hosts at Cougar Rock and Ohanapecosh, and sometimes White River if we can find someone willing to serve without hookups. At the Longmire Volunteer Campground, we’re working on securing the option of a larger pull-through host site, which should substantially reduce the number of people whose RVs are too large for this 1930s-era campground. All of these positions are already posted on the park’s website and taking applications at http://www.nps.gov/mora/supportyourpark/volunteer.htm.

What's Been Going On?

Highlights from August, our busiest month of volunteer activities:

    The Student Conservation Association’s third Community Crew spent two weeks working on trails on the west side of the park, based out of a camp at Klapatche Point.
    The Japan Volunteers in Parks Association celebrated their 20th and final year at Mount Rainier, with volunteer projects cleaning up the Marine Memorial at Round Pass and building 10 Columbia Conservation Corps-style picnic tables in the Longmire Campground.
    Seattle-area Boy Scouts spent three days working on projects at Carbon River, Ohanapecosh, and adjacent Forest Service land.
    Groups from the Sierra Club, Starbucks, Evergreen State College, and Adamah Adventures invested in trail maintenance and campground restoration projects.
    A “Youth Vacation” group led by the Washington Trails Association spent a week working on the Eastside Trail, following an adult “Backcountry Response Team” based at Indian Bar.
    Citizen Scientists surveyed amphibians at Crystal, Marsh, Tipsoo, Bench, Snow, Blue, Mystic, and Three Lakes, as well as Laughingwater Creek. Meanwhile, MeadoWatch volunteers monitored budding, blooming, and seed set on the Lakes Trail, and Cascades Butterfly Survey team members surveyed Paradise, the Naches Loop, and Berkeley Park.

Meanwhile, in this first week of September:

    Volunteers are helping to staff Mount Rainier’s booth and snowshoe activity at the Washington State Fair. Stop by and say hello! You’ll love our new exhibit, "The Fisher at Mount Rainier - A Missing Piece of the Puzzle." Learn about proposed efforts to reintroduce fishers into the Washington Cascades.
    The annual Mount Rainier National Park Associates meadow revegetation work party was Saturday, September 7th. MRNPA volunteers assisted the Mount Rainier ecological restoration crew in planting wildflower seedlings and working to convert a historic campground area near Sunrise back into alpine meadows.

A Good Year for Butterflies!

July was an incredibly sunny month, with many of the Cascades Butterfly Survey monitoring sites snow-free sooner than we've seen in the last couple of years. Teams completed 17 surveys, compared to 5 in July 2012. Nineteen butterfly species were detected, compared to 6 species in July 2012. Sixteen citizen scientists volunteered for the project, compared to 5 in July 2012, counting 942 individual butterflies in contrast to July 2012, when only 71 individuals were inventoried. That's pretty impressive! The butterflies recorded include the following:

    Clodius Parnassian
    Anise Swallowtail
    Margined White
    Western White
    Sara's Orangetip
    Silvery Blue
    Anna's Blue
    Boisduval's Blue
    Arctic Blue
    Purplish Copper
    Mariposa Copper
    Moss' Elfin
    Western Meadow Fritillary
    Arctic Fritillary
    Mormon Fritillary
    Edith's Checkerspot
    Anicia Checkerspot
    Milbert's Tortoiseshell
    Vidler's Alpine

Mount Rainier August Volunteer Newsletter

August Mount Rainier Volunteer Newsletter

What this Newsletter Covers:

a.      Volunteer Picnic Potlucks!

b.      MRNPA Trail Work Party and Potluck

c.       WTA Comet Falls Wrap Up

d.      Longmire Volunteer Campground Reminder

e.      Ongoing Glacier Survey Volunteer Opportunities

f.        Puyallup Fair: Volunteers Needed

g.      Shadows of the Past: Come and enjoy, come and Volunteer!

h.      Keep Wildlife Wild Volunteer Opportunity

i.        NEW Meadow Rover Training Announced!

j.        Cascades Butterfly Project seeks butterflies, volunteers

Volunteer Picnic Potlucks!

It is that time of year again to come together and celebrate the hard work and dedication of our excellent volunteers! We will be having, for the first year ever, two volunteer potlucks to accommodate the East siders and west siders. This Saturday, August 11^th, we will be having our West side potluck picnic at the Longmire Community Building starting at 4:00 pm. Some beverages will be provided. Bring a dish to share. Earlier in the day, you will have the chance to volunteer with MRNPA or WTA on their work parties, so sign up soon! If you have any questions about the west side potluck picnic, please direct them to Carrie Anders at Carrie_Anders@partner.nps.gov.

Next weekend, on Sunday, August 19^th, the East side volunteers will be having their picnic potluck at the Sunrise Picnic Area in the northwest corner. It will go from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. Bring with you a buddy, a beverage, a grill item or a dish to share! We are in need of a grill or two. If you are able to contribute or have any questions, please contact Gayle Eads at gayle.s.eads@gmail.com, our East Side Meadow Rover Lead.

This is a chance to recognize what a huge impact our volunteers have at Rainier. Come support your fellow volunteers and celebrate your accomplishments this year!

MRNPA Trail Work Party and Potluck!

Mount Rainier National Park Associates will be having a trail work party this Saturday, August 11^th. We will be working on the Twin Firs Trail. We will meet at the upper end of the Longmire parking lot, near the museum, at 8:30 AM on Saturday morning, and be ready to move out at 9:00 AM.

 

Bring work gloves, a hard hat if you have one, safety glasses, full rain gear (you never know if you will need it), your lunch, and PLENTY of fluids to drink. 

 

If you plan to attend this work party, email John Titland and tell him that you are coming and how many volunteers you are bringing with you.  He needs an estimate of the number of volunteers so that Park staff can be sure to have enough tools for us all.  If you have a hard hat you will be wearing, please tell him that too.

Following the work party MRNPA volunteers are invited to assemble in the Longmire VIP campground (not the Cougar Rock campground) to relax and socialize, followed by a potluck dinner, and an evening spent sitting around the campfire.  It's a fun event, so plan on staying (at least for a little while) and getting to better know some of the volunteers you have been working with.  

 

Overnight camping is available both Friday night, August 10th, and Saturday night, August 11th at the Longmire VIP campground.  Camping is free for MRNPA volunteers. If you plan to camp either or both nights, please tell him the nights you intend to camp when you email him telling him that you are coming to the work party.  He needs to assure that we have sufficient tent sites reserved.

 

Sunday, the 12th, we will try to do a short hike together.

There are safety equipment requirements for all MRNPA trail work volunteers. (These rules apply to all trail workers.)  Anyone using an aggressive tool - like a Pulaski, ax, shovel, etc. - or anyone working near them - is required to wear a hard hat and safety glasses.  People working with or near a less aggressive tool are not required (but will be encouraged) to wear a hard hat.   If you own a hard hat that you can wear, please bring it.   If you do not have a hard hat, we have hard hats that we loan for the day.

 

Wearing safety glasses is encouraged at all times. Not all safety glasses are comfortable for everyone and some will not fit over eye glasses.  Because of cleanliness issues, some people don't like wearing safety glasses that have been worn by other people.  For these reasons, please purchase (acquire, find, dig-up, whatever) a pair of personal safety glasses that you will wear.  The local hardware store is a good place to start shopping.  A serviceable pair or safety glasses will cost about $10.  And be advised that shatterproof eye glasses do not meet the requirement for safety glasses.  Safety glasses all have side protection which eye glasses do not.

 

John Titland
Volunteer Coordinator
Mount Rainier National Park Associates

volunteer@MRNPA.org

Washington Trails Associates last weekend at Comet Falls!

WTA has been working for weeks on the Comet Falls Trail to help be able to safely open it to park visitors. They have done a tremendous job on this trail! So far, they have fixed areas with extensive exposed roots by building new turnpike and crib steps, and have been building a rock wall to stabilize the trail. They have worked to reroute around the wash out on the trail and things are really looking great!

This weekend, August 10th through the 12th, will be WTA’s last weekend on the Comet Falls Trail before moving on to a new project. Go to the WTA website, www.wta.org, to find out more about the trail work parties and to sign up for this weekends group! Be a part of the fantastic team that has worked to make Comet Falls a safer, exciting hike for our visitors!

A reminder about the Longmire Campground!

Volunteers, remember that the Longmire Campground is open to you on the day before and day of your volunteer projects in the park! You may make reservations through your direct park supervisor or by emailing me (Carrie_Anders@partner.nps.gov) with your project information, how many will be camping and if you will be in tents or an RV. Your reservation will be confirmed, and upon arrival at the Longmire Campground, our host, Jean Millan, will assign you your camp site!

There are some differences in rules between the Volunteer campground and the other campgrounds in the park. Pets are not allowed to stay in the tent camping area at Longmire. They are allowed to be in the employee residence (RV) sites, but must remain on a leash when outdoors, stay in the camper at night, and no pet food is permitted outside the camper.  If you have any questions or concerns about Longmire campground rules, please do not hesitate to ask!

Nisqually Glacier Survey Project is Ongoing!

If you are interested in getting out on the glaciers and surveying, the Nisqually Glacier Survey project is still looking for volunteers!

The main goal of this project is to identify the glacial flow velocity field of the Nisqually glacier. A major secondary goal is to isolate, to the extent possible, the approximate area of the lower Nisqually glacier that is flowing at a slower rate than the upper glacier. Past research has indicated that the Lower Nisqually typically moved approx. 0.6 m/day. However, measurements by Lead Climbing Ranger Stefan Lofgren during the glacier mass balance-monitoring project indicate that portions of the Lower Nisqually are now hardly moving, in the range of centimeters per day.

This is important because there is a possibility that stagnant ice (glacial ice that is no longer moving) may facilitate the development of glacial conditions that could allow for the storage of vast amounts of water that can be released catastrophically in the form of outburst floods.

This year the area set up by the 2011 glacial studies team will be re-surveyed. The surveying device used will be the Topcon GPT-3105W Total Station used last year. We will identify and survey suitable rocks at the beginning of the project, with as much overlap with last year’s rocks as possible. Ideally, the locations of said rocks will be resurveyed weekly or biweekly in order to ascertain changes in position due to glacial flow. At the end of the survey period, we should be able to utilize the relative motion of the rocks to characterize the velocity field of the glacier. At that point, we should be able to find areas that are not moving, or are moving abnormally slowly and contrast that with areas that are moving rapidly.

Ideally those helping with the survey will have waterproof sturdy boots, sunglasses with full coverage, a climbing helmet, an ice axe and crampons, as well as everything they require for a day trip (lunch, water, extra layers, sunscreen etc). That being said, crampons are unlikely to be required for the first several weeks and even after that if people do not have them, we can put them on a lower-elevation team. An ice axe and climbing helmet are highly recommended. Sturdy boots, sunglasses and sunscreen are not optional!

Volunteers need to be in good shape as they will be hiking all day and helping to carry survey equipment which is not exactly lightweight.

Volunteers are not required to have prior glacier experience, though having it is certainly a plus!

What the project manager needs to know from you if you are interested in participating in glacier surveys is the following information:

1.      When you are available, Thursdays are most often the survey days. 

2.       What is your glacier experience?

3.      Do you have glacier gear  (ice axe, crampons, helmet, climbing harness, stiff crampon-compatible boots, etc)?

 

If you are interested in volunteering with the glacier survey team this summer, please send the information listed above to Laura Walkup, the Project Manager.

Laura C. Walkup
Geology Technician
National Park Service
Mount Rainier National Park
Longmire, WA 98397

Office: 360-569-2211 ext.7003

laura_walkup@nps.gov

Puyallup Fair: Volunteering for the Mountain!

Top of Form Yes!  It's almost time to do the Puyallup.  This year's theme is "Get your happy on!"  Last year park staff and volunteers talked to more than 12,500 people and thousands more checked out our exhibits.   This year you have three opportunities to "Get Your Happy On!"   #1. Staffing the Mount Rainier Booth:   We would like to have two park people for each of the three 3 1/2-hour shifts a day (10 AM – 1:30 PM, 1:30 PM – 5 PM, 5 PM – 8:30 PM).  You will receive a ticket for admission to the fair and a parking pass (together worth $21-23).    You can experience the fair before and/or after your shift.    The fair runs from September 7th through September 23rd.      #2. Staff the Snowshoe Walk:   On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from Noon to 6 PM the NW Outdoors Building will be providing a snowshoe experience (mainly for kids but adults can try too).  We will have a trail of straw around the trees provided by the Christmas Tree Growers.  There will be two 3-hr shifts each day (12-3 and 3-6) and we need at least two people each shift.  Snowshoes are provided by GoPaw but the two elderly ladies that have done this in the past just can't do it anymore.  I volunteered our volunteers.  It will be a busy, but quick, three hours.  You will also receive a ticket and parking pass.   #3. Help set up and take down the plants:  We will have hundreds of native plants throughout the building to make it an outdoor experience.  These plants have to be placed the day before the fair and then removed the day after.  This is very labor intensive and the park's reveg crew will be helping but we could use some more volunteers. Plants will be moved in at 10 AM on Thursday, September 6th and removed at 10 AM on Monday, September 24th.  If enough folks show up we should be done by 1 PM.  If you would like to join this activity let me know and I'll send you location and parking information.  All you'll need are work gloves and a "grain" shovel if you have one.   As you can see, the park is an important part of the Northwest Outdoors Alliance.  Our exhibits will occupy one of the largest spaces in the building.   But the most important part is a real live person representing the park service, talking with all those enthusiastic fairgoers.   I hope you can help out.   You will have a great time at the fair and I look forward to hearing from you.   An email response would be best, since at this time of the year I’m seldom in the office.  Tell me what activity, date, and time shift would work for you.  Also please include your mailing address so I can mail you instructions, maps, and tickets.    Uniforms are not a requirement to volunteer, but if you have one you are expected to wear it. Volunteer hats will be available at the Mount Rainier booth.     Thanks, and we’ll see you at the fair.   Check out the web page.  http://www.thefair.com/puyallup-fair/things-to-do/nw-outdoors   Jim Ross Outreach Specialist Mount Rainier National Park jim_ross@nps.gov Bottom of Form

Volunteers needed for Shadows of the Past lantern carriers!

YOU are invited to celebrate the August birthday of the National Park Service!  On the evening of August 18th West District Interpretation is presenting the Shadows of the Past living history program. Lantern-lighted, ranger-led walks depart from in front of the National Park Inn every 20 minutes between 8:30 PM and 9:30 PM.

The approximately 80-minute program tells the story of the beginning of Mount Rainier National Park and the National Park Service. Meet people who explored, settled, developed, climbed, and protected Mount Rainier more than 90 years ago as they emerge from the darkness along the Trail of the Shadows.

The program will be held rain or shine. Bring a warm jacket, insect repellent, a flashlight, and wear sturdy shoes. This interpretive program is free and open to all. No  RSVP is required.

Volunteers are needed to carry lanterns that light the way and illuminate the characters when they talk. If you can help with this task please email seasonal volunteer coordinator Carrie Anders: carrie_anders@partner.nps.gov.

There will be four walks and we need up to eight volunteers (2 per lantern). Walks are planned to leave from in front of the National Park Inn at 8:30 PM, 8:50 PM, 9:10 PM, and 9:30 PM. If you are game to carry a lantern, please let Carrie know your top two walk choices.  She will confirm your participation. Volunteer lantern carriers will need to meet 15 minutes before their scheduled walk at the picnic tables by the General Store.  Our Lantern Guru, Alan Parsons, will be there to give you your lantern.  He will also provide tips for carrying the lantern and effectively illuminating the trail and characters. New Shadows of the Past volunteers will need to sign a volunteer agreement form.

Please contact Carrie if you have any questions or are interested! Thank you in advance!

Keep Wildlife Wild Volunteers Needed!

Saturday August 18^th will be a great opportunity to volunteer in the park. Not only do we have the Shadows of the Past opportunity, but it is also the return of the Keep Wildlife Wild program. We are in need of volunteers to work with the wildlife crew up at the Paradise Visitors Center. It will be from 12:00 to 4:00 pm. Please contact Carrie Anders at Carrie_Anders@partner.nps.gov if you are interested or have more questions. We hope you can recognize the importance of this program to the wildlife in our beautiful park and can contribute your time to informing the public of the importance of keeping our wildlife wild! 

New Meadow Rover Training This Weekend and Through the Summer Season!

The Meadow Rover program will be providing trainings through the end of the summer season on a variety of topics of interest to meadow rovers and other volunteers.

They plan to have training sessions every Saturday at the same time (10 AM to 11:30 AM) and location (Longmire Community Building) as follows:

8/11/2012 - 'The New Ten Essentials' - Ed Hunds, Experienced Meadow Rover, Wilderness Preparedness Expert

8/18/2012 - 'Staying Found' - Judy Kennedy, Experienced Meadow Rover, Backcountry Expert, Interpretive Ranger

8/25/2012 - 'The Roll of the Meadow Rover during Search and Rescue Operations (SARs) - Rangers Jordan Mammel and/or Ben Guttridge

9/1/2012 - 'Nature Photography, Tips for the Visitor, General Nature Photographic Techniques, Photographic Trail/Meadow Damage Documentation' - Gary Ouellette, Experienced Meadow Rover, Professional Photographer

The first of these trainings will be providing an expanded training session on the 'New Ten Essentials' from 10AM to 11:30AM on Saturday, August 11, 2012 at the Longmire Community Building.  Ed Hunds, experienced Meadow Rover and Wilderness Preparedness Expert will be the course instructor.  (RSVP required please, no later than Wednesday, August 15, 2012 to eugene_marsh@partner.nps.gov.)

Cascades Butterfly Project seeks volunteers to seek butterflies!

If you’re out hiking this summer and come across a group of people walking slowly along a trail with butterfly nets, they’re probably part of the Cascades Butterfly Project! This group is tracking butterfly populations as a means of monitoring climate and ecosystem changes at Mount Rainier and North Cascades National Parks. They’re still looking for volunteers to help, and have several project dates still coming up on this year’s calendar! Here’s an update from project leader Michelle Toshack about their day above Berkeley Park on August 2nd:

“What a great trip to Mount Rainier! Wildflowers were blooming beautifully (at Naches Loop and Berkeley Park anyway) and butterflies were truly on the wing. Thank you to the ten excellent volunteers who helped with the project. We saw the following butterflies:

Milbert's Tortoiseshell
Anna's Blue
Silvery Blue
Boisduval's Blue
Edith's Checkerspot
Northern Checkerspot
Clodius Parnassian
Arctic Fritillary
“As a reminder, Melanie Weiss (volunteer field lead) will be at Sunrise (Berkeley Park) on August 17th and is looking for volunteers to accompany her. Please email me at michelle_toshack [at] nps.gov if interested. There will be one more chance to volunteer at Mt. Rainier from August 27-30.”

Read more about the program on their Yahoo Group at http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/cascadesbutterfly/

Volunteer Newsletter - June 2015

Interpretive Training June 1-12

Most sessions are already full to capacity, but you can be added to a waiting list in case there are cancellations. See the volunteer blog for schedule details.

Part-time Campground Hosts Needed!

We're still looking for people to host volunteers at the Longmire Campground this summer. If you can help even for a few weekends, contact Kevin_Bacher (at) nps.gov

MRNPA Work Party June 13

The next Mount Rainier National Park Associates trails work party will be on Saturday, June 13th.  The crew will be repairing the section of the Wonderland Trail in Stevens Canyon which was damaged during the winter.

If you plan to attend this June 13th trails work party, please reply to volunteer (at) mrnpa.org. Additional details can be found on our blog at rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com.

Future MRNPA Projects

If you miss out on the June 13th work party, MRNPA offers plenty more opportunities to "get down and dirty." They will be doing trails projects in the Park every weekend throughout the summer. Visit their website at mrnpa.org and click on the "Volunteer" tab for their listings.

Meadow Rover and MeadoWatch Training 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!

Returning Rovers and Spring Opening

Want to get an early start roving? We need you on the Mountain! Lack of snow means greater accessibility to trails and (unfortunately) meadows. Rovers are needed now at both Paradise and Sunrise. Contact MORA_Meadow_Rovers (at) nps.gov to RSVP. Use the same contact information if you'd like to help with Spring Opening.

Butterfly Surveys Begin Earlier

With the snow disappearing and wildflowers emerging at the higher elevations, the Cascades Butterfly Survey project will be starting earlier than expected this year. Training is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30 at Sunrise. Volunteers who are interested in participating should meet in the parking lot in front of the Visitor Center (near the water fountain) at 10 AM. The session will include an introduction to the program by Regina Rochefort, followed by identification practice during a short hike to the walk-in campground. Bring your lunch!

Amphibian Surveys

Want to count frogs, newts and salamanders? Amphibian Surveys begin next month. If you've signed up to participate in this citizen science project, you should be hearing from the coordinator early in July.

All-Park Orientation and Annual Safety Meeting

Volunteers are encouraged to attend the annual All-Park Orientation and Safety Meeting on June 24. Please watch rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com for more details.

Fourth of July Parade

As in past years, paid staff and volunteers are invited to represent the Park in Eatonville's Fourth of July parade. Details to be announced later.

Volunteer Picnics

Our annual Volunteer Picnics (Longmire and Sunrise) will be held on August 14 and 15 this year. Food will be provided at both events. Watch the blog for more details.