Here, at last, are the statistics for this year's volunteer program. Total volunteers are 1,728, and volunteer hours are 74,504. This is 514 more hours than last year, and 288 fewer volunteers. Based on estimates of volunteer value from Independent Sector, our volunteer contribute roughly $1.6 million worth of service to Mount Rainier National Park.
The largest reductions in our numbers of volunteers were in the revegetation program, which had more than 300 fewer volunteers, and our WTA partnership, which lagged behind last year's record numbers by about 80 people (but still contributed 448). The reveg numbers were down due to a few large school groups not returning this year. Not sure if this is because these schools are taking fewer field trips in general, or because our Sunrise reveg site is much less convenient than the one at Paradise had been -- I suspect more of the latter than the former.
The reductions were partially made up for by increases in other areas, including archeology, Meadow Rovers, Citizen Science, and Boy Scouts. More analysis to come!
Meanwhile, here are the details:
Department of the Interior
National Park Service
Volunteers In Parks
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Volunteer Coordinator and Park Information
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Total Volunteers: 1,728
Alpha Code: MORA
VIP Coordinator: Kevin Bacher
VIP Coordinator Phone: 360-569-2211
Coordinator Email: kevin_bacher@nps.gov
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Volunteer hours by category:
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Administration: 43.00
Campground Host: 2,549.00
Cultural Resource Management: 6,817.00
General Management: 3,936.00
Interpretation: 13,682.00
Maintenance: 2,246.00
Natural Resource Management: 9,163.00
Protection/Operations/Law Enforcement: 35,395.00
Training: 673.00
[Total hours: 74,504.00] [Last year: 73,990]
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Program costs by category:
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Housing: $ 4,691.00
Meals: $ 1,210.00
Recognition/Award: $ 422.00
Supplies: $ 12,085.00
Training: $ 375.00
Transportation: $ 2,377.00
Uniforms: $ 4,585.00
[Total costs: $ 25,745.00]
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Volunteer Program Highlight
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Our program continues to grow, with new projects taking the place of completed ones. The Glacier Basin Trail was rebuilt after 3 years of work. Our partnership with the Washington Trails Association brought in 448 people, many of whom are now regular volunteers. A hundred Boy Scouts worked on 3 days of projects in August. Scout participation was up in general, with troops helping with trails, revegetation, and citizen science. Park programs worked with youth interns from SCA, the Geologic Society, and The Evergreen State College to complete a transportation study, a historic architecture study, stream surveys, and a parkwide safety review. Thirty members of SCA's Community Program in Seattle helped with trail projects. Central Washington University contributed 2560 hours of archeology. This was also an opportunity for citizen science, as park visitors were invited to help on the dig site. Other citizen science volunteers surveyed amphibians and butterflies and led activities for Keep Wildlife Wild day. Our Meadow Rover program turned in record hours thanks to 2 full-time coordinators, despite a late spring meltout. Overall, volunteer hours were up, but volunteer numbers were down. The largest single reason was a reduction of more than 300 participants in our revegetation program, due to the completion of an easily accessible project at Paradise that had previously brought in large numbers of school volunteers. The new work site, at Sunrise, is much more remote.
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Training
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How many people at the park require VIP Program Management Training: 12
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Optional Information Regarding Housing VIPs and Campground Hosts
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Number of Campground Hosts: 5
Number of VIPs housed in Permanent Structures: 57
Number of VIPs housed in Trailers: 7
Trailer Pads for Volunteers: 5
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Other Information
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Number of SCAs: 41
SCA Hours: 8,203
Number of Artists in Parks: 0
Artist in Parks Hours: 0
Number of International VIPs: 9
International VIPS Hours: 720
Number of Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps: 0
Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps Hours: 0
Number of Boy Scouts: 168
Boy Scout Hours: 1,173
Number of Girls Scouts: 10
Girl Scout Hours: 30
Number of Wounded Warriors: 0
Wounded Warriors Hours: 0
