Volunteer Newsletter, September 2014

National Public Lands Day! Saturday September 27

Mount Rainier National Park's biggest volunteer day of the year is coming up in a few weeks! This year's event will kick off at Longmire at 9:00 a.m., with registration as early as 8:00 a.m. by the National Parks Conservation Association in front of the Transportation Exhibit next to the National Park Inn. We'll have several trail projects available at Paradise on the Skyline Trail, led by park crew leaders and the Washington Trails Association. A contingent of volunteers will take down platform tents and prepare the Longmire Campground for winter. Additional projects are still being lined up. If enough plants are available, we'll also do revegetation at the old Sunrise Campground. Watch the Volunteer Blog at http://rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com for updates!

Free camping is available for NPLD participants on either Friday and/or Saturday nights. Please RSVP to Nancy_Mortensen (at) partner.nps.gov with details of your request, including your name, contact information, nights requested, number of people, and number of tents (or size of RV -- no hookups are available and campsites are small).

Park entrance fees will be waived for everyone on September 27. Volunteers will receive a fee-free coupon to use at a later date.

Share your photos and stories!

As the busy part of our year winds down, we're interested in hearing about your experiences as a volunteer. Send us your anecdotes and photos, and we'll publish them on our volunteer blog and Facebook page. Watch for a special series of blog entries later this month!

Trail maintenance and Meadow Roving continues throughout the month

If you're still looking for ways to volunteer this year, consider joining the Washington Trails Association for trail maintenance projects at Paradise through the end of the month. Visit WTA's website at http://www.wta.org and click on the "volunteer" tab for a full list of projects. Look for the ones marked "Mount Rainier" for details and to sign up.

Meadow Rovers continue to be invaluable as long as there are meadows to stomp! If you're signed up as a Meadow Rover, we welcome your continued presence at Paradise and Sunrise through the month of September and into October or beyond, as long as weather permits!

Boy Scouts and Community Crews and REI, oh my!

August is always the busiest month of our volunteer program, so let me take this opportunity to thank the many individuals and groups who helped keep the park humming! This includes the Mount Rainier National Park Associates, Boy Scouts of America, ArrowCorps, Recreational Equipment Inc., Starbucks and Microsoft employees, Washington Trails Association, Washington's National Park Fund, Washington Conservation Corps, and Student Conservation Association, to name a few, and my apologies if I missed anyone!

Many of our full-time summer volunteers and interns wrapped up their seasons in the past month as well, and to them we say an additional thank you for their extended service. In addition to "unaffiliated" volunteers, we worked with interns this year through the Student Conservation Association, Geologic Society of America, Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program, Evergreen State College, and University of Washington.

Visit us at the Washington State Fair

If you "Do the Puyallup" this year, stop by the Northwest Outdoors building and say hi to the rangers and volunteers representing Mount Rainier National Park! You can also get a preview of our winter season by taking a "strawshoe" walk with volunteers.