Announcing Volunteer Dates for 2015! (Updated)

Volunteers have two projects to choose
from this Earth Day weekend!

Volunteers,

The weather is getting warmer and drier every day, so I want to make sure you all have some key dates on your calendars as the summer volunteer season kicks off! Watch the blog (http://rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com) and Facebook page (http://facebook.com/rainiervolunteers) for details, but for now plan for these dates:

April 25: Adopt-A-Highway Litter Patrol: We still need a few more volunteers to help with this annual Earth Day weekend event! Contact Petrina_Vecchio (at) partner.nps.gov if you can help.

April 25: Mount Rainier National Park Associates Trail Maintenance: Contact John Titland at volunteer (at) mrnpa.org if you’d like to help with trail maintenance on the Trail of the Shadows at Longmire.

May 16: Our annual Volunteer Brunch will be held at the Mountaineers Clubhouse in Tacoma. Plan to join us for an update on this year’s volunteer program , or to learn about how to become a volunteer!

May 16: Mount Rainier National Park Associates Trail Maintenance: Contact John Titland at volunteer (at) mrnpa.org if you’d like to help with trail maintenance at a location yet to be determined.

June 2: Seasonal Interpretive Training begins. Watch for a more detailed schedule. As usual, volunteers will be welcome to attend resource-oriented sessions during our two weeks of training.

June 6: WEEKLY trail maintenance begins! Watch the Washington Trails Association website (http://wta.org) under the “Volunteer” tab for trail maintenance projects every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday throughout the summer!

June 13: Our annual geocaching “Cache In, Trash Out” event at Longmire will coincide with the launch of our National Park Service Centennial GeoTour in Ashford!

June 13: Mount Rainier National Park Associates Trail Maintenance: Contact John Titland at volunteer (at) mrnpa.orgif you’d like to help with trail maintenance at a location yet to be determined.

June 20: Beginning Meadow Rover Training at the park’s Education Center. In past years, the MeadoWatch Citizen Science training has also been on this date, but that has not yet been confirmed.

June 21: Advanced Meadow Rover Training at the Community Building in Longmire. Update: It's been pointed out to me that this is Father's Day. We will probably be rescheduling this date!

July 4: Join us to walk with the park’s contingent in the annual 4th of July Parade in Eatonville!

July 11: Mount Rainier National Park Associates “Deveg” exotic plant removal project: Contact John Titland at volunteer (at) mrnpa.org if you’d like to help!

August 14: Annual Volunteer Appreciation Picnic at Longmire. Food will be provided!

August 15: Mount Rainier National Park Associates Trail Maintenance, potluck, and overnight campout: Contact John Titland at volunteer (at) mrnpa.org if you’d like to help!

August 15: Annual Volunteer Appreciation Picnic at Sunrise. Food will be provided!

September 11: The Washington State Fair begins! Join us any time through September 27 to volunteer at our booth in the Washington Outdoors building.

September 12: Mount Rainier National Park Associates Revegetation: Contact John Titland at volunteer (at) mrnpa.org if you’d like to help plant native plants. The location is yet to be determined, but will most likely be at Sunrise.

September 26: National Public Lands Day, our largest volunteer event of the season! We’ll have multiple projects throughout the park on this date.

These are just some of what will be happening this summer, so keep in touch with our blog and Facebook page to follow all of the latest opportunities. We’ll also be sending out monthly newsletters, so if you know someone who’d like to be on our mailing list, have them contact me at Kevin_Bacher (at) nps.gov.

Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you in the park! It’s going to be a great summer!