Meadow Rovers Rock

Summer 2016 has forged new records in Meadow Rover hours and contacts.  Our volunteers have come from as far away as Florida, Colorado, and California, and as close as the concession employees in the park.  But we aren't done yet!  With warm sunny weather predicted for the next week or two, visitors will continue to hit the trails.  Even in the cold wet weather, rovers do tremendous work in preventing people from going forth unprepared.  So keep on roving until the road is closed at Sunrise or the snow flies at Paradise!!

My season as coordinator will wind down by mid-October. During this time, I would like to hear from you. Your observations as to issues with trails, crowd control, or anything you feel park management should know, are welcomed.  These will be included in the End-of-Season report that is prepared before I leave for winter.

Also, please let me know what you would like to see, hear, or do with training next June. I always want your needs met and to make training worthwhile. So send me your ideas.

And for those of you who just can't get enough....keep your eyes open for Snow Rover training!

Maureen McLean
Coordinator MORA Meadow Rovers
Maureen_McLean@nps.gov

Volunteer Numbers Exceed Last Year!

Wow, what a year it's been. Between restoring Longmire Campground for the exclusive use of volunteers (that ones been a lifesaver), and organizing volunteers for everything from National Public Lands Day to Lantern Bearers for Shadows of the Past, we've really outdone ourselves, and the number show it.

The Official Volunteer Statistics for Fiscal Year 2009 are as follows:


Annual Activity and Expense Report
Mount Rainier National Park
Report Date: Oct 29, 2009
Fiscal Year: 2009


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Volunteer Coordinator and Park Information

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Total Volunteers: 1,865 (up from 1,837 last year, a new record!)
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: 610.00
Campground Host: 1,740.50
Cultural Resource Management: 4,031.00
General Management: 0.00
Interpretation: 17,016.50
Maintenance: 1,966.00
Natural Resource Management: 10,425.50
Protection/Operations/Law Enforcement: 35,928.75
Training: 513.00

[Total hours: 72,231.25] (up from 70,130 last year!)

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Program costs by category:

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Housing: $ 5,847.00
Meals: $ 9,295.00
Recognition/Award: $ 721.00
Supplies: $ 24,758.00
Training: $ 3,094.00
Transportation: $ 2,516.00
Uniforms: $ 736.00

[Total costs: $ 46,967.00]

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Volunteer Program Highlight

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This year was the first since Mount Rainier's great flood in November of 2006 that has not been directly supported by the Mount Rainier Recovery Corps, a partnership developed with the Student Conservation Association to recruit volunteers and lead recovery efforts. Instead, the volunteer program built on the partnerships developed during that era and the lessons learned to create new opportunities, including a major trail construction project at Glacier Basin led by the Washington Trails Association that brought almost 500 volunteers into the park. Four SCA interns were hired to serve as volunteer coordinators in key programs including trails, plant ecology, citizen science, and volunteer management, and a fifth volunteer was hired directly to help with the meadow rover program at Sunrise. All of these strategies combined to keep participation high despite the receeding urgency of flood recovery. On National Public Lands Day, 223 volunteers participated park-wide, a new record; volunteer hours were up from last year; and for the whole year, our total number of volunteers set a new record as well. We also re-opened the historic Longmire Campground this year, restored by volunteers for the exclusive use of volunteers and other park groups, and managed by a pair of campground hosts; this was a tremendous asset for volunteers who wished to stay for multiple days.

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Training

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How many people at the park require VIP Program Management Training: 7

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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: 53
Number of VIPs housed in Trailers: 7

Trailer Pads for Volunteers: 7

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Other Information

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Number of SCAs: 13
SCA Hours: 11,859
Number of Artists in Parks: 0
Artist in Parks Hours: 0
Number of International VIPs: 6
International VIPS Hours: 550
Number of Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps: 0
Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps Hours: 0
Number of Boy Scouts: 74
Boy Scout Hours: 524
Number of Girls Scouts: 0
Girl Scout Hours: 0


What a year! As you can see we're steadily improving our volunteer program, and with each improvement, more opportunities for volunteering arise. Just remember, we couldn't do it without the dedicated support of volunteers like you. Congratulate yourself on a year done well, and remember to come back next year.

Hope to see you then.

High School and REI - Oh My! (Part 1)

The season is almost over, and the volunteer program is wrapping up. The groups are gone, tents come down, campgrounds are closing, and the paperwork is piling up (mainly due to me). We write reports, organize folders - all that fun administrative stuff. If I'm lucky (and productive) I manage to write a blog post. To some it may seem that we go out with a slight shuffling of paper, not even making a whimper.

Not at all!

We in the volunteer program love to go out with a bang, and what a bang it was when just this past week we had not one, but two large volunteer groups out to the park. Last week we were delighted to have both MEAD Alternative High School hailing from Spokane, Washington and REI Adventures from Kent, Washington join us in the park.

Mead Alternative has been a partner with the park for many years, making the long drive to Mount Rainier every season for a week long volunteer field trip. What they do varies from year to year, but this year the name of the game was reveg.

MEAD Alternative High School has been coming to the park for well over ten years now, and always brings a large crew with them. A group of thirty people, including teachers and adult chaperone's, joined Will Arnesen and his revegetation crew in helping to restore the lower Paradise parking lot. They stayed for an entire week, and put a much needed dent in the seemingly inexhaustible supply of plant from the greenhouse, all needing to go into the ground before snow renders the ground unreachable.

The weather for most of the week was horrible. Cold, foggy, and alternating between soggy and a light snow. Yet the students were enthusiastic, willing to work, and (though not always happy about the weather) happy to be helping. Nothing can quite exhaust a person and yet leave them pleased at the same time like working with their hands can.

MEAD High School’s connection to Mount Rainier runs deep. Year after year they come back, but more than that, judging from a picture sent to me, they never really leave. After returning home the group leader, Carol Allen, kindly provided me with this picture of a beautiful mural of Mount Rainier they have at school.

So thanks to MEAD Alternative High School for helping out. And tune in next time for pictures and info from our volunteer friends at REI Adventures. Till we meet again.