Congratulations, Pierce County volunteers!

This past Saturday, Pierce County recognized 93 individuals and 7 groups for outstanding volunteer service. According to Pierce County's website, they are part of 4,000 individuals who volunteer for the county. Award winners include Debbie Lowe, who helped form the Anderson Island Citizens Advisory Board; Sheriff's Cadet Lt. Kevin Pressel, who developed policies and procedures for the cadet program and helped lead the "McGruff the Crime Dog" program; Walt Bosch, who coordinates the Master Gardeners program; the WSU Pierce County 4-H Teen Ambassadors, who have helped with storm damage cleanup and providing care kits for children of deployed servicemen and women; Bob Cole, who has ridden in the Sheriff's Posse for 36 years; and Renee Paine, who has been a Master Gardener for 25 years.

In our own neighborhood, the Foothills Rails-to-Trails Coalition was honored for its work to develop trails between Puyallup/Sumner and South Prairie. The group is currently working on developing a system of trails and greenways from Puget Sound to Mount Rainier. Some of our own Mount Rainier volunteers also volunteer with the Rails-to-Trails Coalition.

Congratulations to all of the Pierce County volunteers for contributing in a positive way to our community!

Mount Rainier in the news

Lots of things in the news and blogs lately that have a volunteer element:

The Northwest Parks and Public Lands Storm Recovery Coalition blog has a good summary of our event at REI on Monday, "Taking the Parks by Storm." While fewer people showed up than we'd have liked, those who attended were attentive and engaged and asked some really good questions after presentations by representatives of three national parks, two national forests, two Congressional districts, and a state senator. The discussion ranged from the status of storm damage and repairs, to the role of global climate change, to how people can help as volunteers, to the implications for future policy decisions. Reporters from Q13 Fox News and TVW, Washington State's Public Affairs Network, were at the event, and in fact TVW will air it in its entirety tonight at 7:00 p.m. Pictures from the evening, by photographer DJ Bradley, can be found here. The irrepressible Jeff Mayor from The News Tribune was there, too.

Thanks to Sean Smith at NPCA for directing my attention to a great piece in the December issue of Outside Magazine, naming Mount Rainier's flood recovery efforts, including your work as volunteers, as one of the top 100 good ideas of 2007.

Over at the Washington Trails Association's blog, there's a good summary of storm recovery efforts throughout the region, including ways that you can help. WTA played a very positive role in lobbying for federal support of flood recovery efforts at Rainier and elsewhere last year. They also now have a presence on Facebook--a fascinating idea intended to reach out to young audiences. Maybe we should try it with our volunteer program too, what do you think?

Another SAR

For those of you who have been following the news, we're just wrapping up another "Search and Rescue" operation here in the park. Unfortunately, this one didn't come out well, as the body of Devin Ossman was found late this morning by NPS searchers. Like so many of our searches, this one involved help from two volunteer-based dog team organizations, German Shepherd Search Dogs of Washington State and Northwest Bloodhounds Search and Rescue. We are infinitely grateful for their help.

Mount Rainier's volunteer program nominated for a George B. Hartzog Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service

Mount Rainier's volunteer program--that means you, folks!--was nominated today for a George B. Hartzog Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service. The award is named after a former NPS Director, who established the Volunteers-in-Parks program back in the 70s and promoted volunteerism in the parks throughout his career.

Every year, the National Park Service presents three such awards: one to an individual; one to a group; and one to a volunteer program. Past awards have recognized individuals, groups, and programs throughout the Service. Winners in our region have included Golden Gate National Recreation Area and the Crater Lake Ski Patrol. Mount Rainier has submitted several strong nominations over the years, including Clay and Dixie Gatchel (who did not win the Hartzog Award, but went on to win the national Take Pride in America Award for their years of service); Clyde and Lois Ambacher; and the Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association.

Mount Rainier, of course, has always had a strong volunteer program. But this past year, we outdid ourselves (by which I mean, you outdid yourselves). The flood response last year raised our program from the level of "strong" to one of the best in the nation. That's my own opinion, of course. Now we'll see what a national committee of nomination reviewers thinks!

Some exerpts from our nomination:

"The public response and the successful flood recovery volunteer program is one of my career highlights. We truly engaged our public and through a very positive program, created thousands of new citizen stewards." - Superintendent Dave Uberuaga

"These partnerships [with SCA and the NW Storm Recovery Coalition] will continue, and with their help, and the help of existing park volunteers, the lasting legacy of the 2006 flood will not be devastated roads and trails, but a renaissance of public partnership in support of park stewardship." - Volunteer Program Manager Kevin Bacher

"Not only does senior management at Mount Rainier recognize volunteers as the true resource they are, but they recognize an even more important element to the equation. The foundation of Mount Rainier’s VIP program is not to just get work done that might not other wise be possible, it is also very deliberatively engaging the public to take ownership of their park."

"I am often asked by people why I choose to volunteer. One simply needs to experience ths subalpine meadows in the summer and see the grandeur of the environment; the explosion of color, the richness of the smells, hear the marmots whistling your approach, watch the variety of birds above and below you, hear the distant rumble of the glaciers as they groan, see the lines of climbers that seem like insignificant 'spots' on the snow heading toward Camp Muir and simply see the slopes of Mount Rainier towering above and you find the answer. As one experiences the treasure of Mount Rainier, you understand the need to protect and conserve this resource for the future and it is truly an honor as a volunteer to be able to participate in a small way in this effort." - Meadow Rover volunteer John Walsh

Parks assess damage after winter storms

This on HeraldNet today, about ongoing flood recovery efforts, including contributions by volunteers, at both Olympic and Mount Rainier National Parks:

"Winter storms have battered the Pacific Northwest's national parks each of the past two years, with damages in the millions of dollars. After last year's massive repairs to Mount Rainier National Park, the latest victim is Olympic National Park, where craggy alpine peaks, forested lowlands and miles of Pacific coast offer visitors the trifecta of a wilderness experience.

"Volunteer crews are making the park the focus of their efforts this year -- though workers at Mount Rainier and North Cascades national parks also are furiously repairing fractures to roads and trails left from winter storms. It all means that visitors to the region's parks once again will have to sidestep some storm damage when planning summer vacations."

Update: See also "Washington's national parks scrambling to repair storm-damaged trails, roads for vacationers" in the March 18 Seattle Times.

Surveying volunteers

I just sent a survey to almost 1,000 people--all of those individuals who volunteered over the past year for whom I have e-mail addresses. It's a short survey, 30 questions, which should take about 15 minutes to respond to, but which will provide us with invaluable feedback about what we're doing well, what we can improve on, and how best to get from here to there.

We sent out a test survey a few weeks ago to about 20 people, and the responses we got back were very insightful. We can already see some common themes in the responses that indicate where we should be putting our energies. (I'd tell you what they are, but don't want to put ideas into your head before you take the survey!) If you receive a survey, I encourage you to take the time to respond to it. It will help us to set priorities for the coming year. If you do not receive a survey, but volunteered this past year, please contact me and I'll send you the link so you can contribute, too. We're accepting responses through April 6.

Once the responses are in, we'll tabulate the results and post the highlights here. It should be very interesting.

One final thing: Special thanks to Deanne Adams, our Pacific West Regional Chief of Interpretation and Education, who invested a lot of time helping us to put the survey together and get it posted.

Details on the FY2008 NPS budget

I just received an e-mail through regular NPS channels with details (finally) on this year's National Park Service budget. Since many of you following this blog find such topics of interest, here's a few exerpts, especially the sections of relevance to our volunteer program.

"In December 2007, Congress passed the 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act. The Act contained many changes to the Administrations’ Request for FY 2008 and to the House and Senate Committee mark-ups. The Washington Budget Office devoted much time and effort in reviewing the massive bill and report language to assess the precise impacts on the FY 2008 budget. On February 4, 2008, PWR Budget and Financial Management provided the Park and Program Summary for our parks to initiate the planning and programming of the anticipated FY 2008 ONPS allocation.... An [abridged] explanation of changes is as follows:

"Seasonal Employees
The full amount of $40.6 million was provided in the FY 2008 budget for the 3,000 Centennial seasonal employees. It is important for each park to keep its commitment to hire the additional number of seasonal employees identified in the President’s Budget. The seasonal program will be closely monitored to document success....

"Volunteers-in-Park Coordinators
$3.4 million was provided to selected parks [including Mount Rainier] to hire VIP Coordinators that are dedicated to the VIP program. As part of the Centennial Initiative, it is imperative that the 12 PWR parks receiving VIP funds for full-time or part-time coordinators demonstrate an improvement in the management of their volunteer programs and a commensurate increase in the number of volunteers and associated volunteer hours. This will contribute to the centennial goal of doubling the number of volunteer hours to 10.4 million hours by 2016. The coordinators must be hired in FY 2008 as specified in the FY 2008 Green Book. The 12 parks in our region will be asked to prepare a special performance report at the end of FY 2008 for submission to the WASO Interpretation and Education Division....

"Youth Conservation Corps (YCC)
For many years, the Appropriations Act language has directed the National Park Service to commit not less than $2 million from within available ONPS Park Management allocations for high priority projects to be carried out by the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC).... However, in the FY 2008 Appropriations Act, the directed amount to commit to YCC projects has increased to $3 million."

Mount Rainier joins Junior Ranger Ambassadors program

We just got word today that Mount Rainier has been selected to participate in the National Park Service/SCA "Junior Ranger Ambassadors" program. Our Interpretive Operations Manager/Outreach Coordinator, Sandi Kinzer, applied to this program last month, and we are very pleased to be participating. Beginning this summer of 2008, SCA will send us an intern to help us design, deliver, and promote Junior Ranger programming. The intern’s primary responsibilities will be to draft new Junior Ranger materials, assist in community outreach, and help with volunteer and event coordination for Junior Ranger programming.

SCA has already begun recruiting for this position.

Sean Smith on KPTK

Just learned about this:

Sean Smith, NW Regional Director of the National Parks Conservation Association, spoke on KPTK radio on Sunday, March 9. Among other topics, he spoke about the efforts of volunteers in repairing flood damage at Mount Rainier, Olympic, and North Cascades National Parks.

To hear the whole conversation, go to KPTK's website and look for the Community Matters link for March 9.

Music on the Mountain - April 4-6, Mineral, Washington

April 4-6 will be the second annual "Music on the Mountain" benefit concert. From the blog "Rockin' the Blues from Canada":

"The 2nd annual Mt. Rainier Music Festival, a 3 day indoor benefit concert for Mt. Rainier National Park, will take place April 4th, 5th and 6th, 2008, at the Mineral Lake Event Center in beautiful Mineral, WA. This 3 day event will feature 25 bands with over 100 musicians on 2 indoor stages, along with some of the top NW food vendors, wineries, breweries and artist booths on hand. There will be silent auctions and raffle items all weekend long, with all proceeds going to Mt. Rainier National Park....

"We are still seeking donated raffle items and auction items of any kind to help raise funds for Mt. Rainier national park. Volunteers are still needed and will receive free admission to the event on the day of volunteering...."

For more details, including a list of featured artists, other events, and details on how you can help, read the full blog entry or visit the website of the Mount Rainier Visitor Association.