Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Photo courtesy of Jon Epstein

Can you say "S-N-O-W?" Nordic Patrol's Jon Epstein trekked out to reset poles at Paradise. He's shown here at the Deadhorse Creek bridge. In Jon's words, "If you look to the far right of the photo you can see a small group of poles barely sticking out where they identify the bridge.  Had we not reset them this weekend they would have been lost for most of the winter."

The forecast is for snow to continue throughout the week, becoming heavy at times. If you go out, be prepared for winter conditions.

Seasonal -and Permanent- Greetings!

Photo by Kevin Bacher

The highly capable and eminently professional staff of the Volunteer Program would like to wish you and your families the best of the season. Now, let it snow!

Mark Your Calendars - 2016 Fee Free Days Have Been Announced!

Every Kid in a Park - Seattle Kick Off Event

Did you know that every single fourth grader can get a pass for free entry to any National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Education, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  That is millions of acres of federal land, just waiting to be explored by the fourth graders of this country (and their families, of course), for free! 

In the first year of this inititive, President Barack Obama has said:

"Because no matter who you are, no matter where you live, our parks, our monuments, our lands, our waters - these places are your birthright as Americans."

But maybe you aren't a fourth grader, reading this blog.  Parents can help their children get this pass by completing a short task together at www.everykidinapark.gov, printing out a temporary pass, and then exchanging it at any fee station of federal lands, including here at Mount Rainier National Park.

Are you a teacher of fourth graders?  Do you work at a camp or outdoor education center for fourth graders?  Sunday school?  Boy Scouts?  Girl Scouts?  A home-school leader?  Do you lead an after school program?  If you are an educator of fourth graders, then you can also create a lesson that touches on a few outlined topics, and you can hand out passes to any fourth graders that complete the lesson!  More information for educators can be found at www.everykidinapark.gov/get-your-pass/educator .

 

In September, Mount Rainier National Park, Klondike Goldrush National Park, Olympic National Park, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, Islandwood and Washington Trails Association all held activities for a number of fourth graders from around the Seattle Area, issuing over 50 passes to very eager fourth graders!

You can get YOUR pass here (assuming that you are in fourth grade): www.everykidinapark.gov

Calling All Volunteers with a Name Tag!

Do you have a bronze name tag from your time volunteering at Mount Rainier National Park?  Have you put in over 100 hours of volunteer time?  Do you volunteer on the front lines, behind a visitor's center desk, in a wilderness information center, out meadow roving or patrolling the back country, or many other jobs where a name tag is a crucial part of your uniform?  Were you an active volunteer in 2015 and will you be an active volunteer in 2016?  If so, then this post is for you!

Just imagine this, shinier, and in pin form.

As you may already (hopefully) know, 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.  To help spread the news, we have ordered a limited number of 2016 Centennial pins to share with those volunteers who interact with the public on a regular basis.  You may have seen these pins on NPS Staff, centered just above their name tags, and they are an official part of the 2016 uniform for staff and volunteers. 

These pins do look best centered above the official NPS name tag, but if you don't have a name tag, don't you fret!  They are available for purchase at http://www.arrowheadstore.com/.  Since the volunteer program has a limited number of these pins, we only have enough for one pin per volunteer who meets the above criteria. 

So, if you have been an active volunteer in the past year and you are looking to continue volunteering throughout the winter or even next summer, with a name tag, please contact Ian at ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov and he will get your pin out to you as soon as possible!  In your email, please include your mailing address, if you would like to have your pin shipped to you!

N2P Road Construction Update, 11/30-12/6

Work in the new conduit and vaults in the Nisqually Road continues through December 18 with the installation of fiber optic cable between the Nisqually Entrance and Longmire.

Work will take place during daylight hours, Mondays through Fridays, with the exception of holidays.

Flaggers will direct traffic through one lane as necessary. There may be more than one location where this will happen.

Traffic delays will be no more than 30 minutes total one-way.

Please drive slowly in work areas.

OptOutside for Green Friday!

I got up extra early today to come up with a witty post, but instead I decided to #OptOutside and celebrate #GreenFriday. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and instead of getting in line for Black Friday deals, go celebrate YOUR National Parks today. Entrance fees for Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks have been waived, which may be the biggest deal of all. Get out there and #FindYourPark.



Rampart Ridge, November 24, 2015

 

Green Friday or Black Friday?

 

Either way, #OptOutside with us tomorrow and enjoy your National Park, free of charge!

This Thanksgiving, We are Thankful for YOU.

This Thanksgiving, we want to thank you. Yes, you, the Mount Rainier VIP. Without you, who knows what the park would even be like today. From maintaining the trails, to removing invasive species, to replanting our meadows, to educating visitors, to search and rescue operations, to assisting in the park collections, to answering countless questions in the Visitor's Centers, to collecting vital information from citizen science surveys, to seemingly infinite other responsibilities, the volunteers are really what makes Mount Rainier such a special place for nearly 2,000,000 visitors each and every year. We really cannot say it enough. Thank you, Mount Rainier volunteers!

 

 

Click to Enlarge

The Sooty Grouse: Mount Rainier's "Turkey?"

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, much of the nation is looking to the turkey to be the centerpiece in their festive feast.  Mount Rainier has over 230,000 acres of beautiful wilderness, but you would be very hard pressed to find a Wild Turkey grazing in the park.  But surely there has to be a similar bird somewhere out there, right?

Sketch of the "turkey" of Mount Rainier
 by C. Frank Brockman

In the November 1, 1928 Mount Rainier Nature News Notes, the second full-time Park Naturalist, C. Frank Brockman, wrote an article giving that honor to the sooty grouse.  An excerpt from Mr. Brockman's writing:



"Perhaps you know the Sooty Grouse as the "hooter" for one of his chief characteristics is the throaty hooting that is often kept up for long periods. To some this continued vocal effort is a sign of rain--like the continued call of the dove--but this theory is not borne out by fact. The Sooty Grouse is a handsome bird, about the size of the domestic hen and its dark slate or "sooty" color is finely mottled with grey and brown. Thus, like many other of Nature's children, it finds its chief protection in the fact that it looks like the region in which it lives. We find it in meadows between 4000 and 6000 feet, strutting about in the huckleberry patches or perched on a gnarled limb of a Mountain Hemlock surveying the passer-by with a calm deliberation that bespeaks of a total absence of fear."



C. Frank Brockman with park visitors and Charlie, circa 1941

 During his tenure at Mount Rainier, C. Frank Brockman helped to shape many of the programs that we still see in the park to this day.  When he was first hired as the Park Naturalist in 1928, one of his first tasks was to convert the Old Longmire Administration Building to a public museum, the Longmire Museum, which is still in use today.  He also oversaw the creation of a visitor's center at both Paradise and Sunrise throughout the early 1930's.  After leaving the National Park Service, Brockman became a Professor of Forest Recreation at the University of Washington, retiring in the late 1960's.  C. Frank Brockman passed away on March 20, 1985, but his legacy can still be seen throughout Mount Rainier National Park today.