Mount Rainier Opportunities for Support
Washington's National Park Fund is actively seeking charitable contributions to help make these projects possible in Mount Rainier National Park.
Mount Rainier Visitor Shuttle/Climate Friendly Park Program - $150,000
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Climate Change
Continuation of the summer shuttle bus service between Ashford and Paradise is a vital step for Mount Rainier National Park to meet it's goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2016. The shuttle system reduces private vehicle use, congestion, and emissions within the park, while enhanving public understand and support for expanded shuttle services in the future. This project seeks to continue the support of the Boeing Charitable Trust for this project.
Connecting Students to Parks - $5,000
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - Youth
This project will provide schools interested in visiting the park with travel subsidies to cover the cost of bus rentals and substitute teachers. This project will serve 250 students in five schools, and encourage children to spend more time in the natural environment.
Mount Rainier Adventures - $20,000
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - Youth
This project will bring families and youth from the Seattle/Tacoma areas to Mount Rainier National Park for day activities or an overnight trip. This project will provide these youth and families with equipment, transportation, food and educational classes at no charge. Participants will connect with nature, and the park, in a welcome and exciting setting.
Longmire Stewardship Camp - $56,500
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Trail/Camp Enhancements
The campground at Longmire has served as a base for vounteer operations since 2007. Adding picnic tables, fire rings, and an indoor shelter/pavilion for use during inclement weather would establish a year-round area for volunteers to gather and be comfortable. This campground has the capacity to serve hundreds of volunteers and school groups during volunteer activities within the park.
Getting to Green - $13,700
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Climate Change
Mount Rainier National Park has set a goal to become carbon neutral by 2016, the National Park Service's 100th anniversary. To meet this goal, Mount Rainier must continually reevaluate their greenhouse gas emissions, and incorporate climate change education into staff development programs. Mount Rainier strives to reduce not only park emissions, but to also provide visitors with the tools and resources they need to reduce emissions at home and in their own communities.
Protect Resources and Visitors at Paradise - $30,400
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Preservation
Of all the visitors to Mount Rainier National Park during the busy summer months, 80-90% of them choose to come to Paradise. With a focus on youth engagement and reaching diverse audiences, Mount Rainier National Park would like to create a focus on protecting Paradise, while ensuring visitor use is enjoyable and safe. Including meadow protection, trail maintenance and repair, traffic and parking control, wildlife protection, preventative search and rescue information, and general park information, this project will increase staff presence in this concentrated-visitor-use area of the park.
Cascade Red Fox Study - $4,800
Focus Area: Wildlife - Scientific Research
Recent reseach has shown the Cascade Red Fox is being threatened by climate change in Washington. Mount Rainier National Park has one of the most significant populations of this species, and is therefore the best place to evaluate human influences on this animal. The project entails the attachment of GPS radio collars to record fine scale movements by a veteranian and biologist with fox-trapping experience. Information gained from this project will help the park manage this special and threatened species.
Forgotten Creek Analysis - $4,000
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Preservation
This section of the park is the second in Mount Rainier National Park with a cultural component pre-dating the Mazama event over 7,000 years ago. This site has exceptional importance in clarifying the onset of the early human use of Pacific Northwest mountains. An analysis of samples from this area will teach us about how human land use patterns changed as regional populations adjusted to climate change and increasing population density. Previous analysis other this and other areas will provide a more clear idea of the historic use in the area.
Volunteer Roadside Assistance Program: RAVEN - $20,000
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - VIP (Volunteers-in-Parks)
Mount Rainier National Park is proud to have an ongoing volunteer-driven program within the park to help visitors with their vehice issues, such as running out of gas, flat tires, and keys locked inside their vehicle. In the summer of 2011, volunteers with the RAVEN program were able to help on over 100 service calls, and save visitors an estimated potential $52,000 in service calls to commercial services. Having this volunteer-ran service helps both visitors, with a speedy resolution to their vehicle problem, and rangers, who are then free to handle issues required more specialized training.
Historic Wildflower Lampshades of Paradise Inn Booklet Republishing - $1,500
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - Publications
In 1983, a booklet was published to provide information about the beautiful wildflowers that can be found in Paradise Meadow, as well as the beautiful hand-painted lampshades in Paradise Inn. In 1916, the wives of park employees painted these lampshades, ranging in size from four inches to ten feet tall. Reprinting of this booklet will provide information to those who aren't able to see the wildflowers in person, due to limitations or seasons. The booklets will be sold in the park, and proceeds support volunteer programs and further printings of the booklet. This project will be in partnership with the Lake Washington Garden Club.
Elk Surveys: Aerial - $11,000
Focus Area: Protecting Wildlife - Scientific Research
Funding for this vital project will allow Mount Rainier National Park to maintain anunal elk aerial surveys. These surveys have happened on a yearly basis since 1971. Information collected will allow annual evaluation elk in Mount Rainier National Park as well as contribute to interagency-tribe management of the two elk herds in the area. Mount Rainier National Park partners with Washington State, Mukleshoot Tribe of Indians and Puyallup Indian Tribe on this yearly project.
Citizen Science: Effects of Glacial Retreat on Glacial Stream Ecosystems - $17,300
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Climate Change
This project will allow Mount Rainier National Park and volunteer citizen scientists to collect important data on how glacial streams are reacting to climate change, and how to adapt managing these streams in the future. In conjunction, the park will better be able to educate and inform the public, through an active citizen science program.
War of the Woods: Measuring Landscape Disturbance in the Carbon River Valley - $23,308
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Preservation
The Carbon River Valley is continually changing due to many different activities within Mount Rainier National Park. Through this study, the park will better be able to manage the future changes of this valley, as well as the current rebuilding and alterations being made. Through the use of remote sensing data and field checks, management will be better prepared to strategically deploy resouces in this area in the future.
Subalpine Meadow Restoration - $13,000
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Enhancements
The goal of this project is to reduce human impacts in the Paradise, Sunrise and other subalpine meadows within Mount Rainier National Park by planting native species, grown in the park's greenhouse, in these meadows. Planting will be completed by park employees and other volunteers, as well as initial mulching and watering. This project will not only restore these beautiful places, but also increase visitor education about their impacts on these areas.
Protect Rare Larch Mountain and Van Dyke's Salamanders - $18,890
Focus Area: Protecting Wildlife - Scientific Research
This project will fund biological technicians and student intern's assessments of the rare Plethodon salamander species throughout the park. With better knowledge of this threatened species, the park will be able to alter their future management plans in regards to these salamander's habitats.
Historic Mount Rainier Touring Bus - $5,000
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - History of the Parks
From 1937 to 1962, visitors to Mount Rainier National Park were able to take this bus from either the Winthrop Hotel in Tacoma or the Olympic Hotel in Seattle into the park. This '37 Kenworth is one of five made, and only three that remain in existence. During the summer months, this bus is available for visitors to see at the Longmire Historic District. The harsher months, however, require this museum artifact to be stored in a climate-controlled and pest-free environment. This project will ensure the safety of this important item from the park's past, and make it available for future generations to enjoy.
Greenhouse Facility for Forest Restoration of Campgrounds and Developed Areas - $220,880
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Climate Change & Building/Structure Enhancements
Mount Rainier National Park has put native plant propagation as a priority in order to preserve the integrity of the park. This project includes building an 1,800 square foot greenhouse at Tahoma Woods to provide an area to grow native tree replacements and native species for meadow restorations. This greenhouse would double the capacity for Mount Rainier National Park, enabling the park to grow 140,000-160,000 plants per year. This increase would enable park employees to meet the needs of the park for replaced and restored native plants and trees.
Support for Mount Rainier Climbing Volunteer-in-Parks Program - $35,284
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - VIP (Volunteers-in-Parks)
Mount Rainier National Park has visitors come from all over the world to climb the majestic mountain. In order to both protect and inform visitors and climbers, the park needs more people available in this department of the park. Funding of this project would privide the park with a full-time Digital Media Intern, as well as include a participating member of the existing Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program. These additional empolyees will help the park register climbers at the Climbing Information Center, participate in seach and rescue procedures, meadow and resource protection, visitor information and interpretation, as well as provide updates to the Mount Rainier climbing blog, which sees more than 250,000 hits each year.
Support/Communications Trailer - $50,000
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Building/Structure Enhancements
Mount Rainier National Park launches more than 30 aircraft missions, and more than 20 major search and rescue missions, each year. These avaiation operations require a large amount of commuications and support, which are currently done from a makeshift communications base at Kautz Creek helibase. In order to more effectively meet these communications need, the parks needs a support trailer that would provide mobile communications, satelite internet, radio support and command support workspace for aviation operations, emergencies, and general park operations throughout the park. In addition to aviation operations, this suport trailer would be invaluable in the event of a large natural disaster or during special projects throughout the park. The current communications setup is no longer meeting the needs of the park, and therefore sacrificing safety of the employees involved in these operations, as well as visitors to the park.
Go Digital! White River to Sunrise Geology and Glaciers Podcast Tour - $25,000
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - Technology
Podcasts now have the potential to reach both existing and new audiences, including people who aren't able to come and enjoy Mount Rainier National Park's beauty in person. This project would fund the development of an interpretive tour of the geology and glaciers, from White River to Sunrise. The podcast will be available from the park's website, and in time, from iTunes. While the podcast will be designed for a visitor to use while traveling the corridor, it will be designed in a manner that will be of interest to audiences in any location, including classrooms.
Volunteer Meadow Rover Program - $22,800
Focus Area: Greener Parks - Preservation
The Meadow Rover Program at Mount Rainier National Park plays a vital role in resource protection and visitor education. The program has been in place for more than ten years, and continuation of the program is vital to the protection of the most-used areas of the park. Funding for this program will ensure a coordinator is in place to properly develop, mentor and educate meadow rovers, and place them in the proper places throughout the park. The long-term hope for this program is to create a sense of continuity through the seasons and volunteers, providing visitors with a cadre of well-informed, uniformed available year-round to answer questions and respond to emergencies.
Interpreting Park Research - $25,000
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - History
Mount Rainier National Park conducts reseach and studies throughout the year, creating an incredible amount of data and information. This project will enable the general public to have access to this information through the park website, publications, exhibits and programs.
Junior Ranger & Quest Booklets - $35,800
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - Youth (& Publications)
Mount Rainier National Park currently has Junior Ranger booklets, focused on the elementary-aged child. Funding for this project will allow the park to redesign the bookets to encompass younger children, older children, as well as their families, in a manner that encourages families to visit multiple places within the park, over the course of multiple visits. These new booklets will engage the entire family and build on self-initiated interaction with the all the wonderful educational tools Mount Rainier National Park has to offer.
Establish Mount Rainier Institute - $1,000,000
Focus Area: Connecting People to Parks - Youth
This project would enable establishment of a Mount Rainier Institute to connect thousands of students, families, educators and adult learners with the rich natural and cultural history of Mount Rainier National Park and the Pacific Northwest. Mount Rainier NP and the University of Washington have an agreement in concept to create an Institute that utilizes UW's Pack Forest campus near Eatonville, and UW graduate students. The Institute would develop and support a range of experiential learning experiences in and around the park, including environmental education programs for school children that meet state learning requirements, and teacher training; adult education programs and field seminars led by researchers, field biologists and other experts; youth adventures to connect a new generation to nature; and family oriented getaways.
