WASHINGTON’S NATIONAL PARK FUND2019 SPRING DINNER AND AUCTION FUND-A-NEEDEach year, the Washington National Park Fund focuses its Fund-a-Need (raise the paddle) efforts on a specific core area. In 2019, our focus is on making our national parks safer, more resilient, and more welcoming to all, through our support of:

•MountRainierNationalPark’sJuniorRangerProgram

•NorthCascadesNationalPark’sPreventiveSearchandRescueProgram

•OlympicNationalPark’sCitizenScience/MarmotProgram

MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARKEngageDiverseYouthandFamiliesthroughJuniorRangerProgramming

The Junior Ranger motto, “Explore, Learn, and Protect!” is recited by children from the Olympic Peninsula to the Florida Everglades. Junior Rangers take an oath to protect parks, learn about parks, and share their personal ranger story with friends and family. Often such promises, made in childhood, are the first steps of a lifelong commitment to our precious national parks. This project focuses on revitalizing Junior Ranger programming at Paradise and Cougar Rock Campground in Mount Rainier National Park, with the goal of reaching a broader, more diverse audience of families and youth, many of whom do not currently attend park programs. Junior Rangers staff will implement new programming designed to engage these underserved audiences, including non-English speakers. A lead, Spanish-speaking education ranger will spearhead these efforts, including training staff and coaching seasonal interpreters. Staff will increase advertising and recruitment efforts to reach new and existing audiences, and provide Junior Ranger programming for 20,000 visitors, including more culturally and socio-economically diverse audiences. This program

will offer fun and engaging ways for visitors to explore park resources, get to know and appreciate park rangers, and see the park with the eyes of future stewards!

NORTH CASCADES NATIONAL PARK DevelopPreventiveSearchandRescueProgram

As North Cascades National Park backcountry and climbing areas become more popular, the park is experiencing a significant increase in search and rescue incidents for overdue, lost, and injured visitors. The small staff is struggling to provide visitors with essential safety information, manage the climbing areas, and respond to rescues. Other national parks have determined that an effective way to reduce the number of search and rescue incidents is through a formal Preventive Search and Rescue (PSAR) program which will focus on educating visitors on climbing best practices, provide current climbing route conditions, analyze incidents for lessons learned, and share those lessons with the climbing community. The program will work on building relationships with the commercial guiding operations in the park, in an effort to encourage best climbing practices. This project will begin with the creation of North Cascades’ first PSAR team, who will design and implement the PSAR program, and develop educational materials such as posters, videos and websites. In addition, a climbing ranger will be hired to maintain a presence at the Wilderness Information Center and in the popular climbing areas, in order to provide visitors with the information they need to have a safe, enjoyable time in the park.

OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARKOlympicMarmotCitizenScienceMonitoringProgram

Olympic marmots are the furry, little creatures who whistle loudly as visitors approach, then swiftly scurry to the safety of their underground burrows. Extroverted and playful, these animals are in trouble: sadly, their populations are declining. With your support, citizen scientists (trained volunteers) will continue their research throughout the summer months. These volunteers travel to the park’s backcountry, position themselves quietly, and systematically count, track, and complete data logs. The data they gather help park scientists understand what is needed to restore the marmots’ habitat. The program relies on support from Washington’s National Park Fund and committed youth and adults who sign up, year after year, to spot marmots in the meadows where they make their home (80-100 volunteer scientists, averaging about 4000 volunteer hours). The Olympic marmot is our state’s endemic animal. Let’s help them thrive.

Washington’s National Park Fund1904 Third Avenue, Suite 400 | Seattle, WA 98101(206) 623-2063 | wnpf.org