Conservation & Advocacy

Since 2015, REI has closed its stores on Black Friday, paying their employees to #OptOutside instead. At The Mountaineers, we couldn't love the idea more. Our employees have always enjoyed the day after Thanksgiving as a vacation day, and two paid stewardship days each year to take care of their favorite places to play. We believe going outside is not just good for your health - but good for your soul.  Read more…

 The following is excerpted from  We Are Puget Sound, a new book from Mountaineers Books conservation imprint, Braided River.  We Are Puget Sound highlights the ways in which we are affected by and dependent on this body of water—the beating heart of the region. Read more…

September 28, 2019, was National Public Lands Day - a newly-minted state holiday in Washington, through the unanimously-passed House Bill 1449, which we were proud to support. This day offered outdoor  enthusiasts and members of The Mountaineers fee-free access to our federal public lands, and in the spirit of the day some spent their time giving back to the places they love.  Read more…

Those of us who build and maintain trails don’t want you to know what we’ve done. We’re eager for you to hear birds, see mountains and forests, feel the wind in your face, and safely reach your destination. We want you to drink in the backcountry so completely that you barely notice the tread rolling beneath your boots. Read more…

Whenever you set out on a trail, take time to appreciate its construction. A a complimentary piece to "Lightly on the Land" published our summer 2019 magazine, here we share some key trail features to look out for courtesy of stewardship expert and Mountaineers Books author Bob Birkby: Read more…

It's always risky to plan an outdoor autumn event in the Pacific Northwest, but our daring paid off on September 25 because we couldn't have asked for better weather. Our Cocktails for Conservation event ran from 5-9pm, giving each attendee exclusive access to Mountaineering Club's rooftop bar and a complimentary drink. Read more…

This past week, two pieces of legislation that we’ve helped shape and advocated for – the Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation (SOAR) Act and the Recreation Not Red Tape (RNR) Act - had a hearing in the House Committee on Natural Resources. Hearings like this are important steps for a bill to move through the legislative process to eventually become law. The goals of both bills include reducing friction in the permitting process without compromising environmental considerations or the experience of non-commercial public lands visitors. Read more…

To further The Mountaineers core value and strategic priority of advocacy, we occasionally head to the other Washington to advocate for public lands on behalf of our community. This past week in D.C. proved to be a productive and inspiring few days with colleagues from the outdoor recreation and climbing community! Read on to get the highlights from this whirlwind week.  Read more…

Here is an excerpt from Dr. Robert Max Holmes' essay in The Big Thaw: Ancient Carbon, Modern Science and a Race to Save the World, an October 2019 release from our conservation imprint Braided River. (And save the date: Max Holmes and photographer Chris Linder will present at our Seattle Program Center in November.)
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Earlier this summer we hosted a lively summer kick-off party at Mountaineering Club for 200 of our members and supporters. We’d now like to invite you back up to the rooftop for another party – this time in support of The Mountaineers critical conservation and advocacy work. Read more…

Few know that hidden in the lower 48 states is a rainforest where mountain caribou live. For the past few years, Washington biologist, outdoorsman, and photographer David Moskowitz has been studying these animals on the cusp of extinction. Following is an excerpt from his new book, Caribou Rainforest, published by Mountaineers Books. Read more…

The hard truth is that public lands legislation is complicated, victories can be slow, and our public lands are chronically underfunded. The threats to these places are becoming increasingly urgent, and our ability to respond to issues – and thus create space for you to engage – is limited by staff capacity and funding. In order to provide more opportunities for outdoor recreationists to learn about and understand the issues facing our public lands and become an even stronger voice for threaten landscapes, we need to bring on a staff position focused on public lands advocacy and engagement. To make sure we not only keep our footing on this precarious ground, but also find ways to play offense and not just defense, we need your help.  Read more…

We have been talking about the public land heist – an effort to transition national public lands to other entities and effectively take the ‘public’ out of public lands – for a number of years now. While the heist has moved from direct attempts to sell off public lands to focusing on new approaches that devalue these landscapes, the increasing threat is still here: our national public lands are under attack. We updated you on some important pieces of the heist in 2018, and celebrated some of the work being done to stop it. Read on to learn about what the  Public Lands Heist looks like in 2019. Read more…

Resident orcas of the Salish Sea may be wild creatures, but satellite tags, drone images and individual health profiles are making them as familiar as family to researchers. The distinctively marked, largest members of the dolphin family that comprise the J, K, and L pods, also known as killer whales, are being studied inside and out. While scientists monitor the whales’ whereabouts, new babies, and what’s happening with food sources, they’re also analyzing the whales’ feces and blubber to better understand the health of individuals. Read more…

By the end of the day, I was finally able to look squarely into the camera and say, “poop” without laughing. Our film team let out a collective sigh of relief. We were officially finished with one of the most challenging storytelling tasks of the Backcountry Impact Series film project: human waste. Read more…

The breeze on my face contained the chill of an early spring day, sunny warmth trying to shaking off the last of winter. On this day, with the task at hand, the chill was welcome. I rested on a bleached log long stripped of bark, the waves filling my ears with swaying sound. A member of my Mountaineers group came into view along the water-line, his body bent as he dragged a line of buoys behind him. Smiling, I picked up my garbage sack and started looking for that piece of plastic I noticed earlier. Today was turning out to be a good day. Read more…

The U.S. Forest Service is proposing significant changes to its National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) regulations. NEPA is one of the U.S.’s foundational environmental laws that charges land management agencies to evaluate the environmental and possible social and economic impacts of a proposed action, as well as ensuring that the public has the opportunity to review and comment on proposals. NEPA is our voice to how our public lands are managed. Read more…

Being a huge fan of stewardship and conservation, I’m super proud of the hard hat I earned as a stewardship volunteer with the Olympia Mountaineers. I first became interested in 2014 when Kathy Fox and Jim French approached me to help out on several local projects, and from there I was hooked. Read more…

You’ve heard from The Mountaineers a lot over the years about the need to improve federal public lands permitting processes so more folks can get outside on public lands in an organized group setting. We’re excited to say that legislation that we helped to shape - the Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation (SOAR) Act - has been introduced in both the House and Senate. We are stoked to see a bill that will help fix the current inefficient, unpredictable recreational permitting system, removing barriers that keep groups from getting outside. Read more…

Hailed as America’s best conservation program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has been vulnerable to a lack of funding and re-authorization from Congress. This past March, LWCF was permanently reauthorized, meaning this important conservation and recreation program will be around for the long haul. However, this does not actually guarantee it will receive funding every year. Since being established over 50 years ago, more than half of its intended funding - over $22 billion - has been diverted for other, non-conservation purposes. Read more…

A hush spread over the crowd of 500 well-dressed Mountaineers, all eyes on the stage in anticipation. From behind the curtain emerged Jaydalen Blossom, a 14-year old outdoor enthusiast and participant with Young Women Empowered (Y-WE), a youth-serving mentorship and empowerment organization we partner with as part of our Mountain Workshops program. Jaydalen joined us to speak about the connection to people and place she feels in being outside, and to offer a fresh perspective on why protecting these places and experiences is more important than ever. Read more…

Cross-country skiing in the Methow. Climbing at Exit 38. Hiking at Ebey’s Landing. There's nothing like the amazing landscapes of the Pacific Northwest, and thanks to your advocacy, they are more protected than ever! Read more…

We’re thrilled to announce the introduction of bipartisan legislation we’ve been working on for over half a decade: the Simplifying Outdoor Access for Recreation (SOAR) Act. This bill will improve the recreational permitting systems of federal land agencies so more people can experience public lands through volunteer-based clubs (like The Mountaineers!), with an outfitter, guide, non-profit outdoor leadership organizations, or university outdoor programs. We are stoked to see a bill that will help fix the current inefficient, unpredictable recreational permitting system that create barriers for people to experience the outdoors through these types of outdoor programs.  Read more…

Our Olympia Conservation and Stewardship Committee has been championing stewardship for several years through an annual Stewardship Challenge and frequent work parties. We invite you to join us for National Trails day on Saturday, June 1, 2019 to give back to your local recreation areas, and to join us in recognizing the incredible work of the Olympia branch  at Wynoochee Lake on the south side of the Olympics. Read more…

You’ve already heard from us a couple times this year about budget processes for Washington State. In February, we shared The Mountaineers funding priorities and in late April, we encouraged you to take action to speak up against proposed budget cuts – thank you to the 1,100 of you who did! Here’s where things landed with funding for state lands and outdoor programs for the next two years: Read more…

As Mountaineers, we enjoy thousands of miles of trails and waterways throughout our public lands. We must set a compelling example as principled stewards who are willing to work hard to maintain the lands we enjoy. That's why our  Olympia Branch is challenging you to dedicate one day (or more!) this year to stewarding our public lands. This challenge is a great way to give back to our outdoor playgrounds and meet a vibrant community of volunteers. Read more…

Join us for The Era of Megafires with Dr. Paul Hessberg, a research landscape ecologist with Pacific Northwest (PNW) Research Station. In this multi-media presentation, Hessburg explains how over the past decade the number of large, severe wildfires has been on the rise. These megafires burn more than 100,000 acres at a time; they can destroy communities, wildlife habitat, and natural resources. This special presentation conveys the conditions that lead to megafires and how they might be managed or mitigated. Read more…

We are excited to partner with Dr. Kodner and her students from Western Washington University for a third year on a citizen science project related to snow algae! This summer, take your alpine adventures to the next level and help us collect samples of summer "watermelon snow" algal blooms. These samples will support studies related to climate change and algal evolutionary biology. Read more…

The complex landscape of permitting rules and regulations can be difficult to navigate as a Mountaineers leader. To help make things clearer, we've created a series of pages describing the various permit processes pertaining to Mountaineers activities, all organized by land manager. Read more…

Earlier this year, we shared our funding priorities for state lands and outdoor programs (along with information about how our state budget is created). In a few short weeks, the final state budget will be on the desk of the Governor to sign. In the current proposal, state lands are underfunded, and we need you to advocate for better support for these places and recreational opportunities.  Read more…