Conservation & Advocacy

Conservation & Advocacy

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Keep Calm and Learn to Climb: How Mountain Workshops Improves Life Skills

“You should have seen my classroom before we started with The Mountaineers,” says Robin Gannett, a teacher at Aki Kurose Middle School. “It’s a completely different classroom now.” Read more…

Make a Difference for Youth Through Our MAP Scholarship Fund

The Mountaineers relies on the generosity of our community to provide courses and programs that make a difference in so many lives. Last year, donors gave $65,000 in scholarships that made it possible for 492 youth and 54 adults to experience the wonders of the great outdoors - many for the first time. We have set a goal to raise $20,000 to specifically support The Mountaineers Access Program (MAP) by the end of the year, and this #GivingTuesday all donations will go directly to support MAP scholarships, because everyone should have access to the outdoors.  Read more…

Voices Heard | A Seattle Urban Park Ranger Bringing Diversity to the Outdoors

White, male and “midcareer,” Seattle’s Charles Beall in a lot of ways is the face of the National Park Service that turned 100 on August 25, 2016.

He also may be the best hope the agency has for changing that face to match the diversity that is rapidly transforming this country. And the reasons essentially start out the same: Because he is white, male and “midcareer.” Read more…

Conservation Currents | Senator Ranker Talks Surfing, Bagels, and Championing Our Public Lands

Fresh off a trail run behind his house on Orcas Island, Washington State Senator Kevin Ranker hopped on the phone with The Mountaineers, exclaiming “I got outside this morning; everything’s good!” The senator joined us on the heels of a grueling legislative session in Olympia and was recharging as he always has: with a healthy dose of nature. Ranker has been bridging passion (for the outdoors) and policy, since taking office in 2008. He was instrumental in bringing our state its first policy advisor on outdoor recreation, implementing No Child Left Inside legislation, and establishing the San Juan Islands National Monument — all important issues to The Mountaineers. Read more…

Low-Trash Backpacking

Backpacking provides isolation, time away from the stresses of work and home, and a window into the natural world. However, there is one element of backpacking that’s incongruent with its value set: trash. Read more…

Action Alert: Support the Methow Headwaters’ 20-Year Mineral Withdrawal

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is currently accepting comments on a 20-year mineral withdrawal to protect the Methow Headwaters from industrial-scale mining threats. This comment period marks another major milestone in our efforts to safeguard this stunning area, home to some of the nation's best hiking, skiing, climbing, and mountain biking. Read more…

Self-Care in the Mountains: Magic in the Rwenzoris

The Mountaineers first met Tyrhee Moore in The Adventure Gap, a book we published chronicling the first all African-American summit attempt on Denali. Tyrhee was among the youngest of nine climbers, ranging in age from 17 to 65, to attempt the climb America’s highest peak. Since the 2013 expedition, his outdoor resume has grown to include Grand Teton, Mount Kilimanjaro, and Aconcagua. His experiences and challenges in the outdoors have garnered national attention, and he’s risen as an advocate for increasing interest and advocacy amongst black youth in outdoor spaces. Today Tyrhee speaks around the country on topics regarding the adventure gap and conservation leadership, and is a champion for increasing diversity in the outdoors. Read more…

Outside Insight | Stewardship Through The Eyes of a Land Manager

Sarah Lange is an outdoor recreation planner for the U.S. Forest Service. She’s also a former Mountaineers staff member, working as the Public Lands Program Manager from 2010-2013. At the 2017 Mountaineers Leadership Conference, Sarah was part of a land manager and partners panel and discussed ways that Mountaineers leaders can integrate stewardship and low-impact recreation into their trips and activities. Heading into the busy summer season, I caught up with Sarah to better understand her perspective as a land manager, and to learn more about how our leaders can encourage and inspire others to be responsible stewards of our public lands. Read more…

Did you Know? Boulder Cave Bats

The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest is a large, diverse landscape, encompassing over 4 million acres along the eastern slopes of the Cascade Range. It's home to the one and only Boulder Cave located east of Mt Rainier National Park. Read more…

The Mountaineers Endorse I-1631: Investing in a Healthy Outdoors and Clean Energy for Washington

The Mountaineers endorses Washington State ballot Initiative 1631 because we believe that a healthy environment is essential to the future of outdoor recreation and public lands. Read more…

New Legislation to Help Groups Get Outside

We’re thrilled to announce the introduction of bipartisan legislation that we’ve been working on for a number of years: the Public Lands Recreational Opportunities Improvement Act (PLROIA) - S.3550! Read more…

Conservation Currents | Stoke Is Exactly What Outdoor Conservation Needs

High Country News recently published an essay by Ethan Linck, “Your Stoke Won’t Save Us,” questioning the efficacy of outdoor recreationists and the outdoor industry as advocates for conservation. In a sense, Linck is right, stoke alone won’t save us, and the most unimpeachable personal conservation ethic won’t either. Read more…

Nature's Way | Rare Plants, Marine Birds, and a Warming Ocean

When worlds collide, it’s usually a bad thing. But when geology and botany come together for Mark Darrach, he’s as happy as a Polystichum lemmonii on an ultramafic substrate. Read more…

MAC Teens Tackle Trail Work Project at Liberty Bell

For a few days in late August, a group of students from our Mountaineers Adventure Club (MAC) joined the Access Fund's Conservation Team for stewardship work at Washington Pass. The project improved the well-used, but ill-maintained climber’s path that branches off of the Blue Lake Trail to access climbs on Liberty Bell, one of Washington’s most coveted and impressive peaks.  Read more…

Trail Talk | Looking Beyond Stoke: It’s Time To Educate The Masses

It’s no surprise to any of us who have been hiking and adventuring in our wild places since the days of heavy luggedsole boots, knee high cotton socks, and external frames that in the words of conservationist Rick McGuire of the North Cascades Conservation Council and Alpine Lakes Protection Society: we are currently facing a human tsunami on our trails. And if we’re to stay true to this metaphor, a tsunami inundating our wild places isn’t going to leave them in good shape. Read more…

Land and Water Conservation Fund Set to Expire (Again) – Take Action!

UPDATE: Congress let LWCF expire at the end of September. However, on Oct 2, Senator Maria Cantwell, with Senator Richard Burr's, bill to reauthorize LWCF passed out of committee - an important hurdle in saving LWCF. 

Hailed as America’s best conservation program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is set to expire on September 30, 2018 unless Congress takes action. For over 50 years, LWCF funds have helped build and improve trails and trailheads, parks, river put-ins, and climbing areas, benefiting everything from city green spaces to national parks. Read more…

Green Snoqualmie Day - October 6, 2018

With the threat of invasive species, we are at risk of losing Snoqualmie's greatest treasure: our forests. The Green Snoqualmie Partnership continues the region's forest legacy and invites people of all ages to get outside, have fun, and engage in helping restore our green spaces. Read more…

The Many Facets Of The Public Lands Heist And The Millions Rising Up To Stop It

"Protecting wild places has been a part of The Mountaineers DNA from the very beginning. Our members were foundational in the establishment of Olympic National Park and the passage of the National Wilderness Act. We published the book that inspired President Ford to designate the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, and another that chronicled the removal of the ELWAH River Dam. For more than a century, we’ve helped generations fall in love with the outdoors. We get thousands of people outside every year, and in doing so we create strong, authentic connections to these landscapes. These personal connections empower us to defend our public lands." Read more…

The Olympia Stewardship Challenge Continues To Grow

In April, the Olympia Branch of The Mountaineers issued a Stewardship Challenge to Mountaineers organization wide. The purpose of the Stewardship Challenge is to engage all members to participate in a rewarding day of stewardship. The Olympia Stewardship Committee believes this day of service will create closer connections to our magnificent natural resources, demonstrate our determination to support the public lands, and awaken a genuine spirit of service to our region in each participant. In short: we feel it's our duty to leave the trails better than before. Read more…

Second Vantage Toilet Open For 'Business'

Three years ago, the climbing community rose up to fund a pit toilet at the Frenchman Coulee climbing area - better known as Vantage - in Central Washington. As it turns out, if you build it, they will poop. A lot. The toilet became a victim of its own success and fundraising was jointly undertaken by the Washington Climbers Coalition, the Access Fund, the American Alpine Club, and The Mountaineers to build a second toilet. Read more…

Speak Up for the Enchantments

One of Washington State’s most coveted wild places – the Enchantments, located in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness could be impacted by a wide-ranging water management proposal called the Icicle Creek Strategy. The plan, which was introduced by Chelan County and the Washington State Department of Ecology, calls for new, enlarged dams, which could flood nearby trails and campsites. It also raises concerns about appropriate actions in a protected wilderness area. Read more…

U.S. Senator Proposes to Eliminate National Public Lands

In a series of tweets last month, Senator Mike Lee of Utah announced that he’s introducing a bill to “transfer federal lands to the states.” The proposal boils down to taking federally protected parks, forests, refuges, and monuments and putting them in the hands of individual states – where they’d be vulnerable to all sorts of different rules and mandates. Read more…

BeWild: Andrew Mclean, Skiing the 'Alaska Family' - Sept 20

Join us September 20, 2018 to hear from Andrew Mclean, the first person to summit and ski the 'Alaska Family' of peaks Father Denali, Mother Sultanan, and child Mt. Hunter. Read more…

Everett Branch "Rocks Around the Clock" on National Trails Day

On June 2, members of the Everett Branch’s Lookout and Trail Maintenance (LOTM) Committee and partners that included  Washington Climbing Coalition, Summit Everett, and Friends for Public Use held a stewardship event for National Trails Day. We had a great time working on the 8-Mile Trail near Darrington. The trail leads to Three O’Clock Rock, a popular rock climbing site.  Read more…

Meany Lodge Work Parties - Help Needed July 20 & 21

Meany Lodge is undergoing significant updates in the upcoming weeks and we need your help to get all the work done! Meany is a special place to many in our community, and these projects will significantly improve the lodge for future users. The upcoming work parties are on July 20 and July 21.   Read more…

The Gift of Solar Power at the Seattle Program Center

Within 5 minutes of meeting Charlie and Carol Michel, it’s clear  they care very deeply about three things: sea kayaking, The Mountaineers, and our collective carbon footprint. Read more…

Olympia Stewardship Challenge

Jim French, a 20-year Mountaineers stewardship trip leader, has noticed a familiar refrain from new participants. After a long day clearing trails, removing invasive species, or seeding native plants, they exclaim, “Wow, that was great! I would have never done that if it hadn’t been required as part of The Mountaineers course I’m taking. I’d like to do it again.” Read more…

On National Nature Photography Day: Thank you photographers!

Today is National Nature Photography Day. Mountaineers Books and, especially our conservation imprint, Braided River, works with a number of amazingly talented and dedicated nature photographers. These folks frequently spend long hours alone in the wild capturing images that the rest of us would never see without them. These images have a huge impact on how we come to understand and feel about nature. Often their photos are the only reference we have for faraway places, and they move us to care about those environments. Nature photographers are on the leading edge of connecting us emotionally to the world that we depend on for all of our physical needs and for which degradation in a faraway place  affects the place where we live. Read more…

How To: Determine Party Size for Mountaineers Trips

When is a group in the outdoors too big? Too small? The answer, of course, is subjective, and also depends on the place and the activity. The Mountaineers Outdoor Ethics Policy encourages leaders to choose a maximum party size based on seven important factors. Read more…

Happy World Otter Day! - Citizen Science Opportunity

Happy World Otter Day! Organized by the International Otter Survival Fund, this day aims to raise awareness of the 13 otter species worldwide and the threats they face. Locally, the Woodland Park Zoo is looking to understand the behavior of PNW otters and you can help! Read more…