Conservation & Advocacy

Reposted with permission from Mike & Amanda - the Access Fund Conservation Team

The Pacific Northwest is an adventurous climber’s dream. Long hikes into remote peaks and crags challenge climbers’ fitness and resolve, while towering granite peaks and spires inspire one to explore. So we were pretty psyched when we learned that we’d be heading to Darrington, Washington to work at a crag known as 3 O’clock Rock in the Boulder River Wilderness. Read more…

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act, the landmark conservation bill that created a way for us to protect our most pristine wild lands for future generations, and learn how you can get involved with issues facing these wild places in your backyard. Read more…

Over the past few years, the Mountaineers Foundation has been an integral supporter of our conservation program, making it possible for us to protect the outdoor experience in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Their support has made it possible for us to uphold a century-old tradition of not only exploring but also protecting the lands and waters of the PNW. Read more…

Written by Joe Sambataro, Northwest Regional Director for The Access Fund Read more…

We're at mid-season this summer, much of the snow has melted away and that means the Wilderness Weed Watchers are hitting the trails to some of our region's most beautiful places in search of invasive weeds. We've had surveys come in from the Mount Baker, Clearwater and Henry M. Jackson wilderness areas with more on the way. Read more…

The Mountaineers is collecting stoves and lanterns for those in the Methow region that have lost their homes and/or are without power due to the Carleton Fires. A significant number of people are also without running water or hot water. Read more…

Do you spend time outdoors during the winter? Do you backcountry or cross-country ski, snowboard, snowshoe or enjoy winter mountaineering? If your answer is yes, then you may be impacted by the new rules for Over-Snow Vehicle (OSV) Travel Management. Read more…

Do you spend time on Mt. Baker? Skiing, climbing, hiking or taking in the views from Artist Point? Are there more people out there then when you started climbing there 10 years ago? Did you just make your first trip there? What did you think? Come share your experience as a user of the mountain. Read more…

The Mountaineers supported the 20th Anniversary of National Trails Day on June 7 through work on the White Chuck Bench Trail. Read more…

Do you spend time in Olympic National Forest? Are there areas you feel are important to be able to access? Places that are harder to access because a road has been closed? Olympic National Forest is seeking input on identifying a sustainable road system – weigh in! Read more…

On March 22, a huge mudslide destroyed the small community of Steelhead Haven in Oso, which claimed dozens of lives and blocked access to the town of Darrington. Before the mudslide brought the area national attention, however, Darrington was known for two things - logging and access to amazing outdoor recreation opportunities. Read more…

The Crag climbing course, led by the amazing Loni Uchityl, kicked off this weekend at The Mountaineers Seattle Program Center! The weekend focused on building climbing, multipitch, anchor building, and rappelling skills. Read more…

Volunteers often spend 1-2 days a week training course participants in skills to ensure safe and responsible enjoyment of our natural world. Others also help coordinate and administer course offerings. This is the core of what defines us - The Mountaineers - as a community.  Read more…

The Mountaineers Everett Branch's Lookout and Trail Maintenance Crew’s 2014 season has begun! Member Bruce Wolverton describes 'opening season' at the Mt. Pilchuck lookout. Read more…

By Marlies Wierenga, Pacific NW Conservation Manager for WildEarth Guardians and WWRI Coordinator

Passage of the Northwest Forest Plan in the mid 1990s was a turning point for conservation. Not only did spotted owls and salmon begin to have a chance at survival but the land and water they depend on were given the ability to heal. Federal, state, local, private landowners across the state stepped up to do their part and everyone lived happily ever after. Right? Read more…

As winter is still in full effect in most of our mountains, access for recreational opportunities in ONP continues to be a priority for many folks. Read more…

It’s in!

Last year, the Washington Climbers Coalition, the American Alpine Club and The Mountaineers, with support from the Access Fund, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Spokane Mountaineers and the entire Northwest climbing community, raised $50,000 for the installation of a toilet at the Frenchman Coulee climbing area (better known as Vantage) in Central Washington. Read more…

There is Big News for outdoor recreation from Olympia! On February 13th Governor Inslee announced the formation of a Blue Ribbon Task Force on Outdoor Recreation in Washington State. Read more…

We are thrilled to hear that biologists have observed the largest Chinook salmon run since 1992 in the Elwha River and that dam removal is back on schedule. Biologists counted 1,741 adult Chionook and mapped 763 redds (salmon nests) between the mouth of the river and Glines Canyon dam. Of the total salmon counted during the one-day survey, 75% were observed upstream of the former Elwha Dam site. Read more…

The Forest Service is holding their final public meeting for the Sustainable Roads Project in Everett on November 13 (rescheduled due to government shutdown earlier in October). Read more…

Congressman Norm Dicks and Senator Patty Murray recently introduced the Wild Olympics Wilderness & Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to permanently protect more than 126,500 acres of Olympic National Forest as wilderness and 19 rivers and their major tributaries, a total of 464 river miles, as Wild and Scenic Rivers. If enacted, the legislation would designate the first new wilderness on Olympic National Forest in nearly three decades and the first-ever protected wild and scenic rivers on the Olympic peninsula. Read more…