Olympia Branch Blog Posts

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…

The Olympia Mountaineers invites you to a dedication gathering celebrating Paul Wiseman, the late founder of the Olympia Branch of The Mountaineers who established our branch in 1963 and leaves behind and indelible legacy.  Read more…

Give us your BEST - photos that is! It's time to update our chapter slide show and what better way to do it than to run a photography contest! This slide show is shown at all our public events and showcases all of our great activities.  Follow the instructions below to submit photos in any of the nine categories and win recognition and eternal bragging rights. Read more…

Our volunteer leaders are a big part of what makes the Olympia branch  such an inspiring, fun, and impactful community. Join us as we prepare to celebrate their hard work and our broader Olympia community at our annual banquet in October. At this banquet we will be honoring one Olympia volunteer with the Branch Service Award, to recognize their hard work and dedication. To help with this process, we ask our branch members to submit nominations for those they believe go above and beyond the call of duty and deserve this award! 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…

Picnics and Northwest summer evenings are made for each other. It gets even better when you add in active outdoor people, friends and families, a beautiful setting, and great food. Join us for our Summer Picnic to celebrate our community and enjoy the height of summer with your fellow Mountaineers. This is a great opportunity to connect with people you have been training and recreating with this year in a more casual setting. Find out what your friends have been doing, and plan those late summer/fall events!  Read more…

Join Mountaineers trail runners from Olympia to discover your love of trail running, discover new trails, and find  like minded folks! No previous trail running experience is required! Read more…

Harry’s Ridge and the Devils Point at Mount St. Helens are two hikes with jaw dropping views accessible out of the Johnston Ridge Observatory, named after David Alexander Johnston the volcanologist who was killed in the 1980 eruption. Visiting is both a monument to destruction and death and renewal and rebirth. Read more…