Sierra Club panel on Transportation & Climate Change

Transportation & Climate Change: What's tolling got to do with it?
Monday, March 24th, 7-8:30pm. REI - Seattle

Climate change is real, it's here, and it is quickly taking over as the greatest environmental challenge of our time. In Washington State, the majority of our global warming pollution comes from the transportation sector. This month's Cool State Forum will discuss variable tolling as a solution to our transportation woes. The panel will also tackle the tough question: is tolling an equitable solution for our communities?

Our expert panelists include:
Representative Judy Clibborn, House Transportation Chair
Eric De Place, Sightline Institute
Mark Hallenbeck, Director of UW Transportation Research Center
Mark Muriello, Assistant Director of the Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals Department within the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Facilitating the discussion will be Erica Barnett, reporter for The Stranger.

There will be time for questions in this 1 ½ hour forum. Please join this lively discussion and help kick off the 2008 Cool State Campaign!

Please RSVP to help us plan ahead. Email or call the Sierra Club at 206.378.0114 x308 or Jessica.eagle@sierraclub.org.

Mount Rainier Recovery Poster

Following the amazingly destructive winter season of 2006, The Mountaineers joined a coalition of outdoor groups to help with recovery at Mt. Rainier National Park. Assembling volunteer teams, donations and generating awareness, this coalition successfully helped repair many of the damaged roads and trails within the park. The work is ongoing.

The attached poster, given to the coalition by Ranger Doug Enterprises, is a reproduction of a classic WPA poster. These were produced between 1935 and 1943 and were designed to motivate citizens to take a greater interest in the outdoors, and by extension, their health and well-being. The Ranger Doug website has more background on this.

We thought you all would appreciate seeing this classic-style poster. It's nice to have The Mountaineers logo attached to something so beautiful and meaningful.

Public Policy Associate opening at The Mountaineers

The Mountaineers, with over 100 years in Western Washington, is hiring a full-time Public Policy Associate for our headquarters in Seattle. We have had a long history of wilderness preservation in the region, helping to create Olympic National Park, North Cascades National Park and areas like the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. We've also been at the forefront on many issues dealing with wildlife and recreational access for outdoor enthusiasts.

The Public Policy Associate will help track current environment issues and policies within Western Washington and the greater Pacific Northwest region. This position reports directly to the Executive Director and liasions with our Conservation and Recreational Resources Divisions.

The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of public policy as it relates to wilderness, the environment and access. A four-year degree is required. We would like someone who can multitask, and who understands that life in a non-profit means that you will do a
variety of work. This is a good position for those with people skills, as The Mountaineers is a very diverse group with many strong personalities.

For a full description of the position, and details on how to apply, please visit the 'jobs' page of our website.

Conservation NW seeks volunteers

This came from our good friends at Conservation Northwest - they're seeking some volunteer help. - webmaster

Would you like to get out into the woods this spring and summer and help wildlife at the same time? Volunteer to be on one of Conservation Northwest's remote camera teams. Our Cascades Citizen Wildlife Monitoring Project depends on volunteers like you! This project is a joint effort between Conservation Northwest, I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition, and Wilderness Awareness School to conduct citizen monitoring of wildlife in Washington’s Cascades mountains.

The goal of the project is to track the presence of all wildlife using habitat near the proposed crossing structures along I-90 as well as to document and collect data on wildlife presence in core habitat areas of the North Cascades, with some cameras targeted towards rare species such as lynx, wolverine and the North Cascades grizzly. For more information, we have a webpage on the program at: http://www.conservationnw.org/northcascades/centralcas-remote-camera and http://www.i90wildlifebridges.org/monitoring.htm

You can also view some of the some of the great wildlife photos that we captured last year on our cameras, including pine martens along I-90 and wolverines in the North Cascades (more photos to come)!

Read the rest of the post...

We need volunteers willing to join a camera team that will be collectively responsible for installing a camera and checking it monthly from March to October (that is about 7 trips), and some cameras may not be installed until snowmelt in later spring for the backcountry. Depending on your time and interest, you may either elect to adopt a camera as a “team leader” (and even form your own team if you choose) or simply join a camera team as a member that will attend at least 2 checks. We will have 4 teams checking cameras along I-90 and 8 teams checking cameras in core habitat areas of the North Cascades. The North Cascades teams are the ones most likely to start later in the spring.

Team leaders who “adopt” a camera will coordinate and schedule their team members to conduct checks and refresh lure on that camera. We are looking for both short-distance volunteers to check cameras along I-90, which involve short day hikes; and long-distance volunteers to check cameras in core habitat areas of the North Cascades, which may involve strenuous hiking off-trail and overnight backpacks. Volunteers should plan to attend one of our trainings on protocol and equipment and commit to at least two remote camera checks this spring/summer. We will be also be scheduling optional amphibian surveys over the summer where biologists will train you on-site to conduct surveys.

If you’d like to find out more about the program, contact us and/or join us on Thursday evening March 13th for our annual celebration in Seattle over pizza and drinks to thank our volunteers by looking back at the last full year of citizen wildlife monitoring and ahead to the next. Space is limited, so RSVP is required to Marlo Mytty marlo@conservationnw.org 206.675.9747 x 201.

If you’re interested in helping out – either as a dedicated team member or an occasional responder to help if and when you can, here’s what to do:

-- Let me know you’re interested. Please include what your availability is like, whether you’d prefer short or long-distance checks and your desired level of commitment - whether you’d like to commit to at least two trips as a team member or team leader... or whether you’d prefer not to commit, but rather be on a responders' pool list.

-- Attend one of our trainings which will be held from 6-8 pm Monday March 31st in our Seattle office and Wednesday April 2nd in our Bellingham office.

-- If you are unable to attend one of these trainings, but would still like to volunteer, please let me know and we may schedule alternate trainings.

Thank you for helping us keep the Northwest wild! Please contact me for more information.


Sincerely,

Marlo Mytty, Volunteer Coordinator for Cascades Citizen Wildlife Montoring Project
I-90 Wildlife Bridges Coalition & Conservation Northwest
206.675.9747 x 201
3414 ½ Fremont Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103
http://www.conservationnw.org/

Wilderness 2008 Conference

April 3-5, 2008
Kane Hall, UW Campus and Mountaineers Building, Seattle

Over the space of three days, people from all over North America will come together at the University of Washington campus and The Mountaineers Building in Seattle to discuss the future of wilderness. The Wilderness 2008 Conference boasts an amazing schedule of workshops, speakers and social events. Participants will look at some of the changes happening in the world and their impacts on wilderness preservation.

The event kicks off on Thursday, April 3, with an evening presentation by award-winning environmental photo-journalist Gary Braasch, author of Earth Under Fire: How Global Warming is Changing the World. The conference ends with a banquet featuring Stephen Brown, editor of the Mountaineers book Arctic Wings. He will speak on the importance of the arctic as the nesting grounds to many of the world's birds.

For more information on conference activities and to register, visit www.wilderness2008.org.