Input sought on Sustainable Roads on the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest

MBSNF is conducting a study of their road system with a view to declining budgets which will only allow them to keep open about 25% or 623 miles of the current 2500 miles. MBSNF is making an effort to involve the public users of the roads in identifying those roads that the public believes are important to be kept open for recreation.

NCCC friends - please attend one of the meetings below and express a strong preference for environmentally responsible road closures and decommissioning. There are another five public meetings, Tuesday in Issaquah is next. If you can't attend a meeting go to the website linked below and give your input!

 

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT SCHEDULE

Tell us what roads are important to you and why at one of the upcoming meetings. Please RSVP to    sustainableroads@gmail.com, space is limited. 
Give your input online at www.mbssustainableroads.com.

Questionnaire direct link: http://mbssustainableroads.wordpress.com/questionnaire/

 

NCCC member is Artist in Residence in NCNP this summer

Here's how NCCC member Ethan Welty describes his work in North Cascades Park this summer:

Precipitous granite faces, tree-drenched valleys, lofty alpine basins host to most of the glaciers in the lower 48. Although within sight of Seattle, the North Cascades comprise one of the most intact, inaccessible, and least visited wildlands in the contiguous United States. Raised in Seattle, I am thankful to have once called these mountains home. Standing among them, my intellectual and aesthetic fascination for the natural world converged and found a voice. Among them, I aspired to become a mountaineer, a glaciologist, and a photographer.

Although I now live in Colorado, I return often to celebrate the mountains that first inspired my camera. My goal, which will surely take a lifetime, is to assemble a spatially comprehensive, photographic portrait of the shy and beautiful range. On my last visit, I focused on landscapes lying just outside the National Park, hoping to assist American Alps Legacy Project in their battle to expand Congressional protection in the region. This summer, as artist-in-residence at North Cascades National Park, I train my camera on the rugged landscapes lying both within and beyond the park, researching and photographing as many objectives as time allows. In late August, I plan to share my experiences and my craft in an evening slideshow and in a one-day photo workshop (dates and location to be determined).

http://www.weltyphotography.com/galleries/home-range/

"Keepers of the Beat" N. Cascades glacier film now online!

The North Coast & Cascades Science Learning Network (SLN) is pleased to announce a new film on glacier monitoring. "Keepers of the Beat" features Dr. Jon Riedel, NPS glaciologist at North Cascades National Park showing how and why he takes the pulse of glaciers. The title refers to the fact that glaciers respond to environmental conditions and keep a record of their past history, the "beats" of time. 

Glaciers in all Northwest national parks are shrinking fast. “Keepers of the Beat” shares Dr. Riedel’s findings, ties in related work at Mount Rainier, and explains how the projects are linked together. In the film we see the scientists going about their work and we also learn of their personal motivations and concerns. “Keepers” is 18 minutes long and streamed in HD video at http://www.nwparkscience.org.

“Keepers” and the other short videos at the site are products of the SLN, a National Park Service program serving all the Northwest national parks. Its mission is to encourage park research and to disseminate results of  that research. Please contact the program’s director, Dr. Jerry Freilich, for more information (jerry_freilich@nps.gov, 360-565-3082).