Time to Engage!


October 18, 2016

By Sage Newman, WNPF Board Member

A crowd mingles with park rangers
More than 100 friends turned out for WNPF’s Discovery Group Launch Event at Georgetown Ballroom in September to rub elbows with rangers, learn about priority needs in Washington state’s three national parks, and enjoy delicious appetizers and cold brews from Two Beers Brewing.Eric Sheckler photos

Welcome to WNPF Discovery Group’s first blog post!  We are excited to have this forum as a place where we can share news with you about all the great activities, events, and projects taking place within Washington’s national parks, and how we can all become more engaged!

This summer, we hosted three Discovery Group events (thank you Two Beers Brewing Co., Stoup Brewing, and Georgetown Ballroom for your generous support!) where we brought together like-minded people who have a passion for our parks. We introduced activities that we are organizing as a group.

If you haven’t heard, the next event the Discovery Group will be hosting is a Fireside Circle gathering in Mount Rainier National Park (National Park Inn) from October 28th – 30th.

This outing will include some strenuous hike options, volunteer group activities, or for those just looking for a relaxing weekend, lounging by the fireplace at the Inn!

During the weekend, you can check out the historic cabin that’s going to be renovated to serve as a bunkhouse for search and rescue volunteers – something that Mount Rainier National Park has been striving for. This planned renovation is the result of a dedicated, successful campaign raising the needed $218,000.

(Click here to watch a video about the project).

Vote Your Park poster
Funds to restore a historic cabin were raised in part through the Partners in Preservation “Vote Your Park” campaign. The cabin will become a bunkhouse for search and rescue.

I look forward to seeing you at a future event!

We welcome any ideas that you may have for organized activities, so if you have some things in mind, please reach out to me at sage.newman@wnpf.org.  And since my first involvement with WNPF was participating in a fundraising climb on Mount Rainier, I hope to organize another one in the future.  So be on the lookout for that!

Until we meet again, enjoy our national parks and happy adventures!

Sage Newman is President, SRX International, in Seattle, WA His fondness for nature and parks goes back to when he was a child exploring the vast stretches of woodlands in his backyard of northern New Jersey. Together with WNPF board president Dana Visser and community volunteers Mitch Pittman and Mitch Rennie, he helped form WNPF’s Discovery Group this summer, dedicated to hands-on projects, volunteer work, and activities in Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks.