By Kelly Sanderbeck, WNPF Donor Development Manager, and Richard Page
Richard Page, Vice President of WNPF’s Board of Directors, remembers when he was on the winning side of a bid war at last years’ auction. He and his table were heatedly vying to be ‘Community Scientists for a Day’ as part of the Cascade Butterfly Project at North Cascades. Regina Roquefort, the ranger who sponsors and supervises the project, was sitting with them at his auction table and impressed them all with her knowledge and enthusiasm.
According to Richard “When the ‘Hike with a Ranger to See Butterflies’ package came up, several of us pitched in, and bought it. We laughed with Regina, that we had ‘bought’ her for a day!”
After coordinating schedules for a summer day, their group met Regina and two young rangers, also butterfly experts, at the information booth at North Cascades to drive together up to the Sauk Mountain trailhead.
“There in the small parking lot the three rangers taught us a little about butterflies and how to catch them, put them in a small jar for observing and cataloging, and then release them. Along the trail they pointed out various, beautiful butterflies to us. We learned to swing our poles with nets attached so that we sometimes caught the butterfly, without falling off the trail! We each brought our lunch, and Regina brought tasty cookies. We learned a lot about the importance of protecting the butterflies, and we understood how the WNPF grant, though small, was instrumental in funding this research.”