By Kacee Saturay, Digital Marketing & Donor Stewardship Manager, and Lisa Drake, Donor Engagement Manager
Have you ever heard the high-pitched whistle in the high alpine meadows of Olympic National Park? If so, you’ve probably just heard an Olympic marmot – a cute rodent that’s endemic to the area and serves as a keystone species at the park.
But after a steep 30% decline in the 1990s, the park’s scientists knew it was time to take action. Cue the Olympic Marmot Monitoring program, which you can learn about in this blog.
Olympic marmot, captured by Ken & Mary Campbell
Since 2010, the park has trained dedicated volunteers, also known as marmoteers, to survey and monitor the park’s declining population. Marmoteers will embark on multi-day backpacking trips to survey and record marmot presence in various areas in the park. If contributing to park research and monitoring marmots on backpacking trips is up your alley, then this program might be for you!
Our team tagged along for a training this summer to see what it was all about and give you a preview of what you can expect as a volunteer for the Olympic Marmot Monitoring program.
Training begins at park headquarters, where volunteers gather and line up to collect their “tools of the trade”: maps, GPS units, and notebooks containing survey datasheets. As the group settles in for the morning session, a photo of the adorable star of the show – the Olympic marmot – kicks off the presentations.
Led by a team of park staff and seasoned program volunteers, the classroom session offers a Marmot 101 crash course, from seasonal rhythms like hibernation and birth cycles to diet, habitat, and behaviors that may be observed in the field.
Trainers also share the history of the Marmot Monitoring program and what long-term data has revealed about population trends in the park. The focus then shifts for the remainder of the session to survey protocols and how to accurately record findings using the datasheets.
While the goal of the training is to prepare volunteers to contribute to the important work of the project, the tone remains light and encouraging. The team makes sure to remind the group that this should be a fun and memorable experience in a park they love with critters they’re helping take care of.
After lunch, the group heads up to Hurricane Ridge to begin putting classroom learning into action. The hike to the training site near Hurricane Hill offers beautiful ridgeline views in every direction – an early opportunity to follow the team’s advice to enjoy the full experience.
After arriving at the site, volunteers begin with a broad scan of the landscape, looking for signs of marmot activity while getting comfortable with using the paper unit maps to orient themselves with the terrain. Trainers walk through how to identify potential habitat and plan safe, efficient routes through the survey areas.
As the group moves through the site on foot, they examine examples of occupied, unoccupied, and abandoned burrows. Trainers also point out similarities between marmot and mountain beaver habitat, noting that telltale signs – like distinctive piles of drying vegetation outside mountain beaver burrow entrances – can help distinguish between the two.
Volunteers then get hands-on practice with the GPS units, practicing how to navigate the survey area, record tracks, mark waypoints, and take photos. Finally, to pull everything together, they go through the process of filling out the datasheets in real time, applying their earlier training as they log GPS coordinates and field observations from the practice site.
As the training day winds down, there’s a noticeable shift in energy. Volunteers are more confident and more connected to the work, and the anticipation begins to build around what they might encounter in the days ahead – and when they will get to log their first official marmot sighting.
After going through the training and participating in the actual survey work, I came away with a much deeper understanding of the program. As someone who learns best by doing, and who has a passion for both science and research projects and volunteer programs, it was incredibly energizing to experience it all firsthand, especially knowing that I was directly contributing to efforts to protect the Olympic marmot- a species found nowhere else in the world.” – Lisa
WNPF is proud to support this long-term, high-impact volunteer and research program, thanks to our dedicated donors. With supplies like bear canisters for the backcountry trips, Garmin inReach devices for navigation, and additional support for the summer trainings, our donors ensure this program can continue growing and evolving.
To read more about the marmoteers and this wonderful program, check out this blog: Monitoring Marmots, Managing Meadows.
If you’re interested in being a part of this program, check out the park’s program page and mark your calendar: applications are anticipated to open on Groundhog Day 2026.
Washington’s National Park Fund is the official philanthropic partner to Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks. Donations fund scientific research, youth and family experiences, and projects that will keep these parks strong and vital now and forever, for everyone. If you’d like to support volunteer-powered community science efforts like this one, consider making a donation today.
All photos by Kacee Saturay, WNPF Staff