By Guest Blogger Antonio Rufin, WNPF Board Member
Washington’s National Park Fund (WNPF) is committed to equity and inclusion of all people, a commitment we share with the National Park Service and Washington’s three largest national parks. We strongly believe that by actively funding projects that give access and opportunities to traditionally under-represented communities — and by building an organization whose donors and partners represent diverse cultures, backgrounds and life experiences — we become more fruitful stewards and champions of Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks.
One of the greatest joys for us over the past two years has been the ongoing collaboration between Mount Rainier and WNPF to reach out to our region’s Latinx community. Thanks to visionary leaders at Mount Rainier — like former Superintendent Chip Jenkins and current Acting Superintendent Tracy Swartout, who have made community engagement one of their key priorities — we have seen this collaboration flourish. One of the most successful outcomes was a wonderful 2019 visit to the park for day workers and their families, jointly organized by Seattle’s Casa Latina, Mount Rainier and WNPF. You can learn more about this event on our blog, To the Parks! This is an activity we are hoping to repeat and expand in the future.
Over this past year, the pandemic has created many challenges, but we have not let it slow us down. In 2020, Mount Rainier and WNPF delivered a first-ever Spanish language Virtual Field Trip. Intended for families and children of all ages, this live webinar was led by a Spanish-speaking ranger at Mount Rainier, Alejandro Jimenez, on the topic of “Los Animales del Parque Nacional de Mount Rainier Para Junior Rangers” (“Animals of Mount Rainier National Park for Junior Rangers”). This instructive and lovingly-led tour of the Park’s fauna was a great success. Since then, we have had the privilege to work with Ranger Jimenez again, and produced a great video about his work, the challenges some of the Park visitors face, and the Junior Ranger Program.
Begun in late 2019, and continuing to make steady progress, is an effort to translate many of the Mount Rainier web pages into Spanish. This is part of the Park’s ongoing drive to reach all audiences and, specifically, the Spanish-speaking community. The new site – now containing dozens of pages in Spanish — provides visitors with information to help plan a successful visit to Mount Rainier, as well as important safety guidance.
“We hope this website will improve the trip planning experience for Spanish-speaking visitors and serves as an invitation to visit not just to Mount Rainer, but all units of the National Park Service,” stated former Superintendent Chip Jenkins. The translation of the pages into Spanish has been made possible by Park communications staff and volunteers, including a WNPF board member. As Jenkins noted: “This demonstrates the variety of ways Washington’s National Park Fund leverages the impact of citizen stewards.” The result is now one of the most comprehensive bilingual sites in the entire National Park Service system, and it has received thousands of hits since its initial launch in July 2020.
Outreach to traditionally under-represented communities will continue to be a focus for the Fund going forward, in partnership with all three Parks in our state, as part of our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We invite you to continue to be a part of our beautiful Parks and with all of us in this exciting journey.
Photos courtesy of Elizabeth Gonzalez.