By Kacee Saturay, WNPF Donor Stewardship & Social Media Coordinator
It is no secret that Mount Rainier National Park is dominated by water, whether that be frozen, moving, or still. But do you know what goes into understanding and protecting these aquatic ecosystems? In January of 2022, Washington’s National Park Fund was joined by the park’s Aquatic Ecologist, Rebecca Lofgren, for a virtual field trip where we learned about the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration project in the park.
This impactful project came into fruition after Rebecca and her team identified that the fishing regulations within the park needed updating and native species needed protection. This transformed into a larger question that the aquatics program wanted to answer: What is the impact of non-native species and how can we improve the aquatic ecosystems within the park?
Like many of the projects that WNPF funds, the park proposed this project and with the help of our donors, it came to life!
We have always thought that funding specific projects to help a particular park would be very rewarding.– Kim, Aquatic Ecosystems Restoration Project donor
This project seems simple, but is actually quite complex. Their goal? To monitor and restore the aquatic ecosystems at Mount Rainier.
Within the park boundaries, there are nine watersheds, approximately 470 mapped rivers and streams, 382 mapped lakes and ponds, and more than 3,000 acres of wetland. Not to mention, their work also involves monitoring air quality, water quality, and visitor use. Rebecca and her team at the aquatics program have their work cut out for them!
You may be wondering, what exactly are they restoring? This work stems from a history of non-native fish introduction. From 1915 to 1972, approximately nine million non-native fish (like brook trout and kokanee) were stocked in historically fishless lakes to support recreational fishing in the park. This causes an issue between amphibians and fish because the trophic level in the ecosystem is impacted. Amphibians rely on the cold water to survive the warmer months, but fish acting as a new predator in the lake adds another layer of complication to their environment.
Given that history, the team wanted to focus on fish (native and non-native) and amphibian monitoring because they are indicators of stream health, they motivate partnerships among different groups, and they are ecologically, culturally, and economically important, as stated in the presentation.
Curious about this work? Step into the shoes of an aquatics team member for the afternoon:
WNPF cherishes this project as it involves two of our priority areas in the projects we fund: advancing science and research and expanding volunteerism and stewardship. According to Rebecca, a lot of the data collection relies on volunteers and citizen scientists. The different methods that volunteers use include eDNA sampling, fishing and angling, dragonfly sampling, and species monitoring.
What’s wonderful about these methods is that volunteers don’t need a scientific background to get involved. Volunteering with the aquatics program is almost like choosing your own adventure; Rebecca can connect you with a crew lead to find out exactly what kind of fieldwork you’d like to do. The field activities vary from simply submitting an amphibian sighting on trail to joining a staff member in analyzing mercury levels in the lake.
If you would like to learn more about getting involved, Rebecca and her team are seeking volunteers to join them this summer! Contact her to learn more at Rebecca_A_Lofgren@nps.gov.
WNPF is incredibly proud to support this project at Mount Rainier. When asked how the project funds get invested, Rebecca shared:
It is very challenging to try and describe the significance of the contributions from WNPF… The staff that you see, the supplies, the ability to coordinate the outreach to get the work done is supported through these funds… It’s been huge.
This ongoing project could not be possible without the passionate support of our donors.
Want to support more projects involving science and research or volunteerism and stewardship? Visit our project portfolio at wnpf.org/projects.
Photos courtesy of Mitch Pittman.