Chattermarks

Saturday, April 27^th marked the fourth annual Migratory Bird Festival, a day that brought together 113 people of all ages at Fort Casey State Park on Whidbey Island. This celebration of spring and migrating birds was hosted by North Cascades Institute, the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service, the International District Housing Alliance, and the Mount Vernon Police Department. Despite overcast weather, the day turned out to be a huge success filled with games, exploration, and learning about the cultural and natural history of the area.

Youth Leadership Adventure students joined the International District group for a fun game about migration

One group consisted of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Filipino elders from the International District in Seattle accompanied by youth who assisted by translating what was being said. The second group was Kulshan Creek, a group of enthusiastic kids from Mount Vernon who are primarily Hispanic and range from age 8-16 years old. The third group included high school students who will participate in North Cascades Institute’s Youth Leadership Adventures this summer.

The group circles up to learn about migratory birds in the Pacific Northwest

» Continue reading Fourth Annual Migratory Bird Festival at Whidbey Island

Heather Ellis is a future student of Social Work, currently on hiatus from school to work, take care of family, improve her photography, and give herself time for self-reflection and development. Born in Seattle, the North Cascades have always been in her backyard and became an integral part of her life after participating in programs hosted by North Cascades Institute.

When we arrived it was dark. We walked down to the dock and all I could see around me were the shadows of the mountains towering over us against a sky that was speckled with more stars than a strictly suburban-dwelling girl like me had ever realized existed outside of NASA photos. With all this greatness around me, I felt smaller than the tiniest ant—an insignificant speck in the cosmic fugue. I hated it. In this ever-so-humbling of arenas, the people who brought us had the gall to fill us with words of our worth:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?
Actually, who are we not to be?

» Continue reading Learning to Love in the North Cascades

 Above two photos: (top) Sous Chef Mike Cuseo gets some help trying out a crazy ides: Oyster (mushrooms) on the Half-shell. (bottom) After the oven… Photos by Kacey Shoemaker

This time of year, there’s few of us here at the Learning Center with as much to be thankful for as the kitchen staff. The whole idea of Thanksgiving seems to be a celebration of what we do as cooks. It also gives us the opportunity to highlight the hard work of the farmers and ranchers who supply us with the goods we need all year round to continue the work of the Foodshed Project. It’s called a project because we didn’t initiate it and it’s never finished, but we’re nonetheless thankful to be a part of something that’s simultaneously mundane and ephemeral. So in the spirit of the season I would like to extend a few Thanks You’s on behalf of the kitchen staff from a demanding and productive season at North Cascades Institute.

Chefs Mike Cuseo, Myles Lindstrom and Matt Douglas (not pictured: Chef Shelby Slater). Photo by Lauren G

Seattle City Light: I suppose there’s the obvious, like the entirety of Diablo Lake, the roads, the electricity and the light. But we have even more to thank Seattle City Light for, and that’s our role in the continuation of the Skagit Tours on Diablo Lake. The program has brought a wide-ranging audience of curious folks from all walks of life to the Learning Center to share in what we do as an educational organization. Sharing the dining hall, the campus, the lake, and especially the food with our mutual participants has helped us spread the word about what we do as well as strengthened our partnership.

Anne Schwartz shows off a field of winter squash plants to a group of high-schoolers under the watchful eye of Sauk Mountain – August 2012. Photo by Mike Cuseo

Cascade Climate Challenge: Aneka Singlaub and Chris Kiser did so well at integrating food security into the curriculum for their youth programs this summer that they even created a farm tour with a guest appearance by North Cascades Institute chefs. It allowed Chef Shelby and I both the chance to get out of the kitchen and show the students some of the actual dirt that supplies the produce for the midsummer menus at the Learning Center. We were able to really articulate our perspective as cooks on the way our work interacts with culture, climate change, agriculture, health, community values, social justice, and a wide variety of other topics. It felt great to not only be included in the fabric of the curriculum, but to be taken seriously by the educators and the youths in the programs at North Cascades Institute.

» Continue reading Kitchen Gratitude: Another Year in the Foodshed

Over Veteran’s Day weekend 63 students participated in the third annual Youth Leadership Conference, held at the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center. This year, the three-day conference was funded in large part by the Henry M Jackson Foundation—named after the man who was largely responsible for the creation of North Cascades National Park.

Attendees of this conference are high school students and college freshmen who have participated in stewardship programs on public lands in the Pacific Northwest. These programs range far and wide, and include Cascade Climate Challenge, North Cascades Wild, Mountain School, Mountains to Sound Greenway, the National Park Service, North Vancouver Outdoor School, Youth Conservation Corps, the US Forest Service, Washington Trails Association, Student Conservation Association, International District Housing Association WILD Program, Seattle Parks and Rec Outdoor Opportunities Program, and the Oregon Zoo Animal Presenters.

Participants on the first day during a get-to-know-you game

College students Kassandra and Grace, youth participants in the 2011 conference, came back this year as Small Group Leaders and chaperones

Participants of the Youth Leadership Conference gather around a campfire to share stories and songs

» Continue reading Youth Leaders Come Together at North Cascades Institute

North Cascades Institute heartily congratulates our friend Dr. Jon Riedel of North Cascades National Park. Last week, National Park Service Pacific West Regional Director Chris Lehnertz  announced the 2012  Awards for Natural Resource Management and Riedel, based in Sedro-Woolley, was rightly recognized. Here’s the official statement on Jon’s award, followed by some appreciations written by staff and students of the Institute who have worked with Jon in the field over the years…

Dr. Jon Riedel, North Cascades National Park geologist, has been recognized for three significant accomplishments. First, he led the team that, over the course of four years, developed the Stehekin River Corridor Implementation Plan and Environmental Impact Statement. This comprehensive planning effort uses the best available science to protect natural and cultural resources, support the private community of Stehekin, and establish sustainable administrative facilities – all while continuing to provide high-quality recreational experiences for the public. Second, he developed the landmark North Cascades Glacier Monitoring Program. This program, which is in its 20th year, has set the standard for glacier monitoring in the National Park Service and is at the forefront of understanding the impacts of climate change on the North Cascades ecosystem. Third, he has passionately served as a teacher and mentor. He uses his extensive professional knowledge to serve as an informative and entertaining instructor for youth and adults. He also inspires youth to consider science-based careers through his work with the North Cascades Institute, including the nationally renowned Cascades Climate Challenge.

“Jon is one of those rare scientists who is also a superb teacher and mentor. He has been inspiring people since I met him in the mid-80′s—with his unique blend of enthusiasm, deep curiosity, academic rigor, and a love for this special part of the world. I remember one of his early presentations on glaciers in the North Cascades. After a thorough introduction to the science, he moved us with a series of amazing mountain images combined with music. He speaks to both head and heart, and both at a high level. It’s been an honor to work with him over so many years.” – Saul Weisberg, Executive Director

» Continue reading Congratulations Jon Riedel!

By CJ Goulding

Who are you?
What makes you unique?
What have you learned about the effects of stewardship?
What has your experience on this trip taught you about leadership?
What do you plan to do with it when you return home?

These are a few of the Mule Questions which, as leaders this summer, we used to spark self-reflection in our students during North Cascades Wild. The students spend a considerable amount of time thinking about their experience and the things they have learned, making them been better equipped to handle not only the short presentation they make to visitors and donors on a small barge operated by the National Park Service, called the NPS Mule, but to handle the world to which they return.

As I reflect and think on my own experiences of this summer in the North Cascades, I too hope to take some time and reflect on what I have learned. I want to share it so people out there can better understand the impact of North Cascades Wild and so that I, myself, will never forget.

My name is Courtney Andrew James Goulding Jr., born and raised in a Jamaican household on the East side of the country in Teaneck, New Jersey. I grew up in a place where “the outdoors” was simply an area with no roof above your head, the space that existed right outside your front door. I did not have the opportunity, the cultural background, nor the means to go out and explore these wild places. So in quite a few ways, this summer I was walking in the same shoes that these North Cascade Wild students walked, being exposed for the first time to the wilderness, the backcountry, and places like Ross Lake and Mt. Baker.

North Cascades Wild students canoeing down Ross Lake

I left home for Huntsville, Alabama at Oakwood University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville to study engineering and mathematics. After my sophomore year, I had to take a year off due to financial and emotional strain. But it was during that year that I received the initial opportunity which eventually led me to the North Cascades. I was introduced to the Student Conservation Association (SCA) and the National Park Service (NPS) through a one-week spring break academy in Grand Teton National Park. It introduced me to both the park system and the wonders of the natural world. There I met people who were interested in who I was as a person, invested in my success, and who were genuinely inclined to support me. All these things were surprising to me, as I had never seen anything like it before.

» Continue reading Reflections on North Cascades Wild

The Kulshan Creek Neighborhood from Mount Vernon joined up with North Cascades Wild students on August 16th for a day of stewardship on Baker Lake.

The last session of NC Wild, and my last event with the Kulshan Creek Neighborhood Program this year, was an event to put in the books. Next to the three-day Kulshan Creek Mountain School in July at the Environmental Learning Center, there has been no other Kulshan Creek event to match the laughter and good times of this particular day!

The day began when staff and donors from the Institute and Forest Service employees met with the NC Wild crew to share brief introductions and an overview of what promised to be a fabulous day. When the kiddos from Kulshan Creek showed up and introductions were over, we split up into different task groups and got to work right away! Under the guidance of the NC Wild students, the Kulshan Creek kids, Institute staff, donors, and US Forest Service employees were all put to work to do some good stewarding on Lower Sandy Campground in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest.

» Continue reading NC Wild and Kulshan Creek come together for stewardship

Twelve mismatched teenagers have just come off of their hardest life challenge — climbing Desolation Peak. Author Jack Kerouac made this summit in the North Cascade Range famous. He named and led the “beat generarion” and was described as one “at the bottom of his personality, looking up.” These teens have reached into themselves while carrying 60-pound packs. They have been scholars of the fragile ecosystem. Through struggle, study and writing they are forming a voice to meet the global warming challenge. And we were their first audience.

You wouldn’t know it by just looking at them. You would have to listen. We picked up 12 high school students and their two leaders at Lightening Creek, two hours by barge down the lake. They welcomed us as we pulled into a quickly disappearing beach. The reservoir has been known to raise three feet in a day due to sudden melt-off and rains. Their concern was the ultimate melt-off caused by climate change.

Seattle City Light’s Ross Dam and the 25-mile stretch of water, mountains and glaciers behind it, are the setting North Cascade Institute’s Cascade Climate Challenge. This 4-year-old program prepares youth for the future by providing them scientific skills, leadership training and the presentation coaching needed to communicate the challenges of climate change. They are the spokespeople charged with “speaking from the heart” about an event whose existence some still question. Listening to them describe the week in which they awakened from their somnambulant adolescence inspired all who were present in the small audience.

» Continue reading Hope is a barge of people on Ross Lake

What do you get when you mix 38 high-school students in two 20-day programs in a wildly beautiful place with early morning wake-up calls surrounded by snowcapped peaks, days of paddling over glassy water, and hiking on lush mountain trails? Answer: one life-changing summer. North Cascades Institute just wrapped up its fourth successful year of Cascades Climate Challenge. Young high-school leaders from across Washington and Oregon spent three weeks exploring the public lands of the North Cascades. The students studied the effects of climate change and what they and their communities can do to help, learned about the climate science behind those changes, experienced the natural history that makes the North Cascades such a unique place, learned the important role of public lands while practicing stewardship on them, and grew personally as leaders and public speakers.

As students reminisced about their life-changing summer over hugs and tearful goodbyes during the closing ceremony on the final day, lead instructor Justin McWethy touched on what makes this experience so special: love. Beyond the curriculum, the countless hours spent making this program such a success, and the weeks spent exploring and learning about the North Cascades ecosystem, we hope students leave with a deep love for themselves, for their communities, and for this planet. Students leave with new eyes, new knowledge, and a better understanding of how important love and compassion is to this world and the powerful position they are in to effect change. In Cascades Climate Challenge students realize they must be the change they want to see in the world.

Session 2 students hike through wildflowers along Hidden Lake Trail.

Love for each other

For many of the students, Cascades Climate Challenge brings many first experiences: longest time away from home, first time backpacking, paddling a canoe, and camping with a group of strangers in the wilderness. At first these experiences are intimidating and the initial couple days of their 11-day backcountry experience are spent getting accustomed to life in the wilderness. However, the students inevitably form a strong community as they listen to each other’s life stories, and begin developing lasting friendships as they work a cohesive and unified team. During this backcountry time students learn climate science, invaluable leadership and public speaking skills, how to give and receive feedback, and how to powerfully share their personal stories. As the days go on, students begin to take accountability for the group, or better yet, the team. They push each other to give 100% to the experience. Students actively reflect on Margaret Mead’s famous statement: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has,” and how it relates to their group. Supported by a dynamic team of instructors, they experience firsthand how important a thoughtful and committed group is to a community, and to realizing change in those places.

» Continue reading Cascades Climate Challenge: A Recipe for Love

North Cascades Wild has the power to transform lives.

As a trip leader, North Cascades Wild is equally transformative for me as it is for the students that we reach. Never before have I witnessed a group build such a close family bond in such a short amount of time. The faces and behavior of the students I met on the first day were not the same as the students I hugged good-bye. We all became more confident, more alive and much more aware of ourselves as humans. Together we faced challenges and fears, ventured through unknown lands in search of knowing more about those places, supported each other, and learned from each other. Each sequential adventure we had brought us closer together.

The transformations are only getting started. North Cascades Wild started its busy season with two trips June 24^th – July 1^st.  Sixteen high school students from Washington embarked on eight-day backpacking and canoeing trips in North Cascades National Park Complex, one group on Diablo Lake and the other on Ross Lake. Aimed at providing first-time transformational experiences in the North Cascades, North Cascade Institute, in partnership with North Cascades National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, provides opportunities for high school students to explore the wilderness, gain awareness in natural and cultural history practice leadership, communication, and outdoor skills, support the natural world through environmental stewardship projects, and garner a greater appreciation for their natural surroundings and themselves.

North Cascades Wild Trip 2 on Diablo Lake enjoy a day of paddling together! Photo by Sarah Bernstein.

Each season of North Cascades Wild is special, but this year is particularly special because North Cascades Institute is piloting two new features. Four 8-day trips will now run on Ross Lake and Diablo Lake in an effort to increase the number of students reached. Additionally, many of the trips will be accompanied by a North Cascades Wild Trip Leader Apprentice. The Trip Leader Apprentice program is designed to support young leaders in the Institute’s Pathway for Youth by providing a stepping stone from a prior youth program experience to the deeper responsibilities of being part of a trip’s leadership team.

I was one of the four trip leaders on Ross Lake for this first session, and the eight students on my trip, along with my other three co-leaders, had a whirlwind of a week! After a quick visit to North Cascades National Park’s Wilderness Information Center and Newhalem Visitor Center, students spent a day at North Cascade Institute’s Environmental Learning Center. Then it was on! After learning how to canoe at Ross Lake Resort, students paddled their way to McMillan Campground on Ross Lake. For most students, this was their first time canoeing – first time on a boat, first time in the water and, for some, a chance to face their fears. Along our way, we saw the only pair of loons left on Ross Lake, providing for us a balletic display of courtship. The was the first of countless nature moments that continued to unveil themselves on Ross Lake. At McMillan, students learned how to set up tents, cook food in the backcountry and, in a nutshell, live outside. Living outside allowed us to see a hummingbird visit our campsite, watch deer crossing our paths, hear the creaking of the trees, and immerse ourselves in the smells of the natural world.

» Continue reading Wild Adventures on wild lakes