04/18/2007
4/19/2007
In November of 2006, torrential downpours across the American Northwest resulted in extensive flooding that caused an unprecedented amount of damage to the roadways, campgrounds, and trails of Mt. Rainier National Park. Repair costs of front country resources and lower elevation trails alone is expected to exceed $36 million dollars, with extensive levels of damage to backcountry resources which remain undetermined until this years snowpack melts.
As a primary destination for mountaineering in North America, the Access Fund is assisting with the rehabilitation of Mt. Rainiers alpine trails, campgrounds, and climbers resources. Restoration projects will begin this summer once an inventory of projects has been compiled and will likely take two to three summer seasons of work to complete.
The Student Conservation Association (SCA) was named to lead the recovery efforts and the Access Fund looks forward to working with SCA and our grassroots network towards spearheading projects that directly rehabilitate climbing resources in this valuable alpine environment.
To learn more visit the Student Conservation Association website: www.thesca.org/Mt_Rainier_Recovery/ or contact Kristo Torgersen at [email protected].