Fw: Dragonflies, wildflowers, volcanic geology and more
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AUGUST 2008
Learning Center & Field ProgramsSourdough Speaker Series
Institute on Flickr and YouTube
Welcome to the first issue of our new HTML eNewsletter, ! We're excited about this new easy-to-read format which will allow us to share beautiful photos and art with you. You can help us spread the word by forwarding this email on to your friends and family. (If you don't want to receive the Institute's monthly eNews, directions for unsubscribing are at the bottom of the page.) Feedback is welcome: enews@ncascades.org.
In this issue...
1. Fall and Winter Programs 2008-09 now online!
2. Saul Weisberg and Peter Jackson celebrate 40th anniversary of North Cascades National Park in Sourdough Speaker Series, Sept. 13-14
3. Coming up at the Learning Center
4. Coming up in the Field
5. Terry Tempest Williams at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, Oct. 7
6. Bagless in Bellingham
7. Polar Bears at the Burke and Trivia Contest
1. Fall and Winter 2008-09 Programs now online!
North Cascades Institute is pleased to announce that our next season of Learning Center Programs and Field Excursions are now posted and open for enrollment on our website at www.ncascades.org/seminars. Spend some time browsing our many unique offerings, from a Skagit Valley harvest farm tour to mushrooming, art and writing getaways, family birding adventures, Nooksack snowshoeing, eagle and salmon tours, a meditation retreat and more.
Catalogs will be mailed out by Labor Day weekend. In the meantime, find your route for exploring the natural and cultural history of our special place at www.ncascades.org/seminars. If you aren’t currently receiving our catalogs, you can sign up for our mailing list at www.ncascades.org/get_involved/request_catalog.
- Saul Weisberg and Peter Jackson at Sourdough, Sept. 13-14 This autumn's Sourdough Speaker Series, our intimate gatherings at the foot of Sourdough Mountain that feature Northwest artists, writers and naturalists sharing their stories from the region, kicks off with a very special celebration of the 40th birthday of North Cascades National Park. Over the weekend of Sept. 13-14, we’ll host a conversation between Institute Executive Director Saul Weisberg and Peter Jackson, Northwest writer, conservation activist and the son of the late Senator Henry M. Jackson.
With a backpack full of stories to tell about the Park's history, each with his own seasoned insider's perspective, these knowledgeable raconteurs will tell the stories behind the scenery: tales of political wranglings, community conflicts and the stunning victory that resulted in one of America's most remarkable wilderness parks. They’ll also talk about the challenges the park currently faces and look ahead to what is on the horizon.
Information and registration, as well as information about the rest of the season’s series, is at www.ncascades.org/speakerseries.
3. Coming up at the Learning Center
Dragonflies with Dennis Paulson
North Cascades Environmental Learning Center
August 8-10
Washington State harbors 76 species of dragonflies and damselflies, from the order Odonata meaning "toothed jaw." Join Dennis Paulson, the Northwest's foremost authority on odonates, to investigate landscapes and waterways across the North Cascades from the Skagit to Methow valleys.Pacific Northwest Forest Ecology
North Cascades Environmental Learning Center
August 8-10
Join forest ecologists Philip Higuera and Susan Prichard to learn how climate, elevation and geology interact to create the ecological patterns we see in our local woodlands.First Person Stories: A Writing Workshop with Nick O'Connell
North Cascades Environmental Learning Center
September 5-7
Emphasizing the first-person perspective throughout the weekend, we'll address many techniques that make for good stories, from description and metaphor to dramatic scene and narrative structure. A longtime writer, editor and teacher, Nick founded the University of Washington's Narrative Nonfiction program in 1993 and now directs the Writers Workshop in Seattle, which helps newcomers and veterans alike with memoir, travel, nature and other writing.**Nature Photography Retreat: High Country in Autumn **North Cascades Environmental Learning Center
September 19-21
From crimson huckleberry meadows laced with golden larches to a smiling loved one hiking down a snow-dusted trail, capture the North Cascades as autumn takes hold. With three expert photographers as your guides – Paul Bannick, Brett Baunton and Benj Drummond – we'll turn our lenses to all the season has to offer: landscapes, wildlife and people at play in the out of doors.All programs at the Learning Center include overnight lodging, meals and naturalist-led activities in North Cascades National Park. Prices vary; if you've never taken a class with us before, you may be eligible for a 20 percent discount; scholarships, teacher clock hours and academic credit available. More information and registration at www.ncascades.org/seminars or (360) 856-5700 ext. 209.
4. Coming up in the Field
Wildflower Photography in the Alpine Landscape
Mt. Baker/ Artist’s Point area
August 9 (free evening slideshow) and 10 (day trip)
Join photographer Mark Turner for a day of learning techniques for photographing alpine wildflowers in the mountains. On Sunday, we'll start above treeline at the world-famous Artist's Point at the end of the Mt. Baker Highway, hiking along the talus slope of Table Mountain before descending to the lush wetlands bordering Galena Chain Lakes. This field excursion will emphasize discovering new ways to see the flowers, techniques for creative composition, separating subjects from distracting backgrounds and controlling natural light--all techniques Mark used to produce Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, his excellent 2006 field guide.Saturday night’s slideshow is free and open to the public. Join us at Fairhaven Library in Bellingham at 7:30 pm. No RSVP required.
Volcanic Geology of Mount Baker’s Ptarmigan Ridge with Dave Tucker II
Mt. Baker area
September 7 (Because our first trip sold out, we’ve added a second outing!)
Experience time travel by foot on the Ptarmigan Ridge trail in Mt. Baker's radiant late-summer high country. Our field excursion will begin above treeline at Artist's Point before venturing out toward the simmering, glaciated volcano herself. Along the way, we'll travel over a distinct record of one million years of volcanism as we traverse across the top of the 1.15-million-year-old Kulshan caldera. Dave is a leading geological expert on the Mt. Baker region and is currently studying the Holocene eruptive history of Mt. Baker.Women’s Fly Fishing Escape
Cady Lake Manor
September 20-21
There are only a few spots left for this unique 2-day retreat at the inimitable Cady Lake Manor, a bed-and-breakfast on the Kitsap Peninsula with its own private lake stewarded for fly-fishing. Treat yourself, or a loved one, to a weekend of relaxation, while learning how to fly fish in an atmosphere of encouragement, support and camaraderie. Over the weekend, we'll come to appreciate the contemplative craft of fly-fishing while exploring a private 15-acre lake with Pat Bolton, one of the foremost fly fishing authorities in the Pacific Northwest.Prices vary; if you've never taken a class with us before, you may be eligible for a 20 percent discount; scholarships, teacher clock hours and academic credit available. More information and registration at www.ncascades.org/seminars or (360) 856-5700 ext. 209.
5. Free Day Trips at the Learning Center
Join the Institute this month and experience the North Cascades by signing up for free guided hikes and canoe trips at the Learning Center with staff naturalists and park rangers. We're hosting these popular outings this month on Saturdays, August 2, 9 and 23. Sign-ups begin at 8:30 a.m. and the trips are first-come, first-served, with no advanced registration offered.
More information, driving directions and future dates are available at www.ncascades.org/daytrips.
5. Terry Tempest Williams at Seattle's Benaroya Hall, Oct. 7
Terry Tempest Williams has been called a "citizen writer," a writer who speaks out eloquently on behalf of an ethical stance toward life and the natural world. A fierce advocate for freedom of speech, passionate environmental activist and trained naturalist, she consistently shows how environmental issues are social issues that become matters of justice. Terry is the author of the environmental classic Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place as well as An Unspoken Hunger: Stories from the Field, The Open Space of Democracy, Red: Passion and Patience in the Desert and the forthcoming Finding Beauty in a Broken World.
Join North Cascades Institute at Seattle's Benaroya Hall on October 7 to welcome this inspirational writer, thinker and activist to the Pacific Northwest.
Ticket information at www.ncascades.org/events.
6. Bagless in Bellingham
Bellingham’s funkiest vintage clothing store, the Buffalo Exchange, has generously offered to donate five cents to the Institute every time a shopper chooses not to use a bag. If you are in the market for cool recycled clothing, stop by the Buffalo Exchange at 1209 N. State Street, buy something and skip the bag. Don’t forget to thank them for helping to conserve and restore Northwest environments through education!
7. Polar Bears at the Burke and Trivia Contest
As part of our ongoing inquiry into the impacts of climate change on the natural world, North Cascades Institute is proud to co-sponsor the Burke Museum’s environmental photography exhibit “The Last Polar Bear: Facing the Truth of a Warming World,” showing now through December 31. Endearing polar bear images by Seattle-based wildlife photographer Steven Kazlowski document the creature in the wild, bringing to life the urgency of global warming’s impact on the Arctic. Kazlowski spent eight years tracking and photographing polar bears in the Alaskan Arctic ― a harsh terrain that is rarely visited and seldom photographed ― and the exhibit’s 40 large-format color photographs reveal the plight of the bear as it faces rapid change in its Arctic coastal habitat.
We’ve got a copy of Steven’s book “The Last Polar Bear,” published (and donated) by The Mountaineers Books, to give away in this month’s trivia contest. Here's the question: which rare mammal was recently confirmed to be inhabiting the North Cascades ecosystem in western Okanagan County? (Hint: it wasn’t a polar bear.)
Email your answer, along with name and mailing address to enews@ncascades.org with “The Last Polar Bear” in your subject line. At the beginning of next week, we'll randomly select a winner from the pool of correct answers and send the book out in the mail.
See you on the trail!
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North Cascades Institute
810 State Route 20
Sedro-Woolley, WA 98284(360) 856-5700 ext. 209
www.ncascades.org
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