Boeing has given $93,550 to three conservations groups aiding flood recovery efforts at Mount Rainier National Park.

The money will go to the Student Conservation Association, Washington Trails Association and National Parks Conservation Association to support the activities at the park. The organizations will use th emoney to support volunteer citizen stewardship programs and public outreach and education.

The park and its partners are now planning for the 2008 season. Major work remains to be done, including rebuilding the Glacier Basin Trail and a portion of the Carbon Glacier Trail.

The Student Conservation Association will use $43,550 of the grant to support summer programs at the park, including programs to work with urban high school students from Seattle on restoration projects. The funding also will support public training in conservation skills to further develop a sustainable volunteer program at Mount Rainier.

With $25,000 from the grant, the park conservation group will host town hall and conference events to discuss how the federal government can sustain long-term access to national parks as recurring storm damage limits public access. The NPCA will also redesign the Storm Coalition Web site and recruit volunteers for projects this summer.

The WTA will use $25,000 of the funds to station a crew leader at the park for the season. The crew leader will lead three trail repair work parties each week throughout the spring and summer to
survey and repair damage.

Mount Rainier National Park

MRNP volunteer program

NW Parks and Public Lands Storm Recovery Coalition

Click here to watch video of the Coast Guard rescuing a stranded surfer.

The statement from the Coast Guard:
The Coast Guard rescued a surfer Sunday after he became stranded by strong currents in a cove near Depoe Bay, Ore. At 1:41 p.m., the Lincoln County, Ore., Dispatch Center contacted the Coast Guard to report a surfer in distress near Devil's Punch Bowl State Park.

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Visit blogs.thenewstribune.com/olympics for info on how you can sign up to volunteer for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

High winds made for tough fishing during last weekend’s Roche Harbor Salmon Classic Invitational. Despite gale force winds, 99 boats made it to Roche Harbor for the fifth annual salmon derby.

Despite windy conditions, a tournament-record of 141 fish were weighed in by the 335 anglers who competed.

Randall Opel of Arlington didn’t seem to mind as his 19.14-pound salmon earned him the $10,000 first-place prize. Michael Bredeson of Everson took second and $5,000 with a 16.12-pound fish. Damon Peterson of Bellingham earned $1,500 for his third-place fish of 15.4 pounds.

Snow 15 deep in some places will keep the road to Paradise at Mount Rainier National Park closed until later this week.

Park road crews are working to clear the snow that came down in 10 natural avalanches and one created by avalanche control explosives.

“We’ve had so much snow in the past few weeks that we’ve seen snow slide in areas where it hasn’t released in years,” said park information officer Lee Taylor.

“This is not a normal plowing operation,” said Michael Ray, who supervises park snow removal operations. “The avalanche debris is as heavy as concrete and can only be removed by bulldozer or blower. It’s going to take us a number of days to clear the road.”

The road has been closed since Feb. 5 due to heavy snow and extreme avalanche danger. More than 14 feet of snow has fallen at Paradise in the last two weeks. As of this morning there are 196 inches on the ground at Paradise.

Although visitors may not be able to get to Paradise for sledding this weekend, there are snowshoe walks at Longmire, and there is good trail access for snowshoeing and cross country skiing from there.

To check the status of road conditions and weather information at the park, call 360-569-2211 and then select 1 or check the park’s Web site at www.nps.gov/mora.