Field Notes from the North Cascades / September 2024 eNewsletter
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Youth Leadership Adventures wrapped up their 2024 season with the 9th and final trip of the summer. The unexpected days of rain in August had eight soggy-yet-fulfilled students reflecting on their trips. They wrote of learning to be a "lightbulb leader," light stoves in the rain and form connections across backgrounds and languages.
Our hardworking YLA team - including field instructors Tes, Ellen, Kaylin, and Catherine - led summer backcountry trips for more YLA students since 2018, including two bilingual trips, a return to Baker Lake and other National Forest lands and reinvigorated service partnerships with the US Forest Service.
SEPTEMBER 2024
▸ NEW FALL BASE CAMP WEEKENDS: OCT & NOV
▸ NATURE OR WRITING SPEAKER SERIES FALL 2024 - BELLINGHAM AND NOW SEATTLE TOO!
▸ THANK YOU ASLAN BREWING AND SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
Here is a great photo album with YLA's Best Photos of 2024. The program year is not over however, as we have several day programs for Skagit and Whatcom high school students coming up in October - December with Youth for the Environment and People; details are here.
FALL CONFERENCE & RETREAT FACILITIES
North Cascades Institute invites you to host your gathering at the Environmental Learning Center this November during a rare window of Fall availability. Located on the wooded shores of Diablo Lake in the heart of North Cascades National Park, our inspiring, green-built venue is perfect for conferences, events, retreats, workshops, reunions and other gatherings. We’ll take care of the accommodations, meal service, guided canoeing and hiking opportunities, meeting spaces and an onsite coordinator so you can focus on the goals of your gathering.
To learn more, call Lindsey McBride at (206) 526-2573 or use our Request Information Form.
JOIN OUR TEAM!
We are recruiting for several newly-designed positions including Operations Director, Group Programs Specialist and more! These offer exciting opportunities for anyone interested in supporting environmental education in the North Cascades ecosystem. Learn about our location, values, housing options, and current openings at ncascades.org/job.
Learning Opportunities
FIELD EXCURSIONS AND ONLINE CLASSES
Sept 18 | Soul of the Skagit: Climate Change & Conservation with Christian Murillo - Online
Sept 21 | Fall Writing Workshop with Holly Hughes- Deception Pass State Park
Sept 28 | Powerhouse Insider Tour with Seattle City Light - Newhalem - waitlist avail
Oct 4-6 | "Larch Madness" Base Camp - new!
Oct 12 | Fall Colors Photography with Juan G. Aguilera
Oct 20 | Befriending Fungi AM session / PM session with Evan Holmstrom
Oct 26 | Baker Lake Fungal Foray with Erin Moore
Nov 1-3 | Last Base Camp weekend of the year - new!
Nov 2 | Mushrooms of Cascadia with Evan Holmstrom
Nov 13 | Science and Story: A Conversation with Betsy L. Howell - Online
Dec 7 | Skagit Valley Winter Birding with Libby Mills - new!
Military, student and disability discounts + scholarships are available for most programs.
FALL COLORS PHOTOGRAPHY |
FALL MUSHROOMS |
STAY & PLAY IN THE NORTH CASCADES
We have added two new Fall Weekend Base Camps for Learning & Lodging at the Environmental Learning Center at reduced Shoulder Season pricing! Stay for 1 or 2 nights with lodging, delicious meals and guided outdoor activities in North Cascades National Park. Couples, families, friends and solo adventurers all welcome!
Fri-Sun, October 4-6 | A perfect time to come up to the mountains to witness the glorious golden forests of "larch madness" on the eastslope of the Cascades.
Fri-Sun, Nov 1-3 | A great time for mushrooming and fall colors over the final Base Camp weekend of the year.
Institute News
NATURE OF WRITING FALL SPEAKER SERIES: BELLINGHAM & SEATTLE
Calling all nature lovers and bibliophiles! Discover your next great read for the Fall & Winter months in presentations by authors, artists and naturalists sharing their new works during our Fall 2024 Nature of Writing speaker series, in partnership with Village Books, Bellingham and Third Place Books, Seattle. This season, we will run the river with Steve Duda, leap into the world of frogs with Institute friend & artist Tony Angell, glimpse the changing Arctic with Jon Waterman, and more.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT CLIMATE ACTION GROUPCalling all local high school students interested in youth-led climate action projects! Youth for the Environment and People (YEP!) is an opportunity for students to come together to share ideas and passions, learn about climate change solutions, engage in local stewardship projects—and have fun while doing it! Meets on Mondays, Sept 30 - Dec 9 at 3:00 pm, and is offered in partnership of RE Sources and North Cascades Institute. |
TEACHING IN THE RAIN, CONTINUED.....Unexpected August rains rendered everyone on our Amphibians of PNW Ponds and Streams class a little more amphibious than we expected! We explored the the South Fork Nooksack and Samish River Valley with biologists Stephen Nyman and Vikki Jackson and observed the endangered Oregon spotted frog, an aquatic coastal giant salamander and Northwestern salamanders. Next up in the field: Fall Mushrooms and Winter Birds! |
SUPPORTER SPOTLIGHT
Many thanks to Celicia Yeoman who has been supporting the Institute through Cambia Health Solutions’ workplace giving campaign since 2017. “I wanted to support the Institute's efforts in making sure that kids had access to learning about the North Cascades." We also want to thank Cambia Health Foundation for providing a 50% match to all of Celicia’s donations!
THANK YOU ASLAN BREWING!
In July, the Institute was honored to be Aslan Brewing Co.'s Round-It-Up partner. Thanks to the generosity of Aslan and the Bellingham community, we raised over $2,000 to help students across the region experience the transformative power of nature in a classroom without walls.
MAGNIFY YOUR SUPPORT
Did you know that many companies and government agencies offer opportunities such as annual employee giving campaigns and donations through payroll deduction? Workplace giving offers employees the chance to make a long-lasting commitment with a one-time effort. Plus, many companies will match donations made by their employees, retirees, board members, and even spouses.
Top Image: See highlights from Youth Leadership Adventures in our Best of YLA 2024 album!
