My Work Transforming Climbers into Park Stewards

Here are some of the Mountain Stewardship Projects I have helped to implement as a successful and popular collaboration between The American Alpine Club and the National Park Service in Yosemite National Park. These projects are part of the National Park Service's very valuable Volunteers-in-Parks  program.

2008 Lichen Inventory Project

We focused on lichen-rich cliffs and waterfalls in Yosemite Valley
Project duration: 22 days from September 1st - 21st
This project occurred just before the annual Yosemite Facelift, another highly successful stewardship project which attracts almost 3,000 climbers and others each year. Here is some information about the huge success of the 2007 Yosemite Facelift event.

Here is some Associated Press coverage of our project

More information about the lichen species we found and what this means for Yosemite National Park

View a Photo Gallery of our 2008 Project

View a Video of our team in action on Vernal Falls

The Project's High-Value Goals and Outcomes

This innovative park stewardship project, using the productive collaboration between Rangers and Climbers in Yosemite, is made possible through funding provided by The Yosemite Fund and Centennial Challenge 2008, part of the Centennial Initiative of our National Park Service (NPS).

It is part of the National All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory. You can download a list of Centennial Challenge 2008 Park Projects.

Among other things, this project will increase the NPS' knowledge of species in Yosemite, helping them understand and effectively respond to impacts such air pollution and climate change on the park's natural resources.

The project also gives climbers, who have historically been leaders in mountain conservation around the world (such as American Alpine Club members Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir, shown at right), the chance to become very valuable long-term "citizen scientists" and "citizen naturalists" in the parks they enjoy and cherish.

Here is further information about this initiative:  Centennial Initiative News Release

Here is further information about the value of "citizen scientists":
'Citizen scientists' watch for signs of climate change
People with no formal training are helping scientists track and record birds, fish, stars, and plants in their neighborhoods online.
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2007 Lichen Inventory Projects

These two projects consisted of 4 days of lichen sampling in June on cliffs in Yosemite Valley and 4 days in August on the granite domes of Tuolumne Meadows area in the Yosemite high country

 

AAC members such as Ray Purcell gathered lichen samples to help scientists understand how the park might be impacted by global warming and climate changes.

 

 

Here is a photo gallery of our 2007 Lichen Projects, with images courtesy of our talented AAC Volunteers on the projects.