Volunteer: Spot Butterflies on Blooming Alpine Trails
Look for butterflies while you hike some of Washington's most stunning alpine country by volunteering for the Cascades Butterfly Project. Learn how to volunteer Sunday, July 14.
If looking for butterflies while you hike some of Washington's most stunning alpine country sounds like a pretty good way to spend a day on trail, then the Cascades Butterfly Project needs your help!
Cascades Butterfly Project: looking high and low for signs of climate change
The Cascades Butterfly Project is a long-term citizen science project that monitors butterfly populations in North Cascades National Park and Mount Rainier National Park. Last year, the study areas included Maple Pass, Cascade Pass, Sauk Mtn. and Skyline Divide. In Mount Rainier the project surveyed around Naches Peak, Berkeley Park, Paradise and Spray Park.
Butterflies make ideal indicator species because they are particularly sensitive to climatic changes, and are relatively easy to identify in the field by scientists and volunteers alike. Participants will hike up into some of this country’s most scenic alpine meadows and help scientists identify and count the butterflies along the way.
Learn how to volunteer this Sunday, July 14, on Sauk Mountain
If you are interested in volunteering and or learning about this project, a free introduction to the Cascades Butterfly Project is scheduled for Sunday July 14.
> Contact Jeff Anderson, the Science Coordinator at the North Cascades Institute at jeff_anderson@ncascades.org or call 206 526-2574 to register.
The day will start with a brief classroom training in Sedro-Woolley before heading up to Sauk Mountain to practice butterfly ID in the field.
Additional details about the training at: http://ncascades.org/discover/north-cascades-institute/bulletin-board
More resources:
- Keep up to date with the Cascades Butterfly Project yahoo group
- Follow Trip Reporter and project volunteer banana slug to keep up with butterflies
- Download a research project brief from the North Cascades National Park website
- A recent view from Sauk Mountain, one of the trails where the Cascade Butterfly Project monitors butterflies. Photo by Girl and Dog.
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