The recognition of the volunteer effort to repair flood damage at Mount Rainier National Park continus to garner awards.

Park staff learned today that on May 8, Mount Rainier’s volunteer program will receive the George B. Hartzog Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, the National Park Service’s highest honor.

The Hartzog Award recognizes the efforts of the individual volunteers, the 1,724 people who turned out to build trails, plant trees, scan historic images and work in the park’s visitor centers.

"You are the ones who’ve been keeping our greenhouse running and helping to rescue people lost on

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Here’s a story from Jeff that will run in tomorrow’s Adventure section:

By Jeffrey P. Mayor
jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com
REI has opted to remove all polycarbonate water bottles containing bisphenol A from its inventory as consumers debate whether the chemical poses a health risk.
The Kent-based outdoors retailer made the decision Friday, the same day the maker of the popular Nalgene water bottle said it will remove the hard-plastic product containing the chemical from stores and replace its Nalgene Outdoor line of containers with BPA-free alternatives.
"Increasingly, we’ve had customer demand for BPA-free water bottles. There also has been increasing customer confusion on how to identify a water bottle made without BPA," said REI spokeswoman Megan Behrbaum.
Joe Hyer, co-owner of Alpine Experience in Oympia, cautions consumers to not overreact. "If there was something harmful in a Nalgene bottle, not only would we be pulling them off the shelves, but also recalling the millions of the ones that have already been sold," he said.
Andrea Wagner, manager of Backpackers Supply on South Tacoma Way in Tacoma, has noticed a shift in consumer preference. "We’ve been selling more of the aluminum bottles. In the last couple of months, we’ve seen sales definitely drop off on those (Nalgene) types of bottles."

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As a mountain biker, I don’t think of myself as evil. However, a reader in San Ramon, Calif., says otherwise.

Mike Vandeman, a vocal hater of mountain bikers, has e-mailed after my last two stories about mountain biking insisting that I’m being irresponsible by writing about this sport.

He is, of course, right. Mountain biking does damage. Although the amount of damage is questionable.



Check out his website here. He calls this the science on mountain biking.

Mountain bikers, of course, strongly disagree with Vandeman’s opinions. Click here to check

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Kevin Bacher, who heads Mount Rainier National Park’s volunteer program, has posted some photos from Monday’s awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., on his park blog.

Click here to see photos from Kevin.

The park and its volunteer partners received one the highest honors in the National Park Service, the George B. Hartzog Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service.

Honored along with the park were The Mountaineers, National Parks Conservation Association, Student Conservation Association, Washington Trails Association and Washington’s National Park Fund.

Lousy weather this winter and spring is allowing the state Department of Fish and Wildlife to extend the razor clam season.

The department this afternoon announced it has tentatively scheduled a morning razor clam dig in May at four ocean beaches.

If marine toxin tests show the clams are safe to eat, Long Beach and Twin Harbors will open for morning digs May 3-7, while Copalis and Mocrocks are scheduled to open May 4-5 only.

No digging will be allowed after noon on any beach.

Fewer diggers than expected showed up for last weekend’s

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Diane Kerlin doesn’t live in Milton, but she was as happy as anybody this morning when the city dedicated a new 2.5-mile multi-use trail.

"This is a great day," said Kerlin, an Edgewood resident who helped plan the trail. "… A lot of hard work went into this."

Kerlin was one of about 75 people who turned out at the trail Tuesday morning for a ribbon cutting ceremony. And like the rest of the crowd, Kerlin hopes communities around Pierce County keep building trails.

Pierce County officials and trail advocates hope the Milton trail will one day

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The Student Conservation Association-Mount Rainier Partnership was one of 21 recipients nationwide of the Department of the Interior’s Cooperative Conservation Award at a ceremony earlier today in Washington, D.C.

The 21 awards recognized the work of more than 700 groups and individuals who achieved excellence in conservation through collaboration and partnerships.

Jay Satz, the association’s regional vice president in Seattle, accepted the award for the partnership. The award recognizes the partnership’s outstanding contributions to restoration of Mount Rainier National Park after floods devastated the park in November 2006.

The Mount Rainier Recovery Initiative was

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Hey there folks, have you dumped your Nalgene water bottle yet?

The company that makes the popular bottles and stores ares pulling them from shelves over concerns that bisphenol A used in the bottles poses a health risk.

If you’ve switched give me a call, I would like to talk to you. Call me at 253-597-8640 or e-mail me at jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com.