Park Newsletter for August 31, 2007

Though three more weeks remain of summer, fall colors have arrived at Obstruction Point in the Olympic high country.

Janet Kailin

 

Olympic welcomes Reed Robinson, new maintenance chief.

Nancy Hendricks

Park Welcomes New Maintenance Chief

Reed Robinson, the park's new Chief of Maintenance, began work at Olympic this week. Most recently the maintenance chief at Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, Reed has also worked at Grand Teton National Park, Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Fort Laramie National Historic Site and the National Park Service Historic Preservation Training Center in Maryland.

The son of a U.S. State Department employee, Reed was raised overseas until he was 18. He is the dad of a daughter, 15, and son, 11, and enjoys weightlifting, travel, hiking and motorcycling riding. He is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

Welcome, Reed and family!

 

Superintendent Bill Laitner, left, talks with park volunteers at a recent picnic held in the park maintenance yard.

Volunteers Honored at Recognition Lunch

On August 22, Olympic's staff and volunteers gathered to celebrate and recognize the contributions of the park's 700 volunteers. Over 100 people enjoyed a picnic lunch, prepared and hosted by park staff.

Volunteers who contributed over 200 hours this year were entered into a drawing and were eligible for special awards.

More about volunteering in the park.

 

Rangers Make Drug Bust

Traffic enforcement by Olympic National Park rangers led to an arrest and the seizure of over a half pound of marijuana, a half pound of methamphetamine and a quarter pound of cocaine.

Read more.

Did you know?

... that since last November, park crews removed 203,000 board feet of downed wood from park roads and campgrounds?

While impacts from fall and winter storms are not uncommon, the effects of the heavy rain and windstorms of 2006 were particularly pronounced and will be noticeable for years to come.