The Cascades Butterfly Project needs you! Get outside and into the beautiful mountains of North Cascades National Park, Mount Rainier National Park and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and help wildlife biologists identify and count alpine butterflies.

Alpine meadows in the Pacific Northwest are expected to shrink dramatically due to the effects of climate change, but as of now, the rate and magnitude of this change is unknown. 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. Join North Cascades Institute, the US Forest Service and the National Park Service for a hike in some of the Northwest’s most scenic alpine meadows and help contribute to this important research!

Volunteer Training:
We will be holding a volunteer training in which participants will learn more about the project and the ecology of Cascades butterflies. The trainings will have two components: an hour-long classroom session, followed by a longer afternoon field excursion where we will practice field ID and scientific research protocols in subalpine meadows.

Where: Paradise Jackson Visitor Center, Mt. Rainier National Park
When: August 13th, 2011, 9:00am- 3:00pm
Cost: Free

Volunteer training is highly recommended, but not mandatory for participation in the project.

For more information, contact:
Jeff Anderson, North Cascades Institute Science Coordinator jeff_anderson@ncascades.org
206-526-2574