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Alpine Stewardship Activities in the Northeast
Full Report Available, Left.
Alpine Stewardship, the practice of passive management and educational outreach to protect alpine plants, has been in practice for decades in the Northeast. Since 2010, Dr. Jill Weiss has been investigating this practice, and for the past 6 years has collected data from 11 stewardship programs in four states to share back with the participants. This has occurred through reports and conference presentations. To maintain the ASANE Project, we intend to continue data collection every two years (collecting in the odd year for the previous even-year’s data), and publish on these data in the near future. History of Project This project was inspired by interviews for a pilot study on the Adirondack High Peaks Summit Steward Program (HPSSP) conducted in the fall of 2010 by Jill Weiss. Interviews with practitioners including Julia Goren, Coordinator of the HPSSP, and Kathy Regan, one of the founders, described a particular sort of field-based environmental education that combines interpretation, science education, research, trail maintenance, safety, and public relations. Most appealing was the philosophical underpinning of this work. Alpine stewardship strikes a balance between an egalitarian and ecologically-based land ethic. This research is for and about organizations in the Northeast who engage in conservation and education for sub alpine and alpine summits. It is a snapshot of activity, philosophy, and management. Its design is driven by the needs and wants of the participants. The goals of this project are to collect ‘best practice’ information from alpine stewardship programs of the Northeast, and further formalize network ties through a process of data collection and sharing. During site visits and subsequent surveys, information was gathered in the following sectors: Education and Public Contact Protocol, Scientific Study and Research, Trail Work and Restoration, Volunteer Programs, and Communications. At the request of the participants, I also collected information on steward recruitment, pay, uniforms and management. This process has raised awareness of the significance of communication and culture within ecological stewardship programs, and sparked discussion about improving information sharing across the network. Connection to Academic Research This project’s strengths are in its practical applications, but it does have overlap with several academic topics:
Interested parties Waterman The Waterman Fund is a small non-profit organization whose mission is to “[foster] the spirit of wildness and strengthens the stewardship and understanding of the alpine areas of Northeastern North America to conserve their ecological, cultural, and recreational values. [They] pursue this mission through education, trail rehabilitation, and research.” Since its inception in 2000, over 500 individual donors and foundations have supported the efforts of the Waterman Fund. The Fund has awarded numerous grants, as well as bestowing its annual Alpine Steward Award. Waterman has funded this phase of the ASANE Project. Study Participants Here and elsewhere in the study the participants are listed geographically from north to south. Detailed information about each site may be found in the 2011 report called Sharing Out: Alpine Stewardship Programs in the Northeast. See the shared Dropbox folder for the report. Baxter State Park Acadia National Park Maine Appalachian Trail Club Randolph Mountain Club The US Forest Service/Appalachian Mountain Club Alpine Stewardship Volunteer Program Dartmouth Outing Club, Moosilauke Stewardship Welch-Dickey/Welch Ledges (site inactive as of 2019) Adirondack High Peaks Summit Steward Program Antioch University New England/Monadnock Ecological Research and Education Project (MERE) Dr. Jill Weiss Jill has 20+ years of experience educating for the environment and strategic planning for environmental organizations. She completed her PhD at Antioch University New England, and has worked with MERE since 2009. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at SUNY-ESF. Her focus is using social research in support of conservation and she studies the practice and results of conservation networks. In 2011 she presented the research report, Sharing Out: Alpine Stewardship Programs in the Northeast, a survey of field education, passive and active management, and research atop the peaks of the Northeast. She has continued to collect data about these sites since. Dr. Peter Palmiotto, MERE Peter is the Director of the Master’s Environmental Studies (ES) degree program and a faculty member in the ES Department at Antioch University New England. Peter directs the MERE Project and teaches courses in research methods, wildlife and forest management, botany, and leads field trips to the Adirondacks and White Mountains. His research focuses on the dynamics of spruce-fir forests and alpine ecosystems. In the past Peter served as the Vice-President and grants coordinator of the Waterman Fund Board. Data Manager The role of the data manager is to shepherd this project during the even/data collection year. The Data Manager will work directly with the MERE Director (Dr. Peter Palmiotto) and Researcher (Dr. Jill Weiss) to complete outreach and data management tasks for the ASP. Activities include: Learning about the practice, the participants in the project, and their organizations; Reviewing current data for gaps (fill) and errors (correct); Compiling an updated contact list; Outreach via phone and email; Data entry; review for errors; follow up; and periodic progress reports. This role may be completed by graduate students at AUNE or ESF depending on the year. Key Terms The alpine zone – occurs in high mountain areas above the tree line where severe climactic conditions prevail and natural communities of low forming shrubs, wildflowers, sedges, rushes, grasses, mosses and lichens dominate. These are tough plants for a tough environment – but at the same time they are fragile and cannot withstand the direct impact of footsteps. Alpine stewardship - Though known by many titles, “alpine stewards” are field educators that fulfill the mission of ecological stewardship for alpine and sub alpine ecosystems while preserving the psychological, spiritual, and cultural connection humans have made with mountains. Several organizations in the Northeast post field educators in and around alpine zones just for this purpose. Research revealed that many of these programs were passing some important milestones; some just reaching their five-year mark, while others passing 100. It is likely that political, economic, and environmental conditions in the next decade will make this work even more challenging. Possession of a full picture of alpine stewardship activities in the region can help organizations better prepare for shocks, forge and strengthen partnerships, and create a support network to help navigate the way forward. Alpine Stewardship Network - The informal group of organizations in this study that provide the same public education service across the NE with the goal of conserving the alpine environment. Active and passive management – For our purposes, active management refers to educator-resource user contact; passive management includes signage, string fences, and exclosures – physical objects that guide resource users to stay on trail or away from a given area. We collect data on both these practices as well as trends that force development of new approaches. Leave No Trace (LNT) – LNT principles provide guidance to resource users for enjoying “our natural world in a sustainable way that avoids human-created impacts.” The seven principles:
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"Most people want to do the right thing, but they don't always know what that is... " -Interview Respondent
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