How to Be a Member

We had a visitor to the backcountry this evening. Lowell, an appreciated supporter and enthusiast of the MCC and an English Professor at the local college, dropped in with fresh grapes and cantaloupe, candy, and great conversation. With morale and blood sugar running high, we all settled ourselves around the fire preparing for another evening of education. Lowell's lesson, which was inspired by a Poem he shared with us entitled "How to Be a Member," led us to evaluate our relationships with each other, and to reminisce about all that we had, up until this point, accomplished.

The poem, which chronicles the path and eventual death of a man trying to fit in by following the proposed rules of a society run by arbitrary rules (like all societies), opened up discussion among us regarding our ability to relate to one another as individuals and members of a crew. Perhaps this is a more intimate view of team sunshine than most of these posts will ever be, but sitting around the circle in that moment, I (me, Zoe) found, looking at each of my fellow crew members, very proud of us for maintaining not only the integrity of our crew, but also the integrity of our individuality. Unlike the man chronicled in the poem, we have not compromised our personalities. We do get frustrated sometimes, and we don't always get along perfectly, but we recognize and celebrate what is different among us, and we do so with humor, respect, and sensitivity. We listen to each other's ideas, and appreciate each other's abilities. Doing so makes us productive, but also lets us enjoy our work.

The discussion which Lowell inspired was a refreshing and welcomed change in pace. It gave us a moment to reflect on our accomplishments. Each crew is met with unique challenges and our crew has met them and surpassed them time and time again without really reflecting. We planted 20,000 trees in 10 days in mud up to our knees, and snow soaking through our coats. We climbed nearly 10 miles a day for for 8 days, up and down mountains. And we've done all of this with the expectation that we could do it and would do it. And now that we have done it (half a season and still going strong!), it feels so rewarding to look back at all of those adventures. The good and the bad, and to just take our own temperature. To recognize in ourselves our abilities, and to give ourselves a pat on the back.

Thank you to Lowell for asking the good questions and inspiring us to recognize our own dynamic and our own contributions to the MCC and to our community. And thank you for the FRUIT!

FAQ: Where are the Facilities? A: Cathole

Always the great Adventurers, TS Crew has headed 6 hours westward to the great state of Idaho, tucked deep into the mythical 100+ ft. cedar canopy of the Priest Lake Ranger District in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.

With every great adventure, comes a new twist in the plot!!!! TS Crew's latest and greatest challenge has been to learn how to live in the backcountry!!! While front country is equipped with such luxuries as port-a-potties, water from a spout, neighbors, and a gigantic bear box known as whitey the suburban, the backcountry is far more undeveloped far more exciting, and absolutely not conducive to whitey the suburban!! On this trip amenities have include our feet, pack mules (to carry in food, tools, and propane), self-made latrines, bear hangs, and filtered water from a nearby creek. We have learned to build an award winning bear hang with a rock, rope, pulleys, a duct-taped stick, an abandoned work glove, and a few trees, and have learned what constitutes the trappings (haha, gross) of a good latrine which include suitable and comfortable width, sufficient depth for Leave No Trace (LNT) purposes, privacy!, and something to hold onto like a nearby tree (just in case).

Each backcountry experience is probably unique depending upon the surrounding resources available. TS Crew has been lucky to have a bone chilling crystal clear creek all the way along the trail we have been retreading, as well as huckleberries for mid-morning and afternoon snacks!

TS crew would like to give a shout out to Julia for hanging out with us the first few days and showing us the ropes (literally and figuratively).

More from TS Crew to come!

If I were a press release, I'd say....

Crew Maintains Trails in Priest Lake Ranger District

From July 21 to August 5 the Montana Conservation Corps (MCC) Sunshine Crew will complete routine trail maintenance in the Priest Lake Ranger District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. The six person crew will repair deteriorated turnpikes, and drainage, among other trail maintenance tasks.

The Montana Conservation Corps Sunshine Crew is based in Kalispell, MT. Their work extends throughout the surrounding parks and forests of the Flathead Valley. The MCC strives to provide young people with the skills and values necessary to make beneficial, sustainable, and lasting contributions to the environment and to the community.

Yes, I AM shoveling snow in July

The Sunshine Crew has had the AMAZING (although undoubtedly tiring) opportunity to work some of the BEST trails in the Many Glacier Valley during our latest hitch, including the famous Iceburg Lake Trail, the Grinnel Glacier Trail, and part of the Mexico to Canada Continental Divide Trail (Piegan Pass). Probably the most exiting of our latest adventures has been being given the great pleasure of opening Ptarmigan Tunnel for the 2008 season!

The tunnel, built in 1933 under the Works Progress Administration (WPA) connects the Belly River Valley and the Many Glacier Valley. The alpine wildlife, incredible views, and chance to make the popular tunnel open to visitors, were well worth the 2 hour, 5.2 mile, 2,300 ft. ascent. Perhaps needless to say, much of our adventure was spent shoveling.





















TS Crew became quite famous among tourists who not only took our picture, but also our shovels so that they could capture a shot of themselves "shoveling in july," which was endlessly entertaining to them. Popular comments regarding the snow also included, "wow, it's like a refrigerator/air conditioner in there." This just in, Snow is cold.



In sum, the Sunshine Crew has had an incredible experience at East Glacier. The scenery was brilliant, the hikes were a challenge, and the work was fulfilling. Thank you to our sponsors, and on to the next great adventure!!!

People or Nature?

The sun never sets on TS crew. That being said, what we do at the end of the day is almost as important as our activities during the day!!!

These include:

• Developing professional hacky skills (see photo) while attempting not to be run over by tourists
• Having snowball fights (yes, in july)
  
• Attending popular ranger-run presentations for park visitors
  

A presentation on park birds revealed the source of all of the chirps and caws we've heard for weeks now, and also gave us some insight into the effects of habitat fragmentation on migratory birds. Neo-tropical birds, who live in equatorial latitudes and return to the north each summer to reproduce, are being threatened by development-related fragmentation of their habitats. Fragmentation of habitats corresponds with a growth in the number of edge habitats. While certain birds thrive in these edge habitats, the change in predators, competitors, and climate, endanger the neo-tropical birds whose populations are beginning to fade.

We also studied the biological and political history of the gray wolf. An eradication effort in the late 19th century left the wolves on the brink of extinction and consequently they have been protected for much of the past century by the Endangered Species Act. The first pack of gray wolves to return to the northern rockies were found in Glacier National Park in 1986 and were referred to as "The magic pack."



So what do the wolves and the birds have in common? That their habitats (and arguably their lives) have been protected by this very park!!!!!! Wolves--top predators-- require land and space to thrive. And the neo tropical birds, endangered by those who are more adapt to the edge habitats, need the safety of the park's inside habitats. While no one would openly argue for the reduction of a national park, they might argue that there is something very odd and unnatural about people being so separated from nature by having government-protected public lands such as National Parks. While our National Parks are well established institutions, many species rich habitats are being destroyed all over the world and conflict exists over whether or not to protect them. Is it fair to remove people from their land for the sake of the land? It is a difficult question. Is it fair to destroy habitats for the sake of people? Also a difficult question. Both questions are painfully simplified, of course, but perhaps the case of the wolves and the birds are indication of the necessity to protect wide expanses of land the world over for the sake of ecological balance and health.

And how do these issues pertain to us at the MCC? We, like the great Going to the Sun Rd., open up opportunities for people to explore what great parcels of nature we have left. Hiking on our trails, maybe they will come to understand what it means to have this great park, and so many others, and how much we need to defend the existance of more parks and fight the fragmentation of habitats the world over!

To read up on the people v. nature debate, check out Requiem for Nature by John Terborgh or Breakfast of Biodiversity by John Vandermeer and Ivette Perfecto and explore what you think!!!

In the meantime, TS crew is happy to be working some of the best trails in the greatest national park around!

Walkin On Sunshine

TS Crew fittingly got to cross the Going to the Sun Rd. on our latest journey back to Many Glacier on the E. side of Glacier National Park. TS Crew's latest hitch from July 6th to the 14th will be spent completing the Piegan Pass reroute, and opening up some park favorites including Ptarmigan Tunnel!!!!!!!