I am excited to announce that a project I've been working on for almost a year now is close to becoming a reality. My employer--Xanterra--has been extremely supportive of this new venture of dedicating a retail store to educating park guests about the threats climate change pose to our National Parks.The initial sustainable remodel is complete and the interpretive exhibits should be installed by mid-July.

By converting this store to an education center, we have the chance to reach hundreds of visitors on a daily basis and teach them about climate change in our parks. We hope to foster stewardship in guests through our messaging and encourage them to help protect the parks at home by adopting a more sustainable lifestyle.

Read the full story below:

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, May 7, 2009 – Xanterra Parks & Resorts, operator of lodges, gift shops, restaurants and activities in Yellowstone National Park, will convert its gift shop in the Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel into an interpretive facility dedicated to informing park visitors about climate change and offering environmentally friendly products.

“Although other stores may offer some of these products, we believe this is the first retail operation – in a national park or elsewhere – devoted to interpreting climate change,” said Beth Pratt, director of environmental affairs for Xanterra’s Yellowstone operations. “Our goal for this store is to connect the park visitor to the threats climate change and pollution pose to our national parks—and our world—with the need to make sustainable consumer choices.”

To be called “For Future Generations,” the store will open May 8 for the season and will be fully converted into an interpretive facility by mid-summer. The store will feature displays that will educate the public about environmental degradation while raising awareness of the implications of consumer choices such as product purchases and recycling.

Grizzly Bears are just one of Yellowstone's inhabitants that are threatened by climate change.“We want the visitors to know that by recycling an aluminum can, purchasing sustainable products or turning down the heat, they’re not only helping the environment, but they’re also supporting the mission of the National Park Service of ensuring that Yellowstone – and all its inhabitants – remain for future generations to enjoy, “said Pratt.

In keeping with the environmental theme, materials used in the remodeling of the store will be reclaimed, recycled or sourced from sustainable operations. For example, shelving will be constructed out of reclaimed wood, some of it from buildings in the park, including flooring from the Old Faithful Inn and Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel. The new floor is constructed of Tamarac harvested from a “healthy forest” in Montana. Lighting will come from energy-efficient, minimum-impact LED (Light-Emitting Diodes) bulbs.

Each product sold will also have an “environmental scorecard” describing the sustainable attributes. Conventional items will be offered alongside sustainable options.

“Because sustainability means different things to different people, we will offer a variety of products that meet varying definitions of ‘sustainable,’” said Pratt. “For some people, products made locally are the most important factor while others place the most significance on organic materials. Still others see recycled content as the key.”

3 of the 4 amphibian species in Yellowstone are in declineDisplays will include information on the threats climate change poses to our national parks, what the various entities in the park are doing to minimize their environmental impacts and what techniques visitors can use at home. “At Xanterra, we are striving on a daily basis to innovate new ways to protect the environment,” said Pratt. “Our hope is that what we learn can be utilized by others on a much broader scale to improve global environmental health.” The displays will also change over time based upon new information from the environmental community as well as feedback from park visitors and company employees.

Yellowstone Plans to Use Micro hydro to Provide Electricity for Mammoth Hot SpringsInterior Secretary Ken Salazar announced last week that National Parks across the country will receive $750 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The parks will use the funds for critical park needs and improving visitor experience. Most notably, the list also includes $90 million for implementing green technologies and energy efficiency upgrades.

Yellowstone was allocated $1.65 million to invest in an innovative project for adding renewable energy to the Mammoth Hot Springs Area.  By putting a new “spin” on an old idea (a great pun used in the NPS release), the park will retool a century old discontinued micro hydro system to harness power from drinking water already in use—the resulting clean and green power will reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by 695 tons.

Zion National Park plans to install new solar panels at its headquarters and museum, while Canyonlands will use funds to increase energy efficiency in its maintenance buildings. Gates of the Artic will add a new wind turbine system at Anaktuvuk Pass Ranger station, while Channel Islands will invest in a solar array at its headquarters. Similarly, Yosemite plans to add solar power to its headquarters in El Portal.

For more information and a complete list of projects, visit the website for the Department of the Interior Recovery Investments.

During my first thru hike on the John Muir Trail almost fifteen years ago, on the ascent up to Seldon Pass I encountered a young man energetically trotting down the trail without a backpack. Before even saying hello he asked excitedly, “have you seen any frogs?”  The question was a strange greeting, but this researcher had luckily encountered a fellow frog enthusiast. Subsequently he revealed that he was a researcher studying frog populations in the Sierra Nevada. I wish I could recall his name, but his passion for frogs I remember well.

Frog and Mantis ShowdownI’m not sure when my passion for frogs began—as a child of the 70s I’m sure watching Kermit the Frog on the Muppet Show had something to do with my interest. I spent countless hours searching the banks of the Concord River in Massachusetts looking for amphibians; as an adult, I wandered the high country in Yosemite near Tioga Pass looking for the Yosemite toad.

In 2007, my partner and I constructed a frog pond at our home outside Yosemite (I need to give proper credit: he constructed it while I took the easy job and decorated it with plants). Our intent was to provide a proper habitat for the Pacific Chorus frogs that already lived in our yard. Instead of watching television on summer evenings, we would gaze at the chorus frogs catching moths on our window ledge. One memorable occasion, a chorus frog and a California mantis engaged in a standoff—neither one backed down and both eventually retreated. Another time an Alligator lizard and a chorus frog rested nearby each other on our windowsill.

Alligator Lizard and Chorus Frog

Build it and they will come. Only a few weeks after we erected the pond, I encountered a western toad at dusk heading toward the water with his peculiar walk. This March and April, during my visit home from Yellowstone, I listened to the distinct and loud “kreck-ek” of the Pacific Chorus Frogs day and night. Mary Dickerson, who authored The Frog Book in 1906, deemed the chorus frog the “entertaining little acrobat of the frog world” and described their song: “At dusk or on rainy days a loud resonant trill comes from the trees and vines. The sound has the charm of contentment in it; in fact it is much like the purring of a cat, only louder.”

Our Backyard Frog Pond

Pacific Chorus Frog Eggs in Our PondMuch to my delight I also discovered chorus frog tadpole eggs in our pond during my visit (I love the Honduras word for tadpole: “bunbulun”). The tiny eggs grew rapidly during my stay at home, from small dots to wriggling miniatures. 

I regretted having to return to Yellowstone before they hatched, but my partner Shad has promised to remain on tadpole watch and send photos as soon as they emerge. Below is a video of our frog sanctuary.

Despite the success of our backyard frog sanctuary, I am extremely worried about our frog friends across the globe. As Kermit the Frog sang, “It’s Not Easy Being Green.” Today, amphibians worldwide are disappearing at an unprecedented rate. I’ve written previously about the staggering declines of Yellow-legged frog in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada, and the recent study in Yellowstone that showed decreases in 3 of the 4 amphibian species in the park. If frogs are having a difficult time surviving in some of the best-protected places on the planet, something is truly wrong.  Here’s another alarming statistic: climate change, pollution, habitat destruction and disease have put over a third of the world’s amphibian species on the brink of extinction.

How can you help? Dr. Kerry Kriger, who is currently studying amphibian disease, founded a great organization: Save the Frogs. Visit the website to learn more about amphibian extinction and what you can do to help.  Be sure to also mark your calendar so you can celebrate the first official Save The Frogs Day on April 28!

The National Parks Conservation Association’s (NPCA) Mike Cipra recently testified about the impacts of climate change on our national parks at a government hearing held just outside Joshua Tree National Park—an appropriate setting given global warming may eradicate the tree from its namesake park within a century.

Cipra stated in his testimony that “the single greatest threat to the health of our national parks is global climate change” and made a compassioned plea in his testimony for protecting the parks. He proposed using an allocation of funding from a cap and trade system on greenhouse gases to address the impacts of climate change on wildlife and ecosystems, a solution he considers “crucial to a healthy future for our economy, our national parks, and our children’s health.”

With the work of non-profits like NPCA, we are making progress toward ensuring our national parks remain for future generations to enjoy. Visit NPCA’s website for more information on the issue and to read their report, “Unnatural Disaster: Global Warming and Our National Parks.”

At the Association of Partners for Public Lands’ annual conference this week, I felt right at home as Baltimore’s extreme wintry weather rivaled Yellowstone’s frigid and snowy climate. Yet the chilly temperatures and windblown flakes didn’t deter hundreds of representatives from non-profits, government agencies, and other organizations who work with public lands from attending the annual gathering.

Larry Schweiger, President/CEO National Wildlife FederationLarry Schweiger, President and CEO of the National Wildlife Federation, gave an alarming (yet hopeful) presentation on climate change on our public lands. He outlined the high stakes we are gambling with as a society—the very existence of our cherished wilderness. His book on the threats climate change pose to the natural world, Last Chance, will be released this summer. At the end of his talk, he flashed a photograph of his adorable grandchildren on the screen, and made an impassioned, personalizedappeal—we must take action as we cannot ignore the peril our children and grandchildren will face from climate change. Larry continues to be a tireless advocate for the places and creatures who have no voice—check out his excellent blog on the National Wildlife Federation’s website (and consider making a donation to support the organization’s fine work).

Beth with Other APPL Training Corps MembersTo help promote sustainability, I taught a session on “Greening Your Organization: Sustainability on Our Public Lands.” Framing the need for sustainability with the need to protect the parks and it inhabitants, I related the stories of the threatened pika, the disappearing amphibians, and the decimated whitebark pine—surveying the impacts of climate change in the parks for the audience. But the thrust of my talk involved a call to action, and I outlined practical steps for greening operations along with examples of current sustainability efforts on our public lands.

At the trade show, I paid a visit to Chelsea Green’s booth, a publisher that has been dedicated to sustainability for over 25 years. Chelsea Green has produced a handy set of user-friendly books on greening and climate change for readers wanting to learn the basics, along with an eclectic series of titles on other sustainable topics such as an investigation into the forces behind green brands (The Gort Cloud) and the hidden link of milk to some illnesses (The Devil in the Milk). You can check out the full catalog of offerings on their website.

Ken Burns and Dayton DuncanThis morning Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan introduced their new documentary, The National Parks: America's Best Idea, to this captive audience of passionate public land supporters. As the filmmakers dislike showing an incomplete work, Ken joked about locking the doors and holding us hostage so we could view the entire twelve-hour series. I don’t think he would have needed to lock the doors for this group—we all would have willingly spent the day watching this wonderful tribute to the parks.

I had viewed some of the segments last month in Yellowstone, but delighted in this expanded showing. I was certainly not alone in shedding tears as the documentary revealed scene after scene from national parks across the country. And when the Tuolumne River appeared, the water cascaded out of the screen toward me, and I could almost feel the friendly hand of the cool mountain breeze as it escorted the water across the land. Yosemite’s high country remains my favorite place on earth.

After the preview, my friend Michelle observed that she “kept thinking how connected I am to the parks, what an essential part of my life they have been—more than I realized.” When viewing this incredible documentary, I think most people will arrive at the same realization. The parks provide us with something essential—seeing that connection expressed through the masterful direction of Ken Burns and the lyrical voice of Dayton Duncan cannot help but stir something in our souls.