Literature Appetizer
Ben Kusserow
A Northern Appalachian's Journey

Recently I just finished Appalachia North by Matthew Ferrence. In it, he recounts the complex relationship he still has with the land as a Northern Appalachian. Typically when I finish a book I write a Literature Appetizer to get people a taste of what they will find. Since his book is such a personal journey, I would not do it justice by recounting his life.

Many of his experiences reflect my own experience growing up in Western PA. So instead of condensing his journey, I thought I would condense mine.

The Hero’s Journey is a common literary structure where the hero of the story departs home to do a great act, and then returns victorious. My Northern Appalachian Journey is a bit different, but has a similar structure of three parts; Living in Water, Succeeding by Leaving, and The Mountains are Calling.

A Northern Appalachian's Journey

Pokemon Naturalist: In defense of gaming in Environmental Education

Pokemon Naturalist: In defense of gaming in Environmental Education

Now both my nature friends and nerd friends have a problem with this game. Yes, people are busy on their screens. Yes, the gameplay sucks. Yes, people might run into things because they are not paying attention. Yes, there is barely any gameplay (did I mention that the gameplay sucks?).

But to explain why this is an essential tool for Environmental Educators we need to go back. Before I climbed any mountains. Before I had even left the state of Pennsylvania...

(Cover photo courtesy of Nieris on Deviantart)

Literature Appetizer: I Contain Multitudes by Ed Young

Literature Appetizer: I Contain Multitudes by Ed Young

I'm sure you have heard of 'good and bad' bacteria. You wash your hands to get rid of germs, and have been doing so since elementary school. But take a moment and gaze not to the heavens, but at your own body. Your hands right now are covered with living organisms. Dive millimeters deep into your fingers and the types of microbial residents change completely. For each part of your body, there is a unique microbial ecosystem.

The Mountain Behind the Name: Sourdough

The Mountain Behind the Name: Sourdough

The North Cascades Ecosystem has many features to discover for naturalists, students and day hikers alike. Behind all the charismatic megafauna and flora including bears, wolverines, Douglas Firs, and Western Hemlocks are the mountains that make it all possible. In this series, we take a look at the “charismatic mega-rocks” that make the North Cascades one of the greatest natural wonders of this nation. Last time we took a short day hike up Sauk Mountain. Today we take a hike up to one of the most famous fire lookouts in the entire range: Sourdough.

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Watershed Adventures: Paddling in Bellingham Bay with Kulshan Creek

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Watershed Adventures: Paddling in Bellingham Bay with Kulshan Creek

This year students in the Kulshan Creek Neighborhood Youth Program have been focusing on the watersheds all around them. They have been everywhere imaginable in this journey: from the sub-alpine during Mountain School to getting soaked at Rasar State Park. But in late September they got to experience firsthand where some of this water ends: Bellingham Bay.

Gratitude Hike: A very Hobbit-like way to give thanks

Gratitude Hike: A very Hobbit-like way to give thanks

Yes, all last year I was living and learning at the North Cascades Institute, fully immersed in the mountain landscape. I even kicked it up a notch and spent the summer in Stehekin; somehow even more remote than NCI!

But this trip would be different. I wouldn't be working or in class. And I wasn't trying to boost my self esteem by being a 'Bear Grylls' knockoff. By hiking alone for four days I had the time to reflect and thank the literal and figurative earth, fire, air, and water that have made me into the person I am today.

Stehekinaut

Stehekinaut

One statement often said in my generation is that "we were 100 years too late to explore Earth, and 100 years too early to explore our solar system." Even though I was never an oceanaut and won't be an astronaut, this summer I got to be a Stehekinaut. But what was this "Stehekin" and why was I there all summer? It was a strange mix of seeing both how pioneers lived hundreds of years ago and how future colonies could be fashioned on other celestial bodies.

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An Open Letter to the 16th Cohort

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An Open Letter to the 16th Cohort

Dear C16,

Welcome to the North Cascades ecoregion! If you have lived here your whole life or if this is your first time here, you are going to get to know more about the life in these mountains than you ever thought possible. Between hiking, tracking, teaching and paddling, in just a year this place will feel like home.

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Springing into Learning: Graduate Spring Natural History Retreat

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Springing into Learning: Graduate Spring Natural History Retreat

At the Institute, the graduate students of the 15th cohort (C15) have been hard at work this past year teaching Mountain School, assisting in adult programs and visiting non-profits, all while finishing assignments and trying to find some sleep! Every season though, the graduate students leave all that behind to learn from experts in the field and be fully immersed into the wilderness of the North Cascades. Last fall we worked with beavers and hawks. In the winter we dived intosnow ecology and wolverines. Just last week, we ventured out on our last natural history retreat where we tracked our natural neighbors, captured native bees and kept up with all of the birds!

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Soaked with Knowledge: Kulshan Creek at Rasar State Park

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Soaked with Knowledge: Kulshan Creek at Rasar State Park

Youth have a unique skill in creating adventures out of anything. So even though I had been to tree planting on Cornet Bay and the Migratory Bird Festival with theKulshan Creek Neighborhood Program, both large and expansive day trips, our last trip to Rasar State Park felt no less adventurous!

The day started off wet. That might seem ubiquitous living in western Washington but we had been without rain for two full weeks at this point. The rain was a welcome change from weeks of dry, hot, sunny days.

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Watch your nose: Understanding White-Nose Syndrome and the Bats of the North Cascades National Park

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Watch your nose: Understanding White-Nose Syndrome and the Bats of the North Cascades National Park

On March 11, hikers found the sick bat about 30 miles east of Seattle near North Bend, and took it to Progressive Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) for care. The bat died two days later, and had visible symptoms of a skin infection common in bats with White Nose Syndrome. -U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.

This comes across as incredibly serious and dire news for educators, government works, and bat enthusiasts along the west coast. But if you have never heard of white-nose syndrome (WNS), or even knew we had bats in the North Cascades National Park, you might not know how or why this is dire.