Lake Lewis High Water Markers Installed
In April, 2017, Lake Lewis members George Last and Bruce Bjornstad worked with Friends of Badger volunteers Jim Langdon (Trail Master) and David Beach to install Markers showing the Lake Lewis high water marks on Badger and Candy Mountains near Richland, Washington. The Lake Lewis Chapter donated $300 to the Friends of Badger Mountain to purchase the two faux erratics engraved with “Lake Lewis Maximum Elevation 1250 Feet”. One of the markers was installed along the Sagebrush Trail on Badger Mountain, and the other along the Candy Mountain Trail. It was a glorious day!
Getting Our Palouse Falls “WOW” Story Out
A few of us met two years ago in August to decide if we should start our own chapter. We asked the question, “How do we get the word out to see how much interest there is?” We decided the best way to do this was to the attend the upcoming local fairs – Wheatland Communities Fair in Ritzville over Labor Day weekend, the Palouse Empire Fair outside of Colfax the following weekend and the Adams County Fair in Othello the weekend after that. We were fortunate to still be able to get booth space for the first two fairs and to share with the Coulee Corridor (at no cost) for the last one. We quickly rounded up pictures, maps, and books to fill our first booth. We talked to a lot of interested people and signed up new members for our chapter. This year we decided to do the three weeks of fairs again. The Coulee Corridor allowed us to use part of their booth again to help out our fledgling chapter – we will be able to go solo next year. There are a number of good reasons to take the time and expense to do these fairs. We recognize existing chapter members. We advertise our upcoming lectures. We promote our fall bus tour. We sign up new members. We share our flood story. This year we had time to create a more professional booth including local rock samples. This was a good draw for the young visitors as well as the adults. We also had samples of Mount St. Helens ash from the local area and Yakima. It was a great dialog starter – Why are the two samples different? Answer – the local ash is finer and the Yakima ash is coarser because the heavier material dropped out closer to the mountain. We also met with people who were visiting from outside the flood path or had just recently moved in from out of the area. I would ask them if they were familiar with the Missoula floods. Some knew nothing and others just a little. I would tell the story, pointing to the map showing Glacial Lake Missoula and the flood path. The one superlative I would hear over and over again was “WOW”. It reminded me of just how much of a “WOW” area we live in and how easy it is to forget that when you have lived in it all your life. Yes we do live in a “WOW” area and the local fairs have been a great venue to get our “WOW” story out to the public. Lloyd Stoess, President Palouse Falls Chapter, IAFI
Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail Logo
After several years of coordination…Dan Foster, Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail (IAF-NGT) Superintendent, announced we have a finalized version logo for the IAF-NGT that has been accepted and that will be displayed prominently throughout the floods area. WA-DNR’s graphic designer came up with the design that the Logo Committee believes best captures the essence of the meaning behind this national trail. During this process they faced a difficult task to capture something that was abstract, expressed itself visually in many different ways to represent the flood area, and reflected a story that is generally not well known to the public…now comes the work to sign the 4-state trail. Dan plans on sending out guidance to all the Trail partners on the proper use of the logo. Work is currently underway to develop a “Signing the Trail Plan”. This plan will give us a fairly accurate number for how many logo signs will be needed throughout the floods area. Until now we have only had a very rough guess. Having a more accurate figure for the number of logo signs that will be needed will give us a more accurate cost for making the signs and posts. It will also help the State DOT’s determine what it will cost them to install the logo signs and posts. Dan Foster has started people working on this and hopes to have the plan done this spring. They still have lots of unanswered questions about this process (i.e. how to pay for manufacturing and installing the logo posts) but to finally have a logo was the necessary first step. We started with several conceptual drawings from members of the logo committee and colleagues, but ended up using the services of a number of talented designers whose time was donated by their agency. During this process, a vast number of logos were drafted, but not chosen. Through this we learned the logic, recognition and cognitive association of a logo with its object. We appreciate all who worked on this and couldn’t have done it without them. Because of the difficulty in portraying the scientific nature of the trail, we spent considerable time focusing on designing a literal geologic translation of Ice Age Floods. However, what seemed to work in one place didn’t in another. What worked for instantaneous public recognition didn’t reflect the geologic accuracy this approach demanded. It took time for us to shift our point of view, but we were convinced when graphics designer Dan Coe with Washington Department of Natural Resources tried something different and it resonated with us. The adopted design is a contemporary scene that reflects the primary public purpose of the Trail as stated in its establishing legislation, to enable “the public to view, experience, and learn about the features and story of the Ice Age floods…” I think this approach communicates that there is something incredible to see and experience as one travels along the route, something that is consistent with the overall interpretive goal and approach of the Trail. While there may not be 100% concurrence for the logo from everyone, we think the logo to be distinctive enough that the public will be able to easily distinguish it from the many other trail logos in our Region. More importantly, we believe the logo captures the essence of the landscape that J. Harlan Bretz saw and used as the basis for first recognizing the former Ice Age Floods. The effort on the logo is symbolic of the entire trail partnership. We have an immense story with lots of players and opinions to disseminate it. Tasks ahead of us will also take time to reach consensus, but that consensus will be the strength of the trail moving forward over the coming years, even as we all come and go in our various roles.
IAFI Gorge(ous) Night Out in Salem & Olympia
Columbia Gorge Chapter of IAFI has joined the party It’s easy to see what makes the Gorge a spectacular experience to visitors, but what makes it special to those who live here, work here, and raise our families here? What parts do we play in the larger economic and political fabrics of the states and nation we’re part of? One Gorge (a young Gorge advocacy group) is trying to share who we are and why we matter at the state and national levels, and to promote the big infrastructure factors to help the Gorge community excel. To help our states of Oregon and Washington to better understand and recognize the who, what, and why of interests in the Gorge, One Gorge has worked with Gorge legislators to organize a 2nd annual Gorge(ous) Night Out for Oregon legislators in Salem, and a first-time event with Washington legislators in Olympia. These casual events bring a selection local businesses and organizations sharing products and information together with legislators just to make them more aware of the vibrancy of the Gorge. We’re bringing Columbia Gorge(ous) Geology and the Ice Age Floods to these parties. Two new 40″ x 60″ displays were finished in time for the Salem event on Feb. 3rd and they were extremely popular. Some suggested we were second in popularity only to Insitu UAVs, but we were also located immediately adjacent to the food table, so factor that into the popularity poll. Now everything is ready and tested for the Olympia event on Feb. 9th for Washington legislators, and we’re hoping to build some support there for the Ice Age Floods National Geologic Trail that is focused to a large extent on Washington. Although the main purpose of the Ice Age Floods Institute usually appears to be for education, outreach, and research, it is important to realize that we also have a strong advocacy role to play. When you support the Institute you are also a player in all our education, outreach, research, and advocacy efforts. Thanks to all for your support.