Still time to enjoy Moran State Park’s ‘Walks & Talks’ summer program

— by Orcas Issues reporter Matthew Gilbert —

Flying under the radar of Orcas Island’s typically busy summer tourist season is a new series of educational lectures and interactive sessions at Moran State Park called “Walks & Talks.” Sponsored by Friends of Moran and spearheaded by Nancy Quackenbush, FoM’s new Director of Education and Programs, the series started in July and has weekend programs scheduled through August. They are free and open to all ages, locals and visitors alike.

The program features a diversity of topics, from history, botany, and outdoor preparedness to bats, lizards, and the Cascade Lake fish hatchery. (To see the full schedule, go here and scroll down, then link to the events calendar.) This weekend, for example, there’s Junior Ranger with naturalist Cody Beebe and geology with Julia Turney on Saturday morning and the Stone Tower Tour with Rolf Eriksen on Sunday. All the presenters are local, highlighting the county’s wealth of talent and knowledge.

When asked what motivated her to launch such an ambitious project, Quackenbush paid homage to the park’s influence on her life.

“Over the years the park has been a source of not just fun and recreation but also a healing force for me. I then began to notice the park’s wear and tear – as some have said, it’s being ‘loved to death’ – and when I heard there were over one million visits last year, I looked for a way to help preserve its natural beauty and character.”

“That’s when I joined Friends of Moran, this awesome group of dedicated people. I wanted visitors to learn about the park’s natural world, its creatures and plant life and a bigger picture of the forest ecology, so I volunteered to start a new educational program, and it’s taken on a life of its own.

“Our presenters have been exceptional. They’re knowledgeable and enthusiastic. We’ve been surveying participant experiences and it’s been high marks across the board.”

Chris Guidotti, MSP’s Head Ranger, feels the program is filling an important gap.

“We lost a third of our staff during the state budget crisis of 2012 and can barely stay on top of day-to-day operations let alone keep up with a fundamental part of our mission: helping visitors connect to the natural environment. FoM, which I consider the best in the state, has stepped in to fill that role and we are deeply grateful for the work that Nancy and the Friends have put into these programs.

“It’s been great to see the excitement they’ve generated. They are helping to create the next generation of stewards. This is what we should be doing in the parks and hopefully it will continue to grow.”

Partner-collaborators will be an important part of the program’s success, and Quackenbush gives a special call-out to Kwiaht, the Lopez-based ecological science and educational non-profit run by local scientists, students, and volunteers whose support has been especially valuable. Kwiaht founder Russel Barsh feels that “the park’s biological importance is underestimated – it’s much more than just a park for recreation and tourism. Working with Friends of Moran, we plan to involve more families and children in exploring and documenting its unique ecology.”

Barsh adds that Kwiaht’s first full-color booklet on the park’s native wildflowers will premier at the Orcas Library Fest on Saturday August 10. “Like ‘Walks & Talks,’” he says, “it’s designed to make people pause and think, ‘OMG, I didn’t realize that Moran State Park was such a special biological preserve!’”

Looking ahead, Quackenbush says that other groups in the community are learning about the program and want to get involved, especially in creating off-season programs. Conversations have begun with The Fun House and the school while the Orcas Senior Center has already committed to rolling out an educational series in the Fall. Vicki O’Keefe, the Center’s Activities and Program Coordinator, connects the history of the park with the elders that the Center serves.

“With many of our members over 80, it is these aging hands that plant the trees that we now walk under. The elders keep the history of the island in their stories and in their bones. The relationship between Friends of Moran and the Orcas Senior Center is a sharing of stories and facts about our island home. Their lives have shaped this place much like the tides shape the shore and the wind shapes the mountain. We share with Friends the gift and scope of time on the Rock and a special love for this place.”