INTRODUCING

About the time this issue is completed the annual summer season in Mt. Rainier National Park will be away with the proverbial "bang". The road into Paradise Valley will be open to the public and the last snowdrifts will be disappearing -- their places being taken by a carpet of wild flowers.

But a visit to this, as well as other National Parks, should not be merely a hasty glance. The natural history of the region and the forces which are responsible for the scenery which every one admires are worthy are responsible for the scenery which every one admires are worthy of everyone's consideration -- and will be found intensly interesting. And so to facilitate a greater understanding of this Park the National Park Service offers to the public its Nature Guide Department -- a group of Naturalists who are trained in aiding the average person in understanding the wonders of nature that are seen on every hand. The rocks at our feet, trees of the forest, flowers of the meadows, birds, animals and glaciers -- we see them all and admire them but each offers a chapter in Nature's book to those who know and understand her language. It is the duty of these Nature Guides to interpret Nature's tongue for you. Evening nature talks, nature hikes and field trips, nature trails upon which the points of interest are marked and displays of all kinds are a part of this work that aids the visitor in "reading the trailside as if it were an open book". Of course this service is free, so everyone may carry home a broader and richer understanding of Nature and "The Mountain".

As to the men who will be engaged in this work this summer. There is Charles Landes who might be termed the "dean" of the Ranger Naturalists. He spends his winters bringing the wonders of botany to "Young America" in the Seattle High Schools. This, his eighth season as Ranger Naturalist will, no doubt, be as successful as those in the past. Clarence Hickok, who holds forth at White River Camp, is spending his third season as Ranger Naturalist. He is a Californian - also an educator -- who finds the "Mountain" so interesting that he journeys that distance each summer to engage in this work. William L. Effinger, a geologist, makes his debut as Ranger Naturalist at Paradise Valley where he will assist the Park Naturalist. He will make rocks, commonplace objects to most people, breathe a story of Nature's forces. And then there will be Chester Biesen, botanist and educator, who will assist Mr. Landes at Longmire Springs as well as Elmer Lumley whose lectures and experiments with the birds of the Northwest have caused wide spread comment. Writings of these men will be conspicuous in Nature News Notes during the next two months -- but we hope that you will be able to meet them and avail yourself of their training.