News

May 2008

In a unique job, Cascade Interpretive Consulting was contracted to present interpretive skills training to river guides with ROW Adventures, a provider of regional and international adventure travel experiences. Chuck Lennox, Principal of Cascade Interpretive Consulting, accompanied the seasonal training float trip on the Grande Ronde River in northeastern Oregon from May 5-11, 2008. Guides were supported in developing interpretive approaches for guest river floating experiences.

April 2008

Cascade Interpretive Consulting presented an Interpretive Skills Workshop for the Association of Western States Folklorists at their Annual Workshop held this year at Fort Worden State Park and Conference Center in Port Townsend, WA. Participants were excited to learn more about interpretation and how it might apply to their work at home.

November 2007

The Environmental Education Resource Center is live! This on-line tool was developed to link environmental education resources (people, places and programs) and provide one centralized location to find these kinds of services around Washington State. Cascade Interpretive Consulting provided content management support for developing the site hosted by E3 Washington.

Also this month, Cascade Interpretive Consulting facilitated the Kitsap E3 Summit (a regional environmental education summit) for the E3 Washington state-wide planning process at Kiana Lodge, Poulsbo, Washington. For information on this summit, please see this section on the E3 Washington website.

September 2007

E3 Washington (a state-wide environmental education planning process in Washington State) has made their on-line toolkit live for regional EE leaders. Cascade Interpretive Consulting was contracted to develop lesson plans, tools, resource materials and documents for the toolkit which will assist regional leaders to develop their local planning process to contribute to the state-wide EE plan.

June 2007

On June 1, Chuck Lennox, Principal of Cascade Interpretive Consulting, facilitated his second of three regional environmental education summits for the E3 Washington state-wide planning process at The Evergreen State College, Olympia, Washington. For information on this summit, please see a recent column in the Olympian newspaper. For information on E3 sponsored by the Environmental Education Association of Washington, please see the E3 Washington website.

May 2007

Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction has released the results of Round II of the Environmental Education Partnership Grant program. For more information visit the Access Washington website. See below (February 2007) for Cascade Interpretive Consulting's invovlement in this process.

February 2007

Cascade Interpretive Consulting (CIC) has been contracted for a second time by the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) for support in implementing Round II of the Environmental Education Partnership Grant program. CIC helped to launch Round I of this program in 2005. For more information on the program and instructions on accessing the grant application on-line, see the OSPI

Education for Environment and Sustainability website.

January 2007

Chuck Lennox, Principal of Cascade Interpretive Consulting, has been named Workshop Chair for the 2008 National Association for Interpretation (NAI) National Meeting being held in Portland, Oregon November 11 - 15, 2008. He will work with a committee of other volunteers and NAI staff to organize this annual national meeting for members and others interested in the profession.

NAI is a professional organization dedicated to advancing the profession of heritage interpretation, currently serving about 5000 members in the United States, Canada, and over thirty other nations. Members include those who work at parks, museums, nature centers, zoos, botanical gardens, aquariums, commercial tour companies, and theme parks.

September 2006

Chuck Lennox, Principal of Cascade Interpretive Consulting, was invited to attend the National Dialogue on Children and Nature hosted by The Conservation Fund and the US Fish and Wildlife Service and held at the National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown WV.

The conference drew some 350 people from around the country, representing educators, health care experts, such companies as REI and Disney, residential developers and urban planners, government and nonprofit conservation agencies, academics, and other groups. Government officials included the Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne and Directors of the National Park Service and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Presentations and discussions ranged from using design of public places to encourage physical activities in children to policies of schools and learning centers that get kids outdoors to the role of health care providers in supporting outdoor exploration and the challenges of changing an indoor technological culture.

For more information, see the Children and Nature Network website.