SCA and NPS Do Lunch

In tribute to their 50-year partnership, SCA and the National Park Service recently co-hosted an exclusive luncheon on the rooftop of the Department of Interior building in Washington, DC. The event included special recognition for those alumni who followed their SCA experience by choosing a career in one of the federal land management agencies.

With over 60 alumni in the crowd of around 150, it was a high-energy program featuring moving presentations from NPS Director Mary Bomar and Congressman Jay Inslee of Washington State who told the story of his parents serving as SCA crew leaders on Mount Rainier. Of course, the highlight was when SCA Founder Liz Titus Putnam spoke of her reasons for starting SCA to protect the parks from being “loved to death.”

During the program, SCA's long-term impact was reinforced as several SCA alumni and members were introduced: a gentleman who served on a high school crew in Olympic National Park in 1959 and now works as a research scientist for the US Department of Agriculture, a DC Conservation Leadership Corps member from the late 1990’s who now works in the DEA, and a current member now serving as an Intern in a Congressman’s office who will complete her internship in a National Park.

Bob Stanton, former NPS Director and member of the SCA Board of Directors, and Martha (Marty) Talbot, who played a unique and critical role with Liz in the beginning of SCA, also joined in the celebration.