"Geology by Kayak: Bellingham to Samish Bay," "Stories of Home: A Writing Workshop in Stehekin," "Sketching the North Cascades in Colored Pencil," "Bats of the Pacific Northwest," "Cougars and Their Prey" — by offering outings and seminars such as these for almost 20 years now, Sedro-Woolley-based North Cascades Institute has distinguished itself in the growing field of park-based educational societies.

Courses are taught by some of the top scientists, educators, artists and writers in the West. Among the regular NCI faculty are butterfly expert Robert Michael Pyle, botanist Art Kruckeberg, artist Molly Hashimoto and poet Tim McNulty.

Saul Weisberg, a former North Cascades National Park climbing ranger, co-founded the organization in 1986. He and several like-minded friends — naturalists, fellow rangers all — sat around Weisberg's kitchen table one night talking about how they wanted to teach people more about this wilderness treasure that was essentially right in their back yards.

"We knew that if people were connected to this place and knew more about it, they would take better care of it," says Weisberg, who is still the group's executive director. "If people know something about a place and learn to care about it, they'll get engaged in their own communities as well."

— Mike McQuaide