Oak Rankin, Executive Director of Glacier Peak Institute, joins The Stump in this episode. Also referred to as GPI, the organization is based in Darrington, Washington. Volunteers and community organizations formed the Darrington Youth Outdoor STEM Pilot Project after the deadly 2014 Oso Landslide. This grew into the Glacier Peak Institute.

Today, GPI continues to work with youth through their "innovative, action-based education programs integrating Science, Technology, recreation, Engineering, art, Mathematics, and skill-building." A program they refer to as STrEaMs.

Oak and I discuss GPI and the challenges and opportunities that rural natural resource-dependent communities like Darington face. Like many Pacific Northwest communities, Darrington, was negatively impacted by the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) adopted in 1994. The NWFP brought significant socio-economic harm to these communities, many of which are still trying to recover today. Programs like Oak's are a critical tool for providing education, mental health support, and a sense of future for many of the youth they work with.

You can connect with Oak and the Glacier Peak Institute via the links below:

Website: https://www.glacierpeakinstitute.org/

Email: info@glacierpeakinstitute.org

Mail: PO Box 225 Darrington, WA 98241

Phone: (360) 436 6445