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Pioneers celebrate 7-year partnership with national park
Number of Qwest Pioneers in North Dakota:
N. DAKOTA'S TOTAL
MEMBERSHIP: 1,075
ACTIVE EMPLOYEES: 329
RETIRED LIFE MEMBERS: 746
1998-99 VOLUNTEER HOURS DONATED FOR COMMUNITY PROJECTS: 15,818
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In Medora, North Dakota, visitors to Theodore Roosevelt National Park are
finding it much easier to get around thanks to the efforts of the Qwest
Pioneers. For each of the past seven years, the North Dakota chapter have taken
on a new and different accessibility project at the park that is making an
impressive difference in many areas of the park.
This year, the Qwest Pioneers focused their efforts on replacing a
deteriorated path that connects the park's administration building to the
visitor's center and the city's sidewalks. Pioneers worked to complete a
five-foot-wide, 360-foot-long accessible, paved walkway with hand rails.
This project, as well as many others, are the result of a successful
partnership between the national Telephone Pioneer Association and the
National Park Service. The goal is to make national parks more accessible
for physically challenged visitors and the general public. Many park
features do not meet today's accessibility standards and also need upgrades
after erosion has taken its toll over the years. The park service provides
the materials and Pioneer volunteers offset costly labor that would otherwise
limit the park service's ability to complete these types of projects.
"We really look forward to having them come out every year because they are
such a great, fun group of dedicated people,"" says Keith Butler, chief of
maintenance, TRNP. "We can't say enough about the good work they do and how
much we appreciate having this partnership."
However, TRNP Park Superintendent Noel Poe did his best in a recent letter
thanking the Qwest Pioneers North Dakota Chapter. In the
letter, he offered a summary of each of the year's accessibility projects
that benefit the park's 460,000 annual visitors, including other walkways,
rest rooms, campsites, picnic areas, water accesses and wheel-chair pads
at the park's amphitheater. Poe estimates that the Pioneers' have donated
1,295 hours or 162 days of volunteer time, which has saved the park $15,800.
Pioneer Project Leader John Bartholomay says, "We feel like it's quite an honor
to keep the partnership going," he says. "We find it worthwhile for the
Pioneers, the company, the park service and the people who visit the park."
The Qwest Pioneers have similar projects at state and national
parks in many of Qwest's 14 states. If you'd like to find out
about how you can get involved in a similar project planned for this year,
contact your local Pioneer leader.
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