Volunteering in the Great Outdoors

There are many ways to enjoy the great outdoors, but one of the best is also one of the least utilized. Volunteering is one of the best ways to get outside and meet other people who enjoy the outdoors. It is also a wonderful way to become more physically active, help ensure the continued availability of nature to future generations, and to have fun. Volunteering can also be educational, making it perfect for families.

There are many opportunities for outdoor volunteering. Check out any of the following opportunities to get started enjoying the great outdoors with volunteer work!

Hike the outdoors while you volunteer to help maintain local trails. There are many trail clubs throughout the US that keep the trails systems running. These clubs are run almost exclusively by volunteer efforts, and are often the unseen heroes of the trail. They keep the trails clearly marked and free from fallen trees, remove trash tossed away by careless hikers, report and deal with rock slides and other natural disasters, and often help hikers in distress. Large clubs, like the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, maintain hundreds of miles of trails, and always welcome new volunteers to help them. You can find clubs by calling your local Park Service office, or looking them up online.

Help protect the future of the outdoors by getting involved in local environmental studies. In most areas colleges, clubs, and other organizations are continually conducting studies on water quality, flora and fauna prevalence and behavior, and other environmental indicators. Often, volunteers for these studies need no special training, or receive some training from the study itself. You can watch the migratory patterns of birds, count butterflies, or collect micro-invertebrates in local rivers and streams. This is a great opportunity for children to learn about nature, and how many things impact our environment. Find these studies through trail clubs, local universities, or the Park Service.

Learn more about the outdoors and help others learn, too, but volunteering with the Park Service. Many State and National parks run largely on volunteer hours, with only a small paid staff. The Volunteers in Parks program, often just called the VIP program, was passed into law to help parks meet the needs of their visitors. Volunteering with the Park Service can be fun and informative, often involving outdoor education for visitors, bird monitoring, museum collecting, and working information points.

Share your love of the outdoors with others by becoming a hike leader. School groups, tour groups, senior groups, and others often want to experience the outdoors, but need a little help. Volunteering to lead hikes gives you the opportunity to show others the joys of the outdoors while instilling in them the importance of being a responsible hiker. To become a hike leader, contact your local hiking or trail maintenance club. Most clubs offer free or low-cost classes that cover emergencies, hiking etiquette, and leave-no-trace rules.

Resources:

Potomac Appalachian Trail Club. http://potomacappalachian.org/

National Park Service. Opportunities. www.nps.gov

Volunteering is one of the best ways to enjoy the great outdoors. Take a few minutes to check out some local volunteer programs near you, and start enjoying the outdoors in a whole new way.