Volunteering On Your National Forest
US Forest Service Volunteer Association, Volunteer Ranger patrols and
assists forest visitors near Skunk Cabbage Meadows in the San Jacinto
Mountains. Photo courtesy of Brad Ellis
Volunteering on a National Forest can be a rewarding
and educational experience.
Volunteers with professional
skills are certainly welcome and sought after, but
novices will not be turned away. Many facets of National
Forest operations can be learned by on-the-job training,
listening, and observing first hand.
Volunteers help build and construct trails, work
at visitor centers, present educational programs,
survey wildlife and plants with Forest Service
scientists, and patrol wilderness areas. Many office
jobs, including desktop publishing and computer
work, can be done by volunteers.
There is no limit to what you can do to help the
San Bernardino National Forest. You can join one
of the existing United States Forest Service Volunteer Organizations or
volunteer on your own by calling the Forest Supervisor's
Office at (909) 382-2600.
Many groups sponsor one-time events that are posted on the Federal
Government's Volunteer site;
Volunteer.Gov or VolunteerMatch
a private non-profit organization dedicated to helping everyone find a great
place to volunteer.
Looking to form a partnership on your public lands?
The Partnership Resource
Center provides online resources you need for building vibrant
partnerships and effective collaboration on the nation's forests,
grasslands, and other special places. The
PRC website is a
joint project of the National Forest Foundation and the United States Forest
Service.
Volunteer Organizations
FOREST SERVICE GREENTHUMBS
Volunteers meet at least once a month to work in the greenhouse, collect
seeds, plant seedlings on the Forest, or to assist in mulching, watering, or
weeding sites for the entire San Bernardino range from Ranch
Cucamonga to Angelus Oaks. Recently we added another green house
located at the Ranger Station in Lytle Creek.
FISHERIES RESOURCE VOLUNTEER CORPS
Volunteers protect, monitor, and educate on the
various rivers and streams within the Angeles
and San Bernardino National Forests. Projects
include clean-ups, stream patrols, fisheries
improvement, and working side by side with the
USFS fisheries biologists. Fisheries Resource Volunteers
also help educate students in the "Trout
in the Classroom" program.
FOREST SERVICE VOLUNTEER ASSOCIATION
Members patrol the San Jacinto and Santa Rosa Wildernesses.
FSVA Wilderness Volunteers, on foot and horseback,
serve as the eyes and ears of the Forest Service,
providing information to wilderness visitors,
maintaining trails and campsites, and reporting
any problems
they encounter.
FRIENDS OF THE DESERT MOUNTAINS
Friends of the Desert Mountains is the nonprofit support arm for
the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument — the parklands
that provide such spectacular scenery, wildlife, and recreation for our
growing Coachella Valley communities. Volunteers support the variety
of needs and activities on the monument, including facility expansion,
scientific research, cultural preservation, environmental and conservation
education, and community outreach programs. Since 2000, we have raised funds
to remodel the visitor center, coordinated the Environmental Health
Education program with schools in the Monument, organized volunteers to
greet and educate Monument visitors, and much more.
FRONT COUNTRY RECREATION
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers and facilities provide
information to the public,
repair and maintain trails, pick up litter, and
monitor resources across the Front Country Ranger
District. Volunteers attend a two-day training
workshop in April every year.
Contact:
Cucamonga Wilderness Hosts
c/o Lytle Creek Ranger Station
1209 Lytle Creek Road
Lytle Creek, CA 92358
(909) 887-2576
MOUNTAIN TOP RECREATION VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers
work to support district recreation facilities
and opportunities
in the Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake areas.
They work and ride along with district staff,
assisting
them with their duties. They organize clean-up
and graffiti removal projects. And they are
trained to
provide visitors with Forest information.
Contact:
Crestline - Running Springs
Bob Poole
P.O. Box 350
Sky Forest, CA 92385
(909) 382-2768
Big Bear Valley Chon Bribiescas
P.O. Box 290
Fawnskin, CA 92333
(909) 382-2844
PACIFIC CREST TRAIL ASSOCIATION
Volunteers
work on parts of the 2,600 mile long Pacific Crest
National Scenic Trail (PCT) both
as trail adopters and through regularly scheduled
weekend projects (1-4 days) and service trips (5-10
days). The PCTA, in cooperation with the US Forest Service,
National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management and California State Parks, is also the primary
source for information about the PCT.
RIM OF THE WORLD INTERPRETIVE ASSOCIATION
Maintains
and staffs the Heap's Peak Arboretum and operates
a retail outlet there. They present interpretive
events and tours.
SAN BERNARDINO NATIONAL FOREST ASSOCIATION
Volunteers assist the Forest with six major volunteer
programs; Children's Forest, Off-Highway Vehicle Volunteers, Fire Lookout
Hosts, Discovery Center and the Fire Education Volunteers. The SBNFA
also provides a variety of interpretive
services, partnerships, and fundraising activities.
SAN GORGONIO WILDERNESS ASSOCIATION
Volunteers provide information and interpretation
to visitors, develop publications, lead nature
walks, present evening programs, construct displays,
repair and build trails, patrol the San Gorgonio
Wilderness, and operate the Barton Flats Visitor
Center. Volunteers attend a day-long training
workshop every year in May. SGWA sells maps and
other publications
and has published a book on the San Gorgonio
Wilderness.
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