Over 100,000 people a year visit the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center. If you like people, helping others, educating kids, working in a library, designing artwork, wood working, puppet shows, gardening, birding, fishing, trail walks, public events, wildlife and nature, working in the outdoors, computer data entry, photography, operating a boat, working on engines, then Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge needs YOU! Volunteering can be fun, satisfying, and a way of meeting new friends with similar interests. What ever activity you want to help with, information and/or training will be provided.

We especially need volunteers who will help with staffing the information desk, Friends of Blackwater Eagle's Nest Bookstore, our new research library, and environmental education programs. The main requisite to being a volunteer at the information desk is to enjoy meeting and talking with people, be willing to assist visitors, and know how to smile! The Visitor Center is open every day except Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Volunteers staffing the Visitor Center will normally work an 8:00am to 12:00pm or a 12:00pm to 4:00pm shift during the weekdays; but we especially need weekend volunteers who would work a 9:00am to 1:00pm or 1:00pm to 5:00pm shift on weekends. You can work as many shifts as you want from one 4 hour shift to all day, once a month, once a week, or more often. We are aiming for two people for every shift. Volunteers have fun assisting people from all over the world while learning firsthand about Blackwater's numerous and fascinating wildlife. If you are interested in wildlife, like people, and enjoy learning as well as helping to educate other people about wildlife and Dorchester County, this is the job for you!!

The research library is presently open by appointment only until we have more volunteers to staff the library at least once or twice a week. You can enjoy the many birding and natural history books while helping others who come to use them as well. We are aiming to be open every Wednesday afternoons 12:00pm - 4:00pm. You would not have to staff it every week, but once or twice a month if possible. Later on, we would also like to provide staff for Saturday mornings 9:00am - 1:00pm.

Our education programs are presently developed for getting our 4th and 6th grade Dorchester County students out into nature. The programs are led by teachers with help from volunteers. All volunteers will be trained at an educational workshop to assist the teachers. The 4th grade programs are 6 days in October while the 6th grade will be scheduled for 4 days in the spring. Again you will not have to be there every day, but only as often as you can be available.

Other types of activities the Refuge needs help with include: painting, fence building, sign posting, constructing display shelves, mowing grass, trail maintenance, janitorial cleaning, invasive species mapping, surveys (frog, shore bird, breeding bird, and blue bird box), plant identification, planting trees and marsh grass, bird box and osprey platform repair, filing and answering phones, computer data base entry, trail walks, staffing table top exhibit at off-site events, doing puppet shows (no talking involved), taking photos, picking up litter, and giving guided bus tours and Visitor Center tours. Training will be provided when necessary, but some of these positions require some background knowledge of the subject.

If you are interested in volunteering, please call Maggie Briggs at 410-228-2677 (or email maggie_briggs@fws.gov) to find out more about the positions and the volunteer training.

Friends of Blackwater

Another way to help Blackwater Refuge is to become a member of the Friends of Blackwater. The Friends are a nonprofit citizens support group that raises money for Blackwater Refuge through their gift shop at the Refuge (as well as other activities such as open houses, grants, and the hunt program) and uses the funds to finance various educational, interpretive, and wildlife-oriented recreational programs at Blackwater that are not funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service due to shrinking federal budgets. In 2003, the Friends of Blackwater were named the Refuge System "Friends Group of the Year," and many projects at the Refuge could not be accomplished without the financial assistance and volunteer labor of the Friends.

Each year the Friends thank their volunteers with special members' events, volunteer recognition dinners, field trips, and other activities to show appreciation for all the outstanding work they do.

The Friends of Blackwater have members from all over the United States, but most of the working members are also volunteers from the local area. Everyone is invited to attend their monthly meetings, usually the second Tuesday of the month at 10am in the Refuge Headquarters conference room. Visit the Friends page on this website for more information or visit the Friends of Blackwater website for details about the organization, membership, and the Friends' work at the Refuge.

More Information

Blackwater Refuge is a wonderful place to volunteer, so come join us as we help out nature while having a great time. If you are interested in any of these volunteer positions, please don't hesitate to call Maggie Briggs at 410-228-2677 or email her at maggie_briggs@fws.gov to find out more about the positions and the volunteer training. And be sure to check the Calendar for information on the August volunteer training sessions.