Ways to Volunteer in the National Parks

In this centennial year, many Americans are looking for special ways to celebrate the birthday of our National Park Service. One thought we all might consider are ways to volunteer in the national parks. What better way to honor the places that have given us so much, than giving a gift of our time and talents?

For many parks, volunteers truly make the difference. From clearing trails to hosting weekend programs, volunteers support park staff in countless ways. Most importantly they have become critical to maintaining services in the era of budget cuts and bursting visitor counts.

In fact, a special program to track volunteer hours in the centennial year is now underway. Registered volunteers in the “Centennial Volunteer Challenge” conduct at least 201.6 hours of volunteer work in the national parks between January 1 and December 31, 2016. Then, each volunteer logs the hours online to receive a special centennial volunteer challenge coin.

Today we’re helping to jumpstart your volunteer search with some ways to volunteer in the national parks. These and all volunteer positions can be found at Volunteer.gov the official Natural and Cultural Resources Volunteer Portal of the United States Government.  Be sure to share these with friends and family as you prepare to celebrate the National Park Service centennial year!