San Gorgonio Wilderness Volunteer Partnership

Location:

Southern California east of LA

What challenges were faced and how were they overcome?

According to Krueper, an initial hurdle faced by the volunteer association was reluctance on the part of some agency staff. "When we started, there were some Forest Service employees who thought we were taking their jobs." But she maintained that the reality of the situation soon diminished their hesitation: "...there was a desperate need for more manpower."

 

One of the biggest obstacles to the program now is the limited Forest Service staff time to provide adequate training and oversight for the volunteers. Heavy volunteer recruiting by Forest Service staff at area community colleges and universities and via fliers sent out with wilderness permits yielded a record 120 volunteers during the summer of 1992. "There's not enough staff to go around," says Ward. The district is in the process of trying to reorganize the program to accommodate the high number of volunteers. One of the proposals is to plan more trailwork and other similar projects where volunteer leaders can direct other volunteers, thereby minimizing Forest Service staff oversight.

 

Some of the challenges in keeping the partnership going over time include the ongoing management and workload as well as maintaining good communication between all of the partners. Because the SGWA has an office located at one of the Forest Service ranger stations, daily interaction improves the long-term communication. It has also been important for the Forest Service to have a liaison working closely with SGWA. For the SGWA, maintaining its core steering committee costs money and through the challenge cost-share program volunteers are able to contribute time and work while the Forest Service contributes financial support. Part of this money allows the SGWA to hire the necessary office staff.

 

The volunteers also have their own time and ability constraints. Most of them work from nine to five during the week and therefore are not available for Forest Service projects except on weekends. Ward also found it difficult at times to convince volunteers to donate their Saturday nights to conduct amphitheater programs. Few volunteers are comfortable giving formal presentations to large crowds of 60-100 people.

 

John Flippin recommends those interested in putting together a partnership like the San Gorgonio to first obtain the support of the local Forest Service managers for the concept of using volunteers and then find dedicated volunteers that are willing to put in the time, both in the administrative management of the partnership as well as in the field. He also warns of “incorrectly expecting that a lot will happen without some minimal amount of funding support of a full or part time” staff member. He adds, “I’ve seen some other organizations try to depend on a lot of that business administration and management work done purely by volunteers that aren’t getting paid. It often is successful for a short period of time if you happen to be real lucky and find a very dedicated volunteer that has a lot of time and doesn’t need income. But then if that person leaves or becomes burned out it starts falling through. To keep it going over the long term on a continuous basis for a high quality program requires some investment of funds in a permanent staff. It does take some investment to reap the benefit of all of those volunteer hours.”

 

This site was developed by the Ecosystem Management Initiative through a partnership with the US Forest Service and the US Department of Interior. Read more.