San Gorgonio Wilderness Volunteer Partnership

Location:

Southern California east of LA

What lessons can be drawn?

San Gorgonio District staff have several words of advice regarding volunteer programs. According to Ward, any District planning to undertake such a program had better expect to spend a great deal of staff time on it. Volunteers are hard to contact during the days because most of them work. So staff "spend a lot of time during evening and weekends on the phone coordinating. We all have government phone cards to make calls from home." She cautions against starting a volunteer program just to have volunteers: "You need to have a job you want done before you go out and get volunteers."

 

Similarly, it is important to provide "intensive training" of volunteers to ensure quality program work. Says Ward, "Originally I was more lenient and did lots of individual training. This was very counterproductive with respect to time." Now the District institutes a cut-off point in the summer after which they stop training new volunteers for wilderness patrol and interpretive programs and just have them help staff the visitor center. They also have "an evaluation process that everyone is aware of up front."

 

Bob Wood emphasizes the importance of spelling out what the agency’s goals are. “In this situation, the volunteers are representing the Forest Service so it is essential that they follow Forest Service rules.” The Forest Service provides all of the training for the volunteers to ensure that the volunteers are on board with Forest Service policies and procedures. In addition to adequate training, it is equally critical to provide "recognition" to all volunteers to award their generosity of time and work. Ward feels that their annual awards ceremony for the SGWA members is an essential component of making the volunteers feel a part of the Forest Service team.

 

Another lesson illustrated in the San Gorgonio partnership is that many national forests have a constituency of groups and individuals who care about the forest and would be motivated to act in support of it. Simply realizing this resource exists and asking people for help can reap tremendous rewards.

 

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.