Colorado Outdoor Park Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering outdoors is good for both you and your community. The following opportunities serve a diverse set of needs and have varying levels of commitment and, thus, it is likely that you can find one that suites you interests and availability. Some programs only offer training once a year so be sure to investigate the training schedules for programs that are of interest to you. Check out http://www.voutdoors.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Events.Main for Volunteer Outdoor's Colorado database of volunteer opportunities if you are having trouble finding a volunteer opportunity near you. Please let me know if you want me to add a volunteer program that I missed. Finally, I may have missed some hiking and biking clubs because I plan to write about them in a future post.

14ers.org - The Colorado Fourteeners Initiative aims to preserve the natural integrity of Colorado's 54 mountains over 14,000 feet. Volunteer positions include trail construction and restoration, peak stewards, adopt-a-peak, and volunteer crew leaders.
http://www.14ers.org/volunteer.php

Boulder County Open Space and Parks - Boulder County Open Space and Parks has an extensive set of volunteer opportunities that include one-day work projects, volunteer naturalists, raptor monitoring, native plant restoration, adopt-a-trail, park hosts, weed removal, native seed collection, trail construction and maintenance, and forest restoration.
http://www.bouldercounty.org/openspace/volunteering/opportunities/ongoing.htm

City of Boulder - Boulder's Open Space and Mountain Parks Volunteer Program consists of naturalists, trail guides, trailhead hosts, a stewardship program, a herbarium group (i.e., native plant protection), and the monitoring of birds, raptors, bats, and frogs. Currently, the City of Boulder is actively recruiting new volunteer naturalists so please apply if it is a good fit for you.
http://www.bouldercolorado.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2798&Itemid=1101

City of Colorado Springs - The City of Colorado Springs Volunteer Program is comprised of the subsequent opportunities: adopt a park, outdoor projects, flower bed adoption, summer teen volunteers, and visitor center volunteers stationed at Garden of The Gods, North Cheyenne Canon Park, Helen Hunt Falls, and/or Rock Ledge Ranch Historic site.
http://www.springsgov.com/SectionIndex.asp?SectionID=46

City of Fort Collins - Fort Collins Natural Areas Volunteer Opportunities include master naturalists, adopt a natural area, ranger assistants, build bat and flicker houses, and paint native trees so that beavers do not eat them.
http://www.fcgov.com/naturalareas/volunteers.php

City of Longmont - The City of Longmont Volunteer Opportunities include campground host, trail maintenance, trash pickup, adopt an area, and Sandstone Ranch District Park Visitor Center volunteer.
http://www.ci.longmont.co.us/parks/comm_involve/volunteer.htm

Colorado Division of Wildlife - The Colorado Division of Wildlife Volunteer Program contained numerous opportunities in 2008. Positions included wildlife area host, electrofishing, fish hatchery assistance, trail cleanup, and hunter information specialist.
http://wildlife.state.co.us/Volunteer/Opportunities/

Colorado Mountain Club - The Colorado Mountain Club performs trail work and maintains trail signs. For example, the club helps maintain the Greyrock Mountain Trail. In addition, club members volunteer their time to lead hikes and teach courses.
http://www.cmc.org/recreation/recreation_volunteer.aspx

Colorado Search and Rescue Teams - The Colorado Search and Rescue Board maintains an index of all Colorado Search and Rescue Teams; many of which are staffed with volunteers.
http://www.coloradosarboard.org/csrb-ColoradoSARTeams.asp

Colorado State Parks - The Colorado State Parks Volunteer Program includes park ambassadors (e.g., backcountry patroller, naturalists, trail maintenance, and photographers) and campground hosts that get free parking and park passes in exchange for their campground volunteer work.
http://parks.state.co.us/Volunteer/

Colorado Trail Foundation - The Colorado Trail Foundation is dedicated to maintaining 500 miles of the Colorado Trail. The foundation has an adopt-a-trail program which includes adopting a 3 to 20 mile section of the Colorado Trail. In addition, they have a trail crews program that organizes volunteers for weekend and week long trail maintenance camping trips.
http://www.coloradotrail.org/volunteer.html

Continental Divide Trail Alliance - The Continental Divide Trail is a 3,100 mile long trail that runs through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and New Mexico. The Continental Divide Trail Alliance works to complete the trail and to maintain existing trail sections. Volunteer opportunities include trail building, adopt-a-trail, crew leader, trail chef, trail explorer/recorder, and a summer camp for youth where youth perform trail work.
http://www.cdtrail.org/page.php?pname=involve

Douglas County - Douglas County Open Space volunteers serve as trail hosts, history interpreters, naturalist guides, and resource stewards (i.e., plant and wildlife preservation).
http://www.douglas.co.us/openspace/Volunteers.html

Friends of Eagles Nest Wilderness - Friends of Eagles Nest Wilderness volunteer to preserve Eagles Nest and Ptarmigan Peak Wildernesses. Volunteer opportunities include trail patrol, one day trail maintenance projects, noxious weed inventory, and campsite maintenance.
http://www.fenw.org/volunteer/volunteerops.htm

Friends of the Peak - Friends of the Peak works to preserve Pikes Peak. Volunteer activities include trail workdays, a trail mountain race, and the Pikes Peak Marathon.
http://www.fotp.com/

Jefferson County - Jefferson County's Volunteer program features to opportunities. The first is volunteer naturalists which requires training and a time commitment. The second is volunteer trail days which are one day events that do not require training.
http://www.co.jefferson.co.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R136.htm

Larimer County - Larimer County Department of Natural Resources manages a Volunteer Program that offers a multitude of opportunities for contributing to parks and open lands while at the same time enjoying the great outdoors. Outdoor volunteer positions include guiding hikes as a naturalist (I'm in training for this one), park ranger assistant, trail ranger assistant, trail maintenance, campground programs (e.g., campfire stories), photographer, and weed warrior.
http://www.co.larimer.co.us/naturalresources/volunteer/index.htm

Medicine Wheel - Medicine Wheel works to maintain trails in the Pikes Peak region. Volunteer opportunities include trail building and mountain bike patrollers.
http://www.medwheel.org/trailwork.htm

Rocky Mountain Field Institute - The Rocky Mountain Field Institute organizes volunteer efforts in Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak region, and Southern Colorado. Volunteer programs include trail restoration, noxious plant control, and erosion control.
http://www.rmfi.org/programs.php

Rocky Mountain National Park - Rocky Mountain National Park's Volunteers-in-Parks Program consists of an interpretive education program, protection of wildlife and plants, trail maintenance, campground hosts, trailhead assistants, and ranger assistants. Full-time volunteers can apply for a free RV space during the summer.
http://www.nps.gov/romo/supportyourpark/volunteer.htm

Summit County - Summit County's Volunteer Program features an adopt-a-trail opportunity where volunteers make a two year commitment to maintain a clean trail and limit noxious weeds.
http://www.co.summit.co.us/OpenSpace/volunteer.html

Trails and Open Space Coalition - The Trails and Open Space Coalition operates in the Pikes Peak region to preserve open space and rural land. They organize day long projects to perform trail construction and maintenance.
http://www.trailsandopenspaces.org/trails/Work%20Schedule.htm

Trust for Public Land - The Trust for Public Land has six Colorado programs seeking volunteers and donations: San Juan Mountains Conservation Program, Parks for People-Denver - Marjorie Perry Preserve, Wilson Peak Access and Preservation Project, Mosquito Range Heritage Initiative, High Elk Corridor Campaign, and Cherry Creek Basin Greenprint.
http://www.tpl.org/tier2_cl.cfm?folder_id=265

Wildlands Restoration Volunteers - Wildlands Restoration Volunteers is a Boulder based organization that completes up to twenty five ecological restoration projects a year on public land. In addition, they provide volunteer training for restoration development and leadership so both beginners and experts are welcome.
http://www.wlrv.org/


Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education (CAEE) - On a related note, CAEE recently announced their Teaching Outside the Box conference to be held from April 23rd to April 25th 2009 in Winter Park, CO. Anyone interested in environmental education programming is encouraged to attend. Participants include teachers, park naturalists, businesses, youth group leaders, and community organizations. Session topics will include classroom activities, stewardship, technology, and research trends in the area of environmental education programming. CAEE is currently looking for additional presenters so follow the link above to apply.
http://www.caee.org/event_view?id=SC11236

Thank you to everyone who helped me create this list.