Volunteers
Interested in spending your summer in one of the premier areas in northeast Oregon and western Idaho? If you are, the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest has many unique opportunities waiting to be filled. By becoming a Forest Service volunteer, you help care for public lands, gain new work skills, provide customer service and work in scenic areas.
We rely on volunteers to help care for public lands and serve the public. Please consider volunteering!
If you are interested in being a campground host, maintaining backcountry trails, working as a wilderness steward, or living and interpreting the past at historic river residential sites we may have the right opportunity for you! Contact your local Forest Service office in Baker City, La Grande, Joseph, Clarkston or Riggins for more information.
Volunteer Opportunities
How about staying at a shady campsite in the mountains all summer as Campground Host?
This unique opportunity on the forest entails visiting with campground visitors, providing information about the local area, maintaining facilities, and acting as a general caretaker for the site. (No fee collection responsibilities are required)
In turn you may receive one of the following: daily food allowance, a season-long campsite, propane and/or transportation allowance to town.
Most of these sites are at remote locations with no drinking water, dump stations or electricity. Access is mainly by unpaved gravel roads.
Volunteer opportunities vary each year, please contact the following units:
| Ranger Districts | Contacts |
|---|---|
| La Grande Ranger District | Ben Walker |
| Whitman Ranger District | Jay Moore |
Does being a Wilderness Steward in a remote wilderness area sound tempting?
As a Wilderness Steward you are responsible for hiking throughout the area, meeting visitors, and providing information on the area, Leave-No-Trace outdoor ethics and the local regulations. If a restoration project is being worked on you may have the chance to help rehabilitate an over-used campsite, protect a day use site along one of the lakes, or reconstruct a trail. Opportunities exist in both the Eagle Cap Wilderness and the Hells Canyon Wilderness (both in Oregon and Idaho), and the Baldy Unit of the North Fork John Day Wilderness.
Click here for application form
Volunteer opportunities vary each year, please contact the following units:
| Wilderness Area | Allowance | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Eagle Cap | A daily food allowance may be available | Sweyn Wall (541) 426-5523 |
Hells Canyon Oregon side | A daily food allowance may be available | Sweyn Wall (541) 426-5523 |
Hells Canyon Idaho side | A daily food allowance may be available | Cathy Conover (208) 628-3916 |
North Fork John Day Baldy Unit near Baker City | A daily food allowance may be available | Max Forgensi (541) 523-4476 |
Maybe You Would Prefer to Volunteer on the Snake River in Hells Canyon National Recreation Area as a Historic Ranch Host and Caretaker.
As an Historic Ranch host and caretaker you are responsible for greeting many canyon visitors who arrive by boat, raft or trail each day. For these travelers, you represent the Forest Service by providing information and the history of the ranch sites and Hells Canyon. Grounds and facilities maintenance are seasonal responsibilities. Year-round volunteer opportunities range from several weeks to one and occasionally, two months.
The Wild and Scenic Snake River of Hells Canyon volunteer program includes students who are planning careers in resource environments couples with a month to offer in support of the river program and retirees with years of experience and skills to contribute.
Volunteers must be self-starters, independent, highly motivated and good communicators who sincerely like people. They must have the basic skills necessary to function effectively and safely in a backcountry setting far from the nearest town and services. Transportation to and from is by boat and communication is by radio. The residential sites are furnished with the necessities of life and come completely stocked with an assortment of plants, wildlife and sunsets that can take your breath away at the end of a Canyon day!
Volunteers are the good hosts and caretakers of the public's resources please join us in these unique and wonderful volunteer opportunities on the Snake River of Hells Canyon!
For information on volunteer program opportunities, residential sites and allowances please contact one of our Volunteer Coodinators; Mike Ball, Carmen Hodges, or Brent Stroud at:
Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, Clarkston Office (509)-758-0616
2535 Riverside Dr.
P.O. Box 699
Clarkston, WA 99403
Volunteer Information
The Hells Canyon National Recreation Area (HCNRA) volunteer program began in 1981. In 2001 the volunteer coordinator from the Clarkston HCNRA office received national recognition and an award for her efforts of managing such an outstanding program and sometimes recruiting nearly 100 volunteers each year! This program was held up as a model to several other Forests not only due to the remote access to the sites but because volunteers man them year round. The FS volunteer program was created by the National Forest Act of 1972 to provide an opportunity for people to offer their time and skills to help the Forest Service administer its programs. We consider our volunteers the backbone to the river corridor. Their help in managing and maintaining these beautiful sites in the Hells Canyon has been commendable and outstanding. The information provided here describes the residences and expectations we hope for if you sign up to the volunteer program.
Click here to learn more about the the Hells Canyon National Recreation Area Volunteer Program.