Volunteers
Volunteers contribute their time and expertise in many ways on the Hiawatha National Forest. Whether you're interested in fisheries or environmental education, mountain bike trails or native plants (or many things in between) there is likely a volunteer opportunity awaiting you on the Hiawatha National Forest!
Volunteering on the Forest
The Hiawatha National Forest’s scenic beauty and recreation opportunities make it an enjoyable place for people to volunteer. Each year, the Forest hosts a variety of volunteers. Some are local individuals and groups who want to support a particular recreation opportunity or management effort. Other volunteers are new to the area, and feel compelled to donate their time to help maintain a trail, campground or other resource that interests them.
Volunteer Needs on the Hiawatha
See the information below and visit Volunteer.gov to see our current opportunities.
Internships
- Point Iroquois Light House Caretakers
- Recreation
- Interpretive Association
Resource Management
In the area of resource management, volunteers have participated in a variety of projects. For example, several individuals have worked with US Forest Service fisheries biologists to support fish stocking, while the local Lions Club built an accessible fishing piers. Others have assisted with bird surveys. Another example:
- Several individuals have worked with US Forest Service fisheries biologists to support fish stocking.
- The local Lions Club built an accessible fishing pier.
- Other volunteers have assisted with bird surveys.
- A group of individuals have helped with botany programs.
Projects have included native plant garden maintenance, seed gathering, and removal of invasive plants.
Recreation volunteers might be asked to:
- Brush trails
- Assist in our visitor center
- Help in Wilderness patrols
Some individuals have acted as trail rangers on Grand Island. Another organization (Friends of Valley Spur) formed specifically to help support and maintain the Valley Spur Trail System (skiing and mountain biking).
Adopt-A-Forest/Adopt-A-Road is a forest clean-up volunteer opportunity.
- Similar to Michigan's adopt-a-highway trash pick-up program, Adopt-A-Forest program allows volunteer individuals and groups to adopt a segment of Forest road or trail, or even a recreation site.
- Volunteers are then responsible for litter pick-up at least twice a year.
- Signs recognizing the adopters are posted on either end of the adopted road segment.
Held annually in September National Public Lands Day offers another opportunity for volunteers to get involved.
NPLD activities, often coordinated at the district level, have ranged from trash pick-up to native seed collection to removal of non-native plants.
Check our events page or social media for more information as the date approaches!
Highlights
Monarch Research Project (run exclusively by volunteers) at Peninsula Point includes:
- Migration Census Monitoring began in 1996 (tagging is also conducted during monarch census with tags from the Monarch Watch Program). Annual monarch migration census is conducted in only a couple of locations in the U.S. with the other being at Cape May New Jersey. The roost locations at Peninsula Point are checked once daily as the migration begins, in mid-August through late September.
- Monarch Larva Monitoring Project (MLMP- University of Minnesota Program) began in 1997. Peninsula Point was one of the first sites. Protocol developed at Peninsula Point has been used at other sites across North America. There are over 1,000 MLMP monitoring sites today. Larvae monitoring runs throughout the summer.
The lead volunteers/coordinators over the years have been: C. J. Meitner, Gina Badgett, Pat Landry, Therese Fix. The present volunteer coordinator leads are Sue Jamison and Opal Hoffmann. If you are interested in volunteering with migration roost counts or larvae monitoring, contact us at SM.FS.hiawathanf@usda.gov
The monarch research project has been run by a small crew of very dedicated volunteers. From the beginning in 1994 when C. J. Meitner received a small grant from Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County to conduct a study to determine the significance of the annual congregation of monarch butterflies at Peninsula Point, Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County has been a yearly supporter of the research project, allowing us to pay mileage reimbursement to the volunteers.
The data and model from data collection at Peninsula Point has become even more important as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) considers listing the monarch butterfly as federally endangered. In December of 2020, the USFWS determined that listing the monarch under the Endangered Species Act is warranted but precluded at this time by higher priority listing action.
On an annual basis data from Peninsula Point is shared with researchers at Sweet Briar College, Kansas University, University of Minnesota, The University of Georgia and Cornell University.
The Monarch Research Project at Peninsula Point has been both nationally and internationally recognized and is used as an example or model of citizen-based scientific research in the North American Monarch Conservation Plan, the Conservation and Management of Monarch Butterflies: A Strategic Framework and included in “Supporting the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators (a document compiled by USDA in response to the June 20, 2014 Presidential memorandum issued to create a federal strategy to promote the health of honey bees and other pollinators)