Spring 2013 Volunteer Work Party Schedule

*For a map and directions to meeting places click here.

Training and tools provided. Dress for the weather; Long pants and closed-toe shoes are strongly recommended. Bring your own drinking water. Please arrive on-time as we will be walking from the meeting place to the work site. Groups are ok with advance notice. Work parties are canceled in case of rain/snow.

*Please note* volunteers under the age of 18 who plan to participate without a parent or guardian present must come with a liability waiver signed by a parent or guardian.

For more information, please contact:  Bryn Scriver (bscriver@fpm.wisc.edu)  phone: (608) 220-5560 

Volunteers and the Lakeshore Nature Preserve

We welcome your help to provide the care and stewardship that the Lakeshore Nature Preserve needs to flourish.

Volunteer opportunities vary with the seasons and with the types of projects being pursued in the field. Volunteers help keep the Preserve clean and healthy, improve biological diversity, prevent erosion, and provide well designed ways for people to experience its beauty.

Some volunteer activities are aimed at increasing our technical knowledge to improve the quality of our stewardship. Some are aimed at adding and maintaining infrastructures that will improve the effectiveness of our management. And many volunteer activities enhance our care of the land through hard work that enhances biological richness.

Read the 2010-2011 Volunteer Report

We welcome your interest in volunteering, and urge you to get involved. We will never have all the funds we need to accomplish the work of stewardship for this very special and much-loved place, so we are dependant on the generosity of those who give their hours and their dollars to care for it.

Perennial volunteer tasks

Some tasks need to be done every year. Sometimes they can be accomplished with a single event in which a sizable number of people participate; sometimes they involve repeated, ongoing efforts, day in and day out, by individuals or smaller groups.

Among these perennial volunteer contributions are:

• Reporting wildlife observations
• Removing garlic mustard, buckthorn, and other invasive species
• Picking up trash
• Recording seasonal changes to build a database of phenological events
• Helping with planting and watering
• Helping with the activities of the Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve.

Volunteers contribute to the Preserve as individuals, as members of community groups, as students in classes, as groups of friends or family members, as academic units, and so on. If you're part of a group that would like to get involved with the Preserve, contact Cathie Bruner, Field Manager Lakeshore Nature Preserve at cbruner@fpm.wisc.edu.

Our Garlic Mustard Pull-a-thon is a well-known event on campus. Field Manager Cathie Bruner says: "One time a person asked students pulling garlic mustard on Picnic Point, 'Are you practicing for the competition?' He knew it was about time for a 'pull-a-thon' soon and thought they were practicing for it!"

Special volunteer stewardship projects

Some volunteer activities are organized to accomplish longer-term goals and initiatives led by Preserve managers, graduate students, and community volunteer stewards on a project-by-project basis.

If students arrange to work in the Preserve under the academic supervision of a faculty member, they may sometimes be able to obtain academic credit for such efforts. The Preserve has lately been having significant success with major restoration efforts led by graduate student project assistants, and is likely to pursue more such work in the future.

Among the volunteer efforts that can be pursued as special projects are:

• Removing garlic mustard, buckthorn, and other invasive species
• Recording seasonal changes to build a database of phenological events
• Helping with planting and watering
• Reporting wildlife observations
• Making inventories of plants and other species
• Surveying trails and other important features of a given tract
• Installing field management grids
• Building erosion control structures
• Building, rerouting, and closing trails
• Doing outreach to community groups and younger students
• Organizing volunteer projects.

Limitations on volunteer service

Volunteering is most successful when done on an organized basis and as approved by Preserve managers to support the Preserve's master plan and stewardship goals—while assuring volunteer safety at the same time.

Special arrangements need to be made in the following cases:

Minors: Volunteering by individuals under 18 years of age requires careful planning, and a special liability waiver needs to be filled out. Be sure to contact Preserve Volunteer Coordinator Bryn Scriver if you wish to organize such activities.

Large Groups: Other than special clean-up events that can accommodate any number of participants, the Preserve does not generally have opportunities for very large groups to volunteer.

Call Bryn Scriver, Volunteer Coordinator at 220-5560 or e-mail bscriver@fpm.wisc.edu for details regarding scheduled work parties or opportunities to help with other activities listed above.

For more opportunities

Please join us in caring for this place! If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, please contact:
Bryn Scriver, Volunteer Coordinator at 220-5560 or email bscriver@fpm.wisc.edu.

The best way to get started volunteering in the Preserve is to do so through events organized by the Friends of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve.