Volunteer at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (BNWR) needs Volunteers to help staff the Visitor Center. Over 70,000 people from all over the world visit Blackwater every year. It’s exciting to introduce people who have never been here before to the Refuge and the delights of nature and wildlife. It’s a great experience to be able to tell a visitor from China, or even our own west coast, that the bald eagle they have never seen before is sitting on a tree snag they can view by looking through the nearby glass doors just a few feet from where they are standing. The Refuge relies on volunteers to help staff the Visitor Center and provide visitors with information, what there is to do on the refuge, and what facilities are available. The best part about volunteering is that you can choose when you want to work and how often. You can work the morning shift (8:00 am -12:00 pm weekdays or 9:00 am – 1:00pm weekends) or the afternoon shift (12:00 pm - 4:00 pm weekdays or 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm weekends). You can work once a week, once a month, however many days you want, or just for special events. Volunteering is a great chance to work with your spouse or high school grandchild if you want to do something together, or you can work with other Volunteers who have a wide and varied background experience. Many of our Volunteers are excellent birders and gardeners who love to pass on their knowledge. All Volunteers are trained and work with an experienced Volunteer until they feel they can handle the job by themselves. A Volunteer training will be held in the Visitor Center conference room on Thursday, August 6, 2009 from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. This training will be to introduce new Volunteers to the Volunteer Program, what is expected of Volunteers, what Volunteers can expect of the Refuge, policies and procedures. We especially need Volunteers who will help with staffing the information desk, Friends of Blackwater Eagles Nest Bookstore, our new research library, and assisting with environmental education programs. The main requisite to being a Volunteer is to enjoy meeting and talking with people, be willing to assist visitors, and know how to smile! It’s a great place to learn about wildlife while helping others to enjoy it as well. If you are interested in wildlife, like people, and enjoy learning as well as helping to educate other people about wildlife and their habitats, this is the job for you!! To introduce new Volunteers to the Refuge, a tour of Blackwater NWR will be given on Saturday, August 27. It will start at 9:00 am at the Visitor Center. You should bring binoculars, camera, snacks, etc. We will be eating lunch at the Island Grill. Viewing areas not normally seen by the public, the tour will probably last until approximately 5:00 pm. Volunteers are also needed for other types of activities at the Refuge including: maintenance (painting, fence building, mowing grass, constructing hiking trails, and janitorial cleaning), assistance with biological surveys and studies (invasive species mapping, frog surveys, shore bird surveys, breeding bird surveys, blue bird box surveys, plant identification, planting trees and marsh grass, and bird box repair), filing and answering phones, computer data base entry, numbering, cataloging, and organizing library books and slide and photo file system, tour guides for bus tours, trail walks, and orientations programs to the Refuge. Training will be provided when necessary, but some of these positions require some background knowledge of the subject. To make the most of your availability, it’s extremely helpful if you work on a regular schedule, be it one or two days a week or one day every other week to enable the staff to take time to prepare projects that you can help accomplish. A video will be available to bring you up-to-date on what is happening at the refuge and some of the project in the coming year where Volunteers can help. If you are interested in Volunteering, please call Maggie Briggs at 410-228-2677 to find out more about the positions and Volunteer training. If you want to attend the Volunteer Workshop on August 1, please call 410-228-2677 and register for the workshop. Maggie Briggs Visitor Services Manager Chesapeake Marshlands NWR Complex Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge 2145 Key Wallace Drive Cambridge, MD 21613 410-901-6124 ext. 21 410-228-2677 ext. 21 FAX 410-221-7738 maggie_briggs@fws.gov www.fws.gov/blackwater