Stewardship Group Volunteer Opportunities

Stewardship Group Volunteer Opportunities
Stewardship volunteers working at the Balfour-Klickitat Loop Trail removing invasive plants (Photographer: Mika Barrett)

Stewardship Group Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering as a group through a stewardship work party is a great way to bond, enjoy being outside, learn more about the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, and feel rewarded at the end of the day for giving back to this national treasure.
 
Friends of the Columbia Gorge is incredibly grateful for your interest in volunteering with our stewardship program. Please read through the information below to answer frequently asked questions.

 

How We Work With Groups

For groups of 2-10 people: Go ahead and self-register for a work party listed online. Please proceed to our stewardship work party schedule to browse upcoming work parties. During the registration process, you will be given the option to add additional people to your group.  Please note, our stewardship schedule is constantly being updated as new events are added. To ensure you receive notifications of new events, please sign up here.

For groups of larger than 10 people: Customized events require additional work to plan, coordinate and implement, so we request a small fee to run the program. Corporate events typically run $20 per person and non-profits and community-based organizations are charged on a sliding scale (please inquire!). 

Friends Youth Permission & Liability Waiver: All volunteers under age 18 who are not accompanied by a parent or guardian must bring a signed copy of this form to the event.
  • We appreciate at least two months advance notice to ensure a great event. 
  • All tools, training and on-site logistics are provided.
  • Groups larger than 30 people may be divided up into separate work parties. 

Payment

  • The fee is determined by the number of expected attendees.
  • A non-refundable deposit of 50% of the total fee is due once the work party agreement has been confirmed.
  • Payment is due within 30 days following the work party.
  

How to Submit a Stewardship Group Work Party Request

1. Complete this Group Work Party Request form to share details regarding your unique needs.

2. Friends of the Columbia Gorge’s Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator will be in contact with you once the form is submitted. They will reach out to discuss options based on the number of volunteers, desired dates and locations of where you would like to work. Once the date and location are finalized, it’s time to get volunteers signed up.

3. Friends of the Columbia Gorge will create an agenda for your group's day of service and forward you a link to a special group webpage for you to register the individual members of your group. We require that you provide the names and email addresses for everyone in your group. This ensures that everyone receives important safety information regarding the work party.  


Scope of Work

Our stewardship work parties primarily focus on invasive weed removal and native plantings.  Invasive plants are an ecological threat to the Columbia Gorge as they degrade water quality, crowd native plant’s ability to establish and thrive, and may be harmful or posionous for wildlife to eat. We also host native planting work parties, which promotes biodiversity and prevents weed invasions.
 

Schedule

We offer work parties on both weekdays and weekends throughout the year. Our typical work party starts at 10 a.m. and ends by 2 p.m. This does not include your group’s travel time to and from the work party location. In some cases, we can accommodate later start times and earlier end times.
 

Location

Our work parties occur throughout the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. Due to safety considerations, we anticipate most work parties will not take place on the 2017 Eagle Creek fire burn-affected areas. We recognize that the less-visited trails in the Gorge are seeing an uptick in hiker use because of the burned area closure. There is much work to be done on these trails as deferred maintenance has built up over the years.
 

Contact

Volunteer Coordinator Sarah Skelly | sarah.skelly@gorgefriends.org | 971-634-0594