Going all-volunteer in dire economic times: use with caution
10:10, 5 August 2010
.. Posted in Volunteerism and Volunteer Management.. Link
While on a motorcycle day trip recently through part of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state, near Mount St. Helens (I ride a 1982 Honda Nighthawk 650, in case you were wondering), my husband and I came to the Pine Creek Information Center. The center had closed in 2007 because of funding cuts, and it was supposed to be a permanent closure. Members of the surrounding, very rural communities, primarily from Skamania County, saw the VITAL importance of having this facility open for travelers to the forest and the Volcanic Monument, even if the federal government didn't. So after a lot of meetings and planning, local volunteers were mobilized to get the center operating again and then to staff the center itself. It took a tremendous amount of work by many, many people to get that center back open as of 2009, and it continues to take an ongoing commitment by volunteers to keep the center going.
I love ranger stations and information centers in national forests and national monuments in the USA. They are fundamental to really enjoying and understanding a particular area. These centers also provide vital, up-to-date, specific information for travelers, information you often cannot access via the web or cell phone because of lack of access while on the road and in such a remote area. Such centers also provide visitors to wilderness areas a point of contact for emergency services. When one closes, it hurts travelers and it hurts the local community.
The volunteer we talked to at the center, who came out to the parking lot to greet us, was practically bursting with pride as he talked about the efforts of volunteers to re-open and maintain the center. And there was an energy in the building I don't always encounter in an information center -- there were local people there just to hang out, talk, share, etc. Most definitely, this center is special because it's all-volunteer run, and because the surrounding community now owns it, so-to-speak. It's become a focal point for people living in the surrounding, very rural area.
I so laud these volunteers for stepping up and keeping their center open. BUT, my fear is always the same when this happens: a government staff person or elected official will look at this success story and say, "Great! Let's cut the staff of a lot more National Forest information centers and get volunteers to do all the work for free!" Don't think it can't happen -- it happens all the time.
I wish these volunteers continued success. I hope to visit that center again, most definitely. I also hope those volunteers keep pushing the state and the federal governments for funds, that they constantly let the "powers that be" know exactly how much it costs to maintain that high-quality center, how many hours volunteers contribute, and how much it costs to recruit, schedule and support volunteers on an ongoing basis, in addition to gathering data constantly that shows the value of the center to visitors and the local community. Eventually, it may take a paid staff member, or a small group of such, to keep the center going, and the volunteers may need to push for that, but even if a paid staff members are restored, the center should continue to involve volunteers -- NOT to save money, but to maintain that wonderful sense of ownership the community now has for the center and that wonderful energy you will find inside.
