Volunteer Opportunities
Like many small nonprofit organizations, we depend on volunteers everyday:
- Volunteer preserve advocates monitor and help maintain over 28 miles of trails.
- Trail volunteers meet often, including every Wednesday during the summer, making new trails and keeping existing trails safe and in prime condition.
- Trail race volunteers set up, mark the course, and lead the Autumn Trail Race every November.
- Volunteer hike leaders share expert knowledge on guided hikes or simply lead informal group walks.
- Volunteer citizen scientists collect data on the phenology of plants at Baker Hill Preserve to contribute to a regional project investigating the effects of climate change.
- Volunteer committee members plan events, review projects, and many serve on our all-volunteer board of directors.
We are always looking for new volunteers—and volunteering doesn’t have to be a big time commitment!
If you would like volunteer for an hour, a day, or longer, please contact us.
More information on volunteering is below. If you have a talent or knowledge to share that is not captured in one of the opportunities below, contact us and we would be happy to discuss further.
Stewardship
During the summer and fall months FBC organizes Weekly Wednesday Trail Work Days and we also host clean-up days at specific preserves. If you enjoy hiking and getting out to FBC preserves, you will enjoy being a volunteer steward. We welcome all ages and ability levels.
Typical stewardship tasks include: brushing trails with loppers, clearing down trees with hand saws or chainsaws (note: FBC volunteers interested in doing chainsaw work must have a chainsaw safety certification on file with FBC), raking brush from trails, blazing trails with blue paint, installing signs, flagging and cutting new trails, and installing bog bridging.
Photography
Frenchman Bay Conservancy is always in need of high quality photos of our preserves, trails, events, and general landscape/nature photos from around Downeast Maine for use in our publications, on social media, and on our website. If you are interested in a photography project or would like to share an occasional photograph with FBC, please get in touch with us.
Education
If you have a specific expertise (e.g. tree identification, wildflowers, wilderness survival, wildlife, marine ecology, etc.) and would be interested in leading a public workshop, guided hike, or program with a school group, please contact us!
You may be interested in leading a Preserve Walk, informal group hikes where no expertise is necessary other than a love of the outdoors and familiarity with FBC trails. Preserve Walks are scheduled weekly in the summer. Contact us for more information.
Internships
We periodically host college interns, including from College of the Atlantic. Interns generally take on a specific conservation project, while also supporting the broader work of the organization, helping with trail stewardship and organizing events. If you would like to intern with Frenchman Bay Conservancy, please discuss the options for your particular school with a faculty advisory and contact us for more information.