VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is looking for hard-working and positive volunteers to join our team. If you love working outdoors with others and are passionate about giving back to your community, then this is the perfect opportunity because we’ve been looking for someone just like you!
At Hugh Taylor Birch State Park you’ll have the opportunity to:
- Use your talents and experience while learning new skills
- Spend time in a peaceful, natural environment
- Interact with visitors from all over the world
- Create new relationships while working with a team of like-minded individuals
- Give back to your community while preserving this location for many generations to come.
Volunteers are an integral part of our team, and we rely on individuals just like you to help keep our park operating at its highest level for all to enjoy. We provide one on one, on-site training so volunteers can participate in a variety of tasks including:
- Conducting Tram Tours
- Ranger Station toll collector/ park greeter
- Park Interpreter and Visitor Center Docent
- Habitat restoration
- Maintenance and groundskeeping
- Administrative process
- Plus so much more
VOLUNTEER TESTIMONIES
“Volunteering at Birch enriches my soul while being outdoors and taking myself out of the city. It’s always fun to meet people from around the world while educating them on the park’s flora and fauna, especially the butterflies and turtles, SUPing/kayaking the lake and sitting for a moment under the sea grape trees near the ocean for a cool beverage while listening to a one-man band perform their best hits! It’s been so rewarding, am I volunteering or just enjoying life?!”
-Crystal Morvant
“For years I’ve run Hugh Taylor Birch State Park’s 2-mile loop. I’ve appreciated its existence and my ability to feel like I am in a forest next to an ocean. The Park is a unique, special place that until recently I’ve known only on the surface without the depth and length, I now know it to contain. Sine volunteering in September, I’ve experienced and enjoyed sharing the Park’s tropical resources with visitors from Ireland, Germany, Argentina, Ecuador, Canada, Sweden, and the United States via a tram. I’ve watched a gopher turtle boxing match within a sensitive habitat area- at last count 18 turtles are in the Park. Survived, and for the most part conquered, dirty, sticky, prickly exotic plant removal responsibilities, and I won! Worked with knowledgeable Park Rangers and met other terrific volunteers and local daily visitors. I’ve experienced grand gratitude, laughed so hard I cried, and discovered Florida’s beach peanut, a native delicate flowering plant listed as endangered. Visitors take pictures of the Park’s 100-year-old Banyan tree, and I help in the process and have had also my picture taken. So somewhere I am in a couple photo albums for sure, or maybe a Facebook page or framed picture, on the other side of the world.”
– Joanne Schrager
“Volunteering at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is an immeasurable honor. I went with the intention of donating my time, but I received the most. In addition to the direct contact with nature, I felt welcomed, the staff are wonderful, and the volunteers are incredible. Everyone is so happy to help. It’s a contagious energy. We are a family, come be part of our family.”
-Adriana Gomes
“I strongly recommend becoming a part of the Hugh Taylor Birch State Park team of volunteers. It doesn’t matter if you think you don’t have expert talent. You can learn new skills simply by watching fellow volunteers fix something. HTBSP is an historic treasure that everyone can help preserve and keep clean and green. I’ve enjoyed meeting and volunteering with so many other folks during the last three years and am happy to do what I can, whether it is simply picking up litter, cleaning barbecue grills, or pulling out weeds. It is especially satisfying to learn how to help restore the habitat for gopher tortoises and freshen up the walking trail at the butterfly garden. The opportunity to chat and laugh with others is an extra reward and driving a tram has its own rewards as you talk with visitors. The best ‘pay’ is when a visitor sees you working at something and they stop and say, “Thank you for what you do.” There is free training available, regular meetings with the other volunteers, and sometimes even free bagels. I’ve met a good number of people at HTBSP I am happy to know as friends. Everyone has time on their hands every day. This is one means of putting that time to good use to help protect the environment.”
-Rob Alvey
“When I began looking for opportunities to volunteer, I knew I wanted to give my time to a place I love dearly. Hugh Taylor Birch State Park is one of the most beautiful natural areas in Fort Lauderdale. Sharing the knowledge, I’ve gained from the experts at the park has been so fulfilling. I absolutely love driving the tram, interacting with visitors, and educating locals and visitors about the uniqueness the park provides.”
-Casey Morgan
“Having the opportunity to work with kindhearted and motivated neighbors in maintaining our beautiful park has been a game changer for my mentality. Seeing the end result of our hard work is very rewarding – children enjoying themselves, well maintained trails, ease of access for the elderly, are all the highlight of my experience.”
-Al Ros
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO TO BECOME A VOLUNTEER?
- Have a great attitude and be willing to help
- Have a valid driver’s license
- Be willing and able to follow park policies, rules & regulations
- Sign a yearly volunteer agreement, and participate in orientation and trainings
*We welcome volunteer groups for service projects*
*We welcome youth volunteerism– all volunteers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian*
To Sign Up – Complete the Volunteer Application online, by CLICKING HERE.
VISITOR SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES:
Volunteers can participate in the following visitor service opportunities at the park.
Tram Driving – Tram Driving is an excellent visitor service opportunity, that will allow you to interact with park visitors in a very enriching way. The park’s trams shuttle park visitors to different locations in the park and is a vital support to park operations on busy weekends. Tram drivers transport visitors to important areas such as the beach, Park & Ocean concessions and restaurant, pavilions, historic banyan tree, water taxi stop & floating dock, and the Terramar Visitor Center. Tram drivers also function as providers of information; you will be able to offer visitors with information about the various park amenities, history, and fun facts about the park’s unique habitats and flora and fauna.
Ranger Station Toll Collector & Greeter – Volunteers can volunteer in the park’s ranger station where they will greet visitors, answer guest inquiries, and collect park admission fees. Volunteering at the ranger station is fast-paced and challenging work that is perfect for those that enjoy interacting with others. The Ranger Station is the first point of contact guests receive when entering the park, and often provides visitors with their first impression of Hugh Taylor Birch, making it one of the most important and rewarding roles in the park.
Beach Gate Toll Collector & Greeter – At the Park Ocean Restaurant you will find an access pathway that allows beach goers to enter the park on foot. We are looking for dedicated volunteers who are willing to greet park visitors, collect park admission fees, provide information, and share interesting facts about the park with park patrons. Beach gate greeters can set up interpretive materials on their park admission collection table to share interesting and important facts about the park’s natural communities and the wildlife that resides with in them. This is a great opportunity for volunteers who enjoy working outside and meeting new people.
Visitor Center Docent – Volunteers who love interacting with others but prefer to be indoors can be visitor center docents. In this role volunteers can welcome guests into the Terramar Visitor, help us maintain this historical treasure by keeping it clean and neat, and guide visitors through the interpretive displays while sharing the park’s rich history with visitors.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Exotic Invasive Plant Terminator – This unique position is for volunteers that love to get their hands dirty. Volunteer invasive plant terminators will assist Americorps members and park staff in the removal of exotic invasive plant species, usually through hand pulling. You will also can participate in habitat restoration by planting native flora in the areas that invasive plant species have been removed from.
Nursery Caretaker – For those volunteers that love to garden and enjoy taking care of plants you the opportunity to become caretaker of our park’s nursery. The nursery is where we grow, propagate, and care for native saplings that will be planted in the park’s various sensitive habitats and restoration areas. Maintaining the nursery is a key position and habitat restoration wouldn’t be possible without it. Responsibilities include seed-propagation, maintaining a compost pile, caring for the growth and well being of the plants, and the organization and overall care of the nursery area.
Meditation Garden Caretaker – We are looking for a few dedicated volunteers who would like to assist us in maintaining the Marty Huizenga Meditation Garden. Volunteer responsibilities include mowing, weed-whacking, hedge-trimming, and maintaining the overall aesthetic of the garden.
MAINTENANCE OPPORTUNITIES
General Maintenance & Specialized Maintenance Volunteers – Volunteers can participate in a wide variety of maintenance tasks at the park. Including groundskeeping tasks such as hedge & tree-trimming, mowing, weed-whacking, palm frond pick-up, leaf-blowing, grill cleaning, raking, and trash pickup. With appropriate training and experience volunteers are also welcome to participate in special park projects including carpentry, electrical, plumbing, or other projects that require specialized skills. Maintenance volunteering is a great way to utilize your unique skills and expand upon your own skill sets by learning new ones. It is also a great volunteer opportunity for those that are interested in future careers in the park service. Essentially volunteers can perform all of the tasks that a park ranger would. Our volunteers meet at 8:00am at the shop on any given weekday to meet with staff and other volunteers and receive their tasks for the day. This important volunteer role is very rewarding and allows you to be part of making a lasting impact on the park.