Resources Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator

Project overview: Expand the existing vegetation volunteer coordinator position into a division-wide role, supporting both cultural and natural resource volunteers.

How your support helps: Volunteers who participate in resource stewardship projects sponsored by Yosemite Conservancy engage in deeply rewarding experiences that emerge from giving time to Yosemite and helping shape its future. Volunteers become committed advocates for Yosemite and the Conservancy. The park, in turn, accomplishes work that would not otherwise get done; in 2022, vegetation branch volunteers contributed 4,800 hours of labor by 539 volunteers.  

These volunteer experiences and accomplishments are possible because the vegetation and ecological restoration volunteer coordinator provides the time, effort, and expertise needed to organize and implement quality resource stewardship projects for volunteer groups.  

This project funds half the annual salary of a resource stewardship volunteer coordinator to plan and manage group volunteer projects primarily for the Vegetation and Ecological Restoration branch and the Cultural Resources branch. Projects will include Yosemite Conservancy Work Week, corporate, and youth/underserved volunteers. Locations will include work at Ackerson Meadow, Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, Mariposa Grove, and in the Wilderness. Essential work accomplished by vegetation volunteers includes seed collection, planting, invasive plant removal, small conifer removal, willow staking, removing social trails, and soil decompaction. 

Without a division or branch volunteer coordinator, volunteers can become a burden to over-committed supervisors lacking capacity to support Work Weeks or other group volunteers. This model allows us to offer high-quality stewardship experiences for diverse volunteers and to reap the benefits of work that could not be accomplished without them.  

This year: In 2024, and indefinitely into the future, the vegetation and ecological restoration volunteer coordinator role will expand to support additional programs in the Resources Management and Science department.

Project partners: Yosemite National Park, Yosemite Conservancy