Resources Stewardship Volunteer Coordinator

Project overview: Expand the existing vegetation volunteer coordinator position into a division-wide role — a resources stewardship volunteer coordinator — to support 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 2023, 663 Vegetation Branch volunteers contributed 5,900 hours of labor. 

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 Ackerson Meadow, Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows, Mariposa Grove, and 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 Week 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 2025, this project will expand the existing vegetation volunteer coordinator into a division-wide role, supporting both cultural and natural resource volunteers. The park, in turn, receives the outcomes of 5,900 hours of labor by 663 people and the intangible value of deeply connecting volunteers to Yosemite through meaningful stewardship. 

Project partners: Yosemite National Park and Yosemite Conservancy