Environmental Volunteer Opportunities
by Mike Bottini

The start of the New Year is a good time to reflect on our routines and ambitions, and make plans for the coming year. For many of us, that process includes the traditional New Year’s resolutions. This week’s column is a pitch for getting involved in one of the many volunteer opportunities offered by our local environmental organizations.

Volunteers are critical to the success and effectiveness of many of these not-for-profits. As a volunteer, you not only contribute to that organization’s mission, but to the community at large. There are many other benefits of volunteer work. Some offer the chance to work with professional staff and gain interesting insights and perspectives into complex environmental issues. Others offer exciting training opportunities in which volunteers can develop new skills.

Interested? Here are a few suggestions to consider.

Winter is a busy time for two local organizations involved in marine mammal research, seal and sea bird strandings, and patrolling beaches for cold-stunned sea turtles. Check the Riverhead Foundation's website and the Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island (CRESLI) site for information about volunteering. CRESLI is also involved in tracking Long Island's Horseshoe Crab population. Dr. John Tanacredi of Dowling College is heading up this daunting task, and interested volunteers can get more information on his project here.

The Nature Conservancy offers a wide range of volunteer opportunities including "weed watchers," invasive plant removal, revegetating disturbed areas and, for the pyromaniacs out there, a chance to assist in prescribed burns. For more info on their volunteer program, click here.

Hundreds of miles of trails on eastern Long Island are maintained by one of three volunteer trails organizations. You can help out with weekly trails maintenance, adopt your own section of trail to monitor and maintain, or offer to lead a hike along your favorite stretch of trail. Links to all the trails organizations can be found at Ken Kindler's website.

If gardening and farming is your thing, check with the Peconic Land Trust for information about their apprenticeship and intern programs at Quail Hill in Amagansett. They also offer opportunities to get involved with preserve stewardship. EECO farm, located on Long Lane near the East Hampton High School, is a community organic farm that also utilizes volunteers. If interested, stop by and talk to farm manager Paul Hamilton.

Group for the South Fork and the Pine Barrens Society offer many interesting and diverse volunteer opportunities for those interested in environmental advocacy and education. Even an afternoon spent helping get an action alert into the mail can be exciting as there is rarely a dull moment in these offices, and volunteers can get to know two fascinating and knowledgeable environmental activists: Bob DeLuca and Dick Amper.

Fishermen can sign on with the world's largest volunteer tag-and-release program run by the American Littoral Society (ALS). This program tags 25,000 fish per year, with the information is sent to marine biologists working for the National Fisheries Service at Woods Hole and published yearly in the ALS's magazine, The Underwater Naturalist.

The ALS also organizes the annual beach cleanup, which the Eastern Long Island Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation participates in. Surfers can learn how to get involved with this fast-growing organization.

Cornell University’s Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County is involved in nearly all environmental issues: composting, farming, aquaculture, marine ecology and restoration, to name a few. Check out their volunteer program.

Happy Holidays and Best wishes for the New Year!