The Bellingham Parks Volunteer Program works with volunteers who want to adopt park lands, including trails, open spaces, and greenways. We are looking for motivated individuals or organizations who want to dedicate time and effort to caring for trails, restoration areas, dog waste stations, gardens, and ornamental plant beds.
If you are interested in getting involved but do not already have a place in mind, please email or call the Parks Volunteer Program at pkvolunteers@cob.org or (360) 778-7105 to discuss ideas. Please see our Park Stewards Frequently Asked Questions webpage for answers to any initial questions you might have.
Typical Adopter Duties
- Litter pickup
- Trail repair
- Cleaning trail of rocks and branches
- Removing invasive plant species
- Spreading mulch
- Stocking dog waste stations with bags
- Tending to garden beds
- Planting of native plants
- Reporting problem spots, especially after storms
- Reporting encroachments and dumping activity
Volunteers choose what they will spend their time doing. What kind of parkland our volunteers work on determines what duties will need to be performed. Many volunteers come to the program with a specific piece of land in mind; some choose to work on parkland near their home. Neighborhood organizations, garden clubs, service clubs, and businesses tend to work on centrally located parks and trails.
Training
When a new individual or organization decides to get involved with the Parks Volunteer Program, the Parks Volunteer Coordinator will train them to be able to safely and effectively accomplish duties. Oftentimes that involves the organization or group coming to a work party or organizing a work party at the trail or park. The Volunteer Program will help groups get started with their project.
Tools and Materials
Groups and individuals typically provide their own tools. We provide trash bags and pickup of garbage or weeds if volunteers aren’t able to transfer weeds themselves to Park Operations. If the site involves planting, we can provide appropriate trees and shrubs. Mulch and gravel can also be delivered to sites.
Thinking about becoming a Park Steward?
If you want to get involved and find out what being a steward is really like, we recommend coming to a Work Party. If you have a place in mind where you’d like to work, please follow the steps below to sign up. If you still have questions, please call us at (360) 778-7105 or email pkvolunteers@cob.org.
How to become a Park Steward for Bellingham Parks
1. Please fill out a Park Steward Application and return it to the Parks Volunteer Program
2. When your application has been reviewed Park staff will reach out to you to schedule an on-site meeting to:
- Discuss your goals, interests, skills and how they can meet the needs of your adopted area.
- Answer questions and provide any necessary training (e.g. plant identification)
- Review Park Steward Policies
- Sign the agreement and start volunteering!
3. After our meeting, we will send you a digital copy of the final agreement, policies and Volunteer Work Log. This volunteer work log is for your reference and organization purposes only—please do not submit paper copies of this paper form!
4. Required follow-up: Every 6 months (typically January and July) we ask that you kindly submit your volunteer work hours to us using our simple online Parks Volunteer Hours Reporting form. In January of each new year, we will also reach out to discuss and renew your Park Steward Agreement.
If you have any questions or concerns about your work sites, please reach out to us any time. We are here to help!
Map of Current Park Stewards
Volunteers are all over Bellingham!
Bellingham Parks Volunteers Map
Questions? Want to learn more?
- Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page
- Check out our Landscaping for Wildlife page – there are a ton of resources!
Resources
Parks Steward Policies
Park Steward Application
Volunteer Work Record
Contacts
Parks Volunteer Program
Phone: (360) 778-7105
Email: pkvolunteers@cob.org
Parks and Recreation Contacts
