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San Juan Island National Historical Park
Volunteer
 
Park staff and volunteers form the 1860's Color Guard in the island's Fourth of July parade.
NPS Photo
Park staff and volunteers form the 1860's Color Guard in the island's Fourth of July parade. More than 13,000 volunteer hours were logged in FY 2009.
 

Members of the park's volunteer support organization, Battery D Foundation, gather around the Prairie Howitzer they built following years of fundraising. Battery D Annually supports the park's interpretation programs, including the annual Encampment, which draws re-enactors from throughout the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

The accelerating need to preserve our natural and historical resources, and provide efficient visitor services, is placing an increasing strain on National Park Service funds and personnel. Only through the efforts of committed volunteers can the park fully serve the public.

We are looking for people who are friendly, personable and enjoy serving and enhancing the enjoyment of others while they are in the park. It takes patience and flexibility to work the wide range of people who visit the park each year. Visitors vary in age, background and come from all over the world. Volunteers work on the average of two to forty hours a week in two- to eight-hour shifts. Volunteers may receive academic credit by applying to have the park send evaluations to their schools.

Volunteer Opportunities Park Host- Those owning trailers or motor homes commit to working a minimum 32 hours a week for at least a month, performing any or all of the jobs listed below. The park provides trailer pads with full hook-ups and reimburses ferry fares to the island.

Visitor Service/Information Specialist - Usually the initial contact with visitors, this staff member is often the only contact the visitor has with the National Park Service. Duties include answering questions, giving directions and handling sales of books, postcards, pins and related materials.

History/Natural History Interpreter - Here's a job with a challenge, catering to the more interested visitor whose questions occasionally require some research to answer. Interpreters also develop and lead guided walks. Experience as a historian or naturalist is not required to lead these walks. Volunteers need only be willing to learn and able to communicate the facts through stories that make history and the natural world come alive.
Trail/Site Maintenance Worker - With more than 1,750 acres of historic landscape, including six historic buildings, numerous historic remains, miles of beach front and several trails, we cannot begin to list all the needs in this area.

For information about our Park Host program, click here:
For a Volunteer application, click here:  

 
Stu Stern explains blacksmithing.
NPS Photo
San Juan Island NHP volunteer Stu Stern explains and demonstrates blacksmithing on the Pacific Northwest frontier to a group of Skagit Valley College "Exploritas" visitors.
Uncle Sam
Volunteer Application
Click here to volunteer at San Juan Island NHP
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NPS Volunteer Patch
Volunteer Park Host Handbook
The handbook is packed with information about living and working in the park.
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Cove with ship in background.  

Did You Know?
Grandma's Cove once served as the landing for the Hudson's Bay Company's Belle Vue Sheep Farm. Supplies would come from Fort Victoria, about 10 miles west across the Haro Strait. Today the cove is the favorite beach of San Juan islanders.

Last Updated: November 15, 2009 at 14:52 EST