Happy National Volunteer Week!
This week we're recognizing and celebrating our fabulous volunteers at Point Reyes National Seashore.
The National Park Service's volunteer program,
Volunteers-In-Park, or VIP, program,
engages thousands of volunteers across the country each year
in accomplishing priority work that would not be done otherwise.
And this year happens to be the 50th anniversary of the National Park Service VIP program.
My name is Pascal Sisich.
I'm a Visitor Use Assistant here at Point Reyes National Seashore.
I'd like you to meet one of Point Reyes National Seashore's volunteers,
Jim Rolka, so he can tell us some stories about his volunteer work at the park.
[Pascal] Hello Jim, thanks for being with us today.
Hello Pascal!
[Pascal] How long have you been volunteering at Point Reyes, and what do you do?
I've been a volunteer out at Point Reyes, this is my eleventh year.
I retired... uhh... 11 years ago
And after about six months of being at home, I started thinking
I'd like to be doing something a little bit more.
And I came across this website called Volunteer.gov
And it has thousands and thousands of opportunities, all just in the Bay Area to volunteer.
And as I was going through the list, I came across Point Reyes National Seashore,
and I thought to myself, "I've lived out here for 40 years,
and I've got a national park in my backyard, and I've only been out there twice"
So I decided, that's what I wanted to do.
And I signed up. I sent in my application to Doug Hee, a Park Ranger there.
And, uhh, he, this was in June, and he told me,
"Well, we've got this docent program, we need volunteers for the western snowy plovers."
And... ...uhhhm... we...
"Trainings already over with, but go out and you can learn on the job"
And that's what I did. And actually that's the best way, because...
you work with volunteers who are very eager to share their knowledge and information.
Um...what do I do out there?
I...I've actually belonged to three... I've worked on three different programs...
as a docent.
One program was for the tule elk.
There's a tule elk reserve in the northern end of the park.
And, uhh... I wear different hats, y'know,
so that when I'm out there with the tule elk, and they have to look a long ways,
I have my... my field hat.
And then I talk to people about, you know, the tule elk, and
how, like, an alpha bull chases away all of the...
all of the young adult bulls with a terrifying roar.
[A high-pitched squealing noise is produced when when Jim squeezes the plush toy elk.]
And that's what it sounds like!
But it scares the heck out of the young bulls
and they run away, changing their testosterone to adrenaline.
[chuckling]
And then, after the tule elk season is over, that's in the autumn, during the rut season.
Then we get into the Winter Wildlife program.
And it's winter and it's cold.
And we go out to ...uhh... the lighthouse and to the Elephant Seal Overlook
and other places where it can be quite windy and stormy.
Um.... That's a very fun program,
it's probably the most popular docent program in the park.
I think this past year they had, like, 70 volunteers.
Um... And we talk to people about elephant seals...
and we talk to them about the lighthouse,
we talk to them about the Coast Guard boat station,
and we also talked to them about gray whales.
[chuckles] And that's a lot of fun.
People love it.
They love the elephant seals.
And then, after the Winter Wildlife season is over with, and it gets to summertime,
from basically Memorial Day to Labor Day,
and we then talk about the western snowy plovers.
And for that I need to wear a hat that provides a lot of sun protection,
because we're out there on the beaches.
It's a little more challenging program, because...
...with the tule elk, we want people to see them, we even set up telescopes so they can look.
And the same thing goes with the Winter Wildlife Program.
We want people to see the whales, the elephant seals, and so forth.
With the snowy plovers, they're nesting, and we don't want the nest disturbed,
and that's why we're out there, is to tell people about the snowy plovers...
and to ask them to stay away from the nests.
So it's a little more difficult.
We have to use props and we show...
make artificial nests and that sort of thing, just to communicate.
[rustling noise]
[Pascal] Jim, tell me about one of your most memorable moments as a volunteer?
Oh, that's easy!
We had ...uhh.. this was a Winter Wildlife program
and if you're a volunteer during that,
you can stay out at the old Coast Guard Boathouse,
overnight from Saturday night to Sunday night,
if you're doing both days on the weekend.
And I went out there on a Saturday, it was supposed to be a really stormy weekend,
and it turns out that it was so stormy that they canceled all docenting.
And.. and.. but it was too late.
I was already out there, and there was one other fellow with me.
And so, the two of us, we were staying at the boathouse, and we decided,
"Well, we're here. What the heck."
And we knew it was going to be a rainy weekend, so we had our foul weather gear.
So, we got up Sunday morning, and went out to the elephant seal overlook...
wearing our nor'easter outfits...
not expecting to see anybody.
Okay.
We had 70 people show up that day,
during the storm with torrential rains and winds and cold weather.
And I would say out of those 70 people, probably...
three-quarters of them were not from the United States.
They were people who had traveled here and, for whatever reason,
they were on the west coast and they wanted to see these elephant seals,
and they didn't care about the weather. So, they showed up.
And, here there were two of us, that were actually out there, being docents in the storm. [chuckles]
And...uh..., but, I was just so impressed
because people came from all over the world to see these animals
and... and, I was so glad to be able to be there to talk to them about it.
[Pascal] Oh, that's great Jim.
[Pascal] Tell us, when you are not volunteering at the seashore,
what would we most likely find you doing?
Well I'm uhh... I'm a very amateur photographer,
and so I like nature photography.
I'll go out... and...um...out to Point Reyes and other places
just to take nature pictures, and so forth.
Um.
And I spent fifty years in the...in the computer business and computer support.
So I do tech support for my church, for my men's group, for other things. And...uh...
Part of the men's group I belong to, it's called Sirs...um...
I run a photography club for them.
And we go out on field trips to take pictures, and then come back and analyze them,
and talk about what to do. So... that's the kind of stuff that I do.
[Pascal] Jim, what advice would you give someone
who was thinking about volunteering at Point Reyes?
Sign up now!
Um...it's...it's very rewarding. It's a lot of fun.
And you meet people, like yourself,
who are really interested in learning about nature
and... and telling others about it.
I mean, I spent fifty years as a electrical engineer...computer guy.
I didn't know anything about birds.
I didn't know anything about wildlife.
But I knew that I liked to be outdoors...and...
and having worked as a docent out at Point Reyes, I've learned so much.
...Um...
I took the California Naturalist program.
I've learned most of the flowers that are out there at Point Reyes,
and there are dozens and dozens of them...
rather unique to the area, and just beautiful at different times of the year.
And something like, 60 or 75 percent of the birds in North America come through...
migrate through the corridor that is Point Reyes National Seashore.
And they'll show up out there. And, so, you get to see all kinds of birds and wildlife.
So, it's...it's just a lot of fun.
So, my advice to people that are interested is:
If you do sign up,
never stop learning, okay, because ...uh..
I, for example, but...uh...the gray whales... you know, you read books about them.
Or the park, there's a...there's a whole...
two-inch-thick volume on the natural history of the park.
And the more you know, the more you can share with visitors,
and give them a richer experience about how valuable this national seashore is.
[Pascal] What is your favorite place to visit at the park?
Easy. Abbotts lagoon.
I...I love it...um...
Now don't get me wrong, there's a lot of beautiful places in the park,
and I love them all.
I love going out to Tomales Point, to the...to the elk reserve.
I love going to the beaches.
I love going to the lighthouse and the seal overlook...Drakes Beach, etc.
There's a lot of fantastic places. But, for...uh...
a good part of the year,
it's a nice short walk, it's only about a mile or so down to the ocean,
but you're going from a...um...from...uh...
several hundred feet in elevation with a lot of chaparral
and you go through ravines,
and you go through...uh...sandy beaches.
So, you see, you'll see wildlife in different environments
all along this mile-long path,
and so, it's a very rich environment, of seashore versus.... versus chaparral,
and...um...and different birds, animals, you name it.
I love it. I love Abbotts Lagoon.
[Pascal] Thank you, Jim, for sharing with us your experiences as a volunteer.
[Jim] Thank you for the opportunity to talk about it.
[Jim] I love to talk about it!
[Pascal chuckling]
[Jim] Bye bye!
If you are interested in volunteering at Point Reyes National Seashore,
please visit our website at
nps.gov/pore
Thank you for spending time with us today.
We hope you all have the opportunity to visit us at the park soon.
Thank you