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-Parks, 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 Doug Hee.
Park Ranger and acting Volunteers-in-Parks program manager
at Point Reyes National Seashore.
I'd like you to meet one of Point Reyes National Seashore's volunteers,
Kevin Garcia, so he can tell us some of his stories about volunteering.
[Doug] Hello Kevin. Thanks for being with us today.
Hi, thank you for having me.
[Doug] How long have you been volunteering at Point Reyes? And what do you do?
I started volunteering at Point Reyes this winter, so it's been a few months really, and...uh...
I volunteer for the Winter Wildlife docent program
where I'm mainly placed in...um...wildlife viewing sites,
and I talk to the public about wildlife, ecology, and some other aspects of the National Park.
[Doug] Can you tell us a little bit more in detail, what you do as a Winter Wildlife Docent volunteer?
As a winter wildlife docent, I'm stationed either at Drake's Beach or at the lighthouse.
And I get to talk to the public about elephant seals. Also whales, as well.
And I get to tell them about management that happens at the park.
That's why...uh... there's other reasons to mitigate,
I guess, the public's behavior towards animals, and uh...
I get to tell them and share them cool facts about all of the animals, really.
So, I enhance the the park's visitors' experience.
[Doug] Great, thank you.
[Doug] Can you tell us about one of your most memorable moments as a volunteer?
My most memorable moment was talking to maybe a young girl,
maybe about 10, 11, I want to say. And she kept coming back.
This was at um...Drakes Beach. And she had many questions about elephant seals.
Some of the questions included, "Why are they asleep for so long?"
"If they're dead?" Or things like that. She was very interested in...um....
Eventually, she brought her whole family over, maybe it was a group of five or six individuals,
and...it was a long conversation that we had, and they were so interested.
And uh...her older sister actually wants to be a marine biologist.
So...eventually, she says she wants to come in and volunteer
and do some of the same work that I've been doing at the park,
and that everyone does at the park, including the rangers.
So, that was one of my favorite experiences.
[Doug] Oh, that's great!
[Doug] When you're not volunteering at the seashore,
what would we most likely find you doing?
You can find me at your local trail, either uh...
birding or looking at wildlife, uh...
really...really recording their behavior. Or uhm...
just taking my friends and walking along the trails.
Uhm....
And when you don't find me outdoors, you can find me indoors, either playing guitar,
or uh...just watching a good movie. Something like that.
[Doug] Ah...
[Doug] What advice would you give someone who is thinking about volunteering at Point Reyes?
If you have the time, I say you do it.
Not only because you're gonna be exposed to so many...
cool environments wherever you decide to uh...volunteer at,
but you're also gonna get to meet a lot of wonderful people.
The rangers...uh...the other volunteers.
So, we live in a time where networking... networking is very important. So....
This is one of the best experiences that I've had, and uh,
you can certainly have similar experiences at your park.
[Doug] And what is your favorite place to visit at Point Reyes National Seashore?
I have two places actually. My....
But, my favorite one would be Tomales Point...uh...Trail.
And the second one would be Abbotts Lagoon.
I think those uh...have some of the best sunsets at the park and a lot of wildlife.
[Doug] Well, thank you Kevin, for sharing with us your experiences as a volunteer.
[Doug] And thank you for your service to the park!
Again, thank you so much for having me.
It's been an honor and I look forward to coming back.
If you are interested in volunteering at Point Reyes National Seashore,
please visit our website at...
nps.gov/pore
Thank you for spending the time with us today.
We hope you all have an opportunity to visit Point Reyes National Seashore in the future.