Volunteer with us!
We welcome community members, youth, students, school field trips, and corporate groups to be part of our growing volunteer team.
Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Restoring Lands! Volunteers help make our mission possible.
To volunteer with Restoring Lands, please submit a Volunteer Application & Waiver. Then, sign up for volunteer workdays on our calendar and be sure to look through our Volunteer Handbook!
Registration is required.
Please contact volunteer@restoringlands.org for more information and questions. THANK YOU!
Volunteer Programs
Land Stewardship & Restoration Volunteering
Join our stewardship team and volunteer community as we care for and restore the natural habitat for plants and animals, including tree planting, seed collecting, trail maintenance, and invasive plant removal on our preserves.
The locations vary around Ozaukee, Washington, and Milwaukee Counties. Please complete a volunteer application/waiver prior to sign up. Open to ages 14+, younger ages welcome with adult supervision.
Check our calendar for updates! We will contact registered folks for weather cancellations.
Group Volunteer Workdays
Community Science
Through our restoration and stewardship efforts, we aim to protect and enhance wildlife habitat, increase biodiversity, and create greater landscape resilience. Our community science efforts are crucial to these efforts, utilizing our incredible volunteer network to help us collect essential wildlife data. This data is then used to inform our land management plans to further support the needs of all preserve visitors and inhabitants.
Training is required. Please contact us for more info.
iNaturalist & eBird Monitoring
- Anyone can become a community scientist by using these two mobile apps! iNaturalist and eBird are community-based resources for collecting wildlife data. iNaturalist includes all species from wildlife to plants, whereas eBird focuses on bird observations.
- To upload species to iNaturalist or eBird, simply visit any preserve and either take pictures of different species on the iNaturalist app or add observed birds to your eBird checklist. That’s it! This data will be saved to both apps and the info collected can be used to guide land management plans and actions taken to preserve the habitats of these animals.
- This can be done at any time of the year, on your own schedule!
Snake Board Monitoring
A snake board is a large piece of wood that we place in specific locations on our preserves to provide cover for snakes in the wild. Snakes are a vital component of a healthy ecosystem, and they prefer warm, dry habitats and seek out shady, dark places to rest and cool down, making snake boards a great way to observe their populations.
Volunteers commit to checking their designated snake board once a week and collecting and reporting data back to Restoring Lands. This program runs from late spring through summer.
Egg Mass Surveys
Help find amphibian egg masses in wetlands! Egg masses are just what they sound like – clusters of amphibian eggs that float near the surface of the water. The data collected by surveying egg masses shows proof of breeding populations and can help predict future populations of amphibians.
This is a mainly self-led opportunity that requires a ~1-hour commitment 1-2 times/week. You will be assigned to a site, provided with all the necessary equipment to perform surveys, and be trained on the procedure during the volunteer orientation.
Funnel Trapping
Our preserves are home to a number of aquatic and semi-aquatic species, including a variety of salamanders, frogs, toads, crayfish, and more. Funnel trapping allows us to directly count these individuals to get a better estimate of their populations. Funnel traps are placed in the designated location coinciding with a rain event. Volunteers then return to the trap each day at the same time for the next five days to collect data. After data collection, individuals are released, and the process is repeated.
Due to the nature of funnel trapping, volunteers for this program will be required to commit to checking the traps over a five-day period at roughly the same time each day. Although this is an opportunity that can be done independently, volunteers will be provided with all necessary materials and trained by a staff member prior to data collection.
Upcoming Events & Volunteer Opportunities
We Love our VolunteerS
We Love our VolunteerS
We Love our VolunteerS
We Love our VolunteerS
We Love our VolunteerS
We Love our VolunteerS
Restoring Lands Volunteers