It has been many years since I was a Scout, but I still remember the commitment to the environment that was instilled by my troop leader, and the service projects we undertook to do our part toward saving the future. My question to you is, “Are you still doing the same old projects that you remember from when you were a Scout?”

If so, maybe it’s time you tried something different. No more cleaning up the side of a highway, or participating in a yearly beach clean-up. Spread your horizons and think more globally.

How about helping restore an over-used meadow in Yosemite; monitoring a geyser in Yellowstone, or taking a bird census in Tortuguero National Park in Costa Rica. These ideas aren’t as outlandish as they may first seem to you. Arranging such outings is as simple as contacting the Volunteers in the Parks coordinator at a park that interests you and your troop.

These projects will provide your troop with an opportunity to see these great natural sites in a different light, and give its members a chance to help save a small part of a natural wonder.

Just about every park system in the world, from your local county and city parks to those in such environmentally sensitive regions as Costa Rica, depends heavily on volunteers, and arranging a one- or two-week service project to them can be just as educational to your troop as taking the trip. Make a commitment to change how your Scouts view service projects, and get them

involved in finding out the wide range of projects that are available.

You don’t have to go half-way across the country or around the world to participate in such a project, though, for every community has some park or natural site that uses volunteers. In my own neck of the woods a local state park uses volunteers to help protect a colony of breeding harbor seals from over-friendly tourists, and Scout troops are free to volunteer on a regular basis during the breeding season. Other parks use volunteers to map trails and report any problems that need attending to.

And it’s not only parks that use hoards of volunteers to help save our environment. Other agencies that utilize volunteers extensively include the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the American Hiking Society, and the Sierra Club. Local trail groups such as the Tahoe Rim Trail Committee and the Appalachian Mountain Club also depend upon volunteers to complete their missions. Volunteer coordinators for all these are more than happy to work with active groups who want to organize a short-term work project. On these projects a troop can help save an endangered species, rebuild an over-used trail, restore damaged sites, or provide dozens of other services to agencies in need of helping hands.

And don’t forget such organizations as local chapters of The Nature Conservancy and The Audubon Society, as well as your local and state park systems. All of these and more can be found in my book Volunteer Vacations from Chicago Review Press.