The Catskill Chronicle

HAWLEY, PA & BETHEL, NY (April 18, 2013) – The Delaware Highlands Conservancy is looking for volunteers. The Conservancy works with landowners and communities to   protect the healthy lands, clean waters, and eagles and other wildlife of the Upper Delaware River region. They support locally sustainable economies like working farms and forests, ecotourism, and outdoor recreation, and they conduct educational and community events designed to connect people to the lands where they live, work, and play.

They have a wide range of volunteer activities and are always open to suggestions from volunteers for any specialized skills they have to contribute.

Love being outdoors? Become a monitoring volunteer and visit beautiful protected properties during the summer. In the winter, volunteer for Eagle Watch and collect data on eagles, while educating the public in “Eagle Etiquette” and how to have the best eagle-watching experience.

If you would prefer to work in their offices, they need help with tasks ranging from filing, data entry, and answering phones to helping with multiple large mailings throughout the year. Volunteers can make a regular schedule for weekly office hours or check in whenever they have time to offer. There are offices in Hawley, PA and Bethel, NY, and the Conservancy is frequently looking for gardening and maintenance support too.

The Conservancy hosts, and participates in, multiple educational, community, and fundraising events throughout the year. Volunteers can staff a booth at an event, sign in participants at a workshop, or help with setup of a program. Pick the event and arrive the day of the activity, or help with planning.

For a more involved volunteer experience, they have a number of standing committees including land protection, Eagle Institute, outreach and development, finance, stewardship, and others that welcome new members. These committees meet on a regular basis to plan, implement, and carry out specific tasks to support the successful operation of the Conservancy.

Do you have skills not mentioned here? The conservancy often needs advice on real estate, law, accounting, financial management, marketing, environmental stewardship, farming, forestry, water resources, fundraising, and more.

For more information on the Delaware Highlands Conservancy, visit www.DelawareHighlands.org, call 570-226-3164 or 845-583-1010, or e-mail info@delawarehighlands.org. To contact Volunteer Coordinator Patricia Diness, e-mail volunteer@delawarehighlands.org.