Volunteer opportunities

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Share your time and make a difference in your community.

Volunteers wade through a pond at Clear Creek Natural Area near Carver to survey amphibian egg masses in February 2015.

Amphibian egg mass monitors wade through a pond at Clear Creek Natural Area.
Metro's Native Plant Center offers three different volunteer programs that all support regional restoration efforts.

Metro's Native Plant Center offers three different volunteer programs that all support regional restoration efforts.
Metro can accommodate large groups of volunteers, including community and corporate groups, team-building activities, and hands-on service learning for schools or scouts.

Metro can accommodate large groups of volunteers, including community and corporate groups, team-building activities, and hands-on service learning for schools and scouts.
Volunteer grounds assistants help take care of Metro's historic cemeteries and regional parks.

Volunteer grounds assistant help take care of Metro's historic cemeteries and regional parks.

When you join the ranks of Metro volunteers, you meet intriguing people, explore some of the region’s most scenic destinations and gain many new skills. You become part of the community of people who make a difference — the very people who help make the Portland region a great place to live. Plus, it’s fun and easy.

Opportunities range from one-time volunteer events to seasonal and ongoing programs.

Find the perfect opportunity for you, your family or a group. Learn about the next steps, attend a Volunteering 101 session, ask questions and sign up. Or use the below calendar to find an opportunity based on your preferred dates.

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Parks and nature opportunities

Getting started

Find out how to get started as a Metro volunteer.
Amphibian survey

Pull on chest waders, grab a spoon, and search for frog and salamander egg masses as you help regional restoration efforts.
Native Plant Center

Support regional restoration projects by caring for rare native plant materials at Metro’s Native Plant Center in Tualatin. Three different opportunities are available.
Trail count volunteer

Want to help gather valuable information about how people use trails? The data gathered will guide planning and development of the region's trail system and help support requests for funding.
Volunteer naturalists

Connect community members with nature by leading school field trips and groups to explore Metro parks and natural areas.
Group volunteer opportunities

Metro can work with your organization to tailor projects for groups of any size, age, purpose or ability.
Eagle Scout and Gold Award projects

Earn your badge by working on a project at a Metro site.

Additional opportunities

Calendar

Current volunteers

Volunteer stories

Parks and Nature 2018: Nature education and volunteering

Nov. 6, 2018 3:05 p.m.

Nature education programs and volunteer events offer community members opportunities to connect with nature. These types of hands-on activities can provide people with deeper and more enriching experiences.
Metro employees answer call to volunteer at severe-weather shelters

By Cristina Rojas
Jan. 19, 2018 9:06 a.m.

Transition Projects opens additional shelters when temperatures plunge below freezing
Parks and Nature 2017: Education and volunteering

Nov. 1, 2017 6:05 a.m.

Some of the most popular ways visitors explore Metro parks and natural areas is through nature education classes, programs and volunteer opportunities.
4 questions with Liz Dally, Native Plant Center volunteer

By Guadalupe Triana
July 21, 2017 3:32 p.m.

As a way to cope with the stress of her job, Dally began volunteering at Metro’s Native Plant Center in Tualatin three years ago.
Return of Tour of Untimely Departures

Sept. 29, 2015 1:57 p.m.

For the 10th year, brave Portlanders will be able to celebrate Halloween walking among the gravestones in historic Lone Fir Cemetery. The Tour of Untimely Departures presents guided tours of illustrious cemetery “residents” played by local actors telling the life-and-death stories of Portland’s first settlers.
Parks and Nature 2015: Conservation education and volunteer programs

Sept. 11, 2015 7:05 p.m.

To develop future conservation leaders and nurture their passion for these special places, it’s crucial to provide meaningful experiences for people of all ages and abilities to connect with nature through conservation education programs and volunteer opportunities.
Oxbow Regional Park plays host to unique birthday party

By Yuxing Zheng
June 4, 2015 4:15 p.m.

Powell Jacob celebrated his sixth birthday last fall with a volunteer party at Oxbow Regional Park. He invited about 15 friends and classmates to help pick up litter around the park. In lieu of gifts, Powell asked for contributions to the Oregon Food Bank.
Site stewards explore their own slices of nature

By Yuxing Zheng
Nov. 26, 2014 7 a.m.

Volunteer site stewards such as Adrienne Stacey commit to visiting a natural area at least twice a month. A number of the sites are not officially open for public access, giving site stewards a rare chance to connect with nature in a setting that often feels like a private slice of paradise.
Operation oak: Mapping Oregon's iconic trees protects habitat, builds connections

By David Row
Oct. 8, 2014 10:57 a.m.

It’s sweaty hot – 90 degrees hot – as the July afternoon blazes sunny radiance at Mount Talbert Nature Park in Clackamas. Coolly, Savahna Jackson and Sequoia Breck gaze upward at the tall white oak trees looming over them.
3 questions with volunteer Myriam Zagarola

By Julie Cash
Sept. 26, 2014 8 a.m.

Inspired by nature as a child, Myriam Zagarola became a volunteer naturalist through Metro's Nature University so she could pass her knowledge of the environment on to children.