Volunteers
Message from NRCS Acting Chief Jason Weller
Our Earth Team volunteers are an integral part of our agency. They graciously donate their time and energy to helping us advance our mission.
For example, this past year, 70 Earth Team volunteers installed livestock fencing and planted 1,200 trees around Muddy Creek near Dayton, Virginia, helping to protect the banks from erosion and keeping nitrogen and phosphorous out of the Chesapeake Bay.
In Arkansas, volunteers helped us process more than 200 applications for our Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative, helping us get more conservation on the ground in the Mississippi River Basin.
After devastating wildfires, Longmont, Colorado, volunteers assisted with education and outreach during rehabilitation efforts.
In the past fiscal year alone, more than 19,000 Earth Team volunteers donated more than 305,000 hours of their time to NRCS. That’s work valued at more than $6.6 million.
To our Earth Team volunteers, and the NRCS staff across the country that make our Earth Team volunteer program a success, thank you for your efforts.
Jason Weller
Acting Chief, NRCS
The Earth Needs You - Join Our Team!
The Earth Team is the volunteer workforce of the Natural Resources Conservation Service NRCS and we are making a difference in every county in the nation.
NRCS partners with conservation groups and others to ensure private lands are conserved, restored, and more resilient to environmental challenges like climate change. Working side-by-side with farmers and ranchers, the NRCS identifies natural resource concerns, such as soil erosion and water quality issues, and develops unique conservation plans for restoring and protecting resources.
Earth Team volunteers are an integral part of the conservation partnership and each member takes pride in the fact that they maintain and improve our natural resources and environment on private lands.
The job of conserving our natural resources cannot be done by the government alone. We need your help in reducing soil erosion, conserving our water and improving its quality, and developing pride in our country's natural resource heritage.
Who can volunteer?
Anyone 14 years of age or older and interested in conserving our precious natural resources can be an Earth Team volunteer. You can volunteer part-time or full-time and work outdoors or in a local NRCS office. You can volunteer as an individual or form or join a group. We have opportunities in every state.
Working together we can make a difference!
Contact the National Earth Team Staff for more information
Michele Brown
National Volunteer Coordinator
Bonnie Allely
National Volunteer Liaison
Volunteer Showcase
Local Farmer Gives Back
Earth Team volunteer Elizabeth Hunter says farming is in her
blood. Growing up, her maternal grandfather was a farmer,
and her paternal grandfather was a veterinarian, so she
always had a strong love of animals and the land. More (PDF 393 KB)
Intern Volunteer Testimony
To fulfill an internship requirement for her degree, Earth Team Volunteer Jill Ewers completed clerical work for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) at the Area Office in Richland Center, Wisconsin. More (PDF 268 KB)
Meet the 2013 National Earth Team Award Winners:
Volunteers Employees Offices and Partners
