Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Looking for a Few Good Volunteers

Nature lovers looking to give back to the community while spending time outdoors have the opportunity to become a volunteer for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife during a training academy in Los Alamitos in April.

Natural resource volunteers assist full-time staff with a wide range of duties including responding to wildlife-incident calls; patrolling ecological reserves, fishing areas and other CDFW lands; instructing at academies; and generally acting as another set of eyes and ears.

“The natural resource volunteers do not have law-enforcement authority, but they are trained to be educational ambassadors for the department,” said program coordinator Kent Smirl. “The mission of the Natural Resource Volunteer Program is to provide conservation and enforcement education in public service while providing biological, enforcement and administrative staff support to CDFW.”

The training academy in Los Alamitos will be from April 10-23, and graduates will be asked to commit at least 24 hours a month to serve as volunteers.

Applicants should have basic computer and writing skills, and be comfortable speaking about conservation in classrooms and out in the field.  

Potential volunteers need to call Lt. Kent Smirl at (714) 448-4215 prior to submitting an application. The training will begin at the CDFW’s Los Alamitos Field Office and Laboratory at 4665 Lampson Ave., suite C.