portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks portage parks

Fill out our Volunteer Application Form and mail it in!
Fill out our Volunteer Application Online!
Learn about Frog and Toad Monitoring
Learn about Vernal Pool Monitoring

Put your skills and interests to use volunteering for the Portage Park District!
It’s interesting, rewarding and will really help to improve our park system. Opportunities are available for individuals and groups, and some jobs may meet scouting, community service or internship requirements. Please contact the Park District for more information.

Nature Stewardship and Monitoring
Managing our natural resources includes inventorying existing conditions and monitoring changes in animal and plant communities. Stewardship may include removal of alien invasive species and habitat creation and improvement.

Environmental Education Program Assistant
Education is the essential foundation of environmental protection. We provide a variety of programs for individuals and groups of all ages in parks, in schools and at special events. Programs include hikes, hands-on activities and our Bio Bus programs at local fairs.

Special Events
The Park District participates in as many community events and festivals as possible. We need help in staffing the booth, talking to people and handing out literature, and even wearing a mascot costume! This is a fun, easy way to get involved with the Park District and the local community.

Event Committee members
This year the Portage Park District is presenting the Heritage Tours, a series of tours and events which celebrate Portage Counties’ natural and cultural heritage. We are in need of volunteers to coordinate the details for some of these events, including the Duathalon Race and the Musical Heritage Fest.

Maintenance/Construction
Our parks and trails need regular upkeep including trail trimming, litter removal, facility repairs and improvements, occasional demolition, and miscellaneous construction such as benches, information boards and fences.

Office
Maybe you’d like to help write a newsletter, send out correspondence, organize files, do research or manage a database. Let us know if you have organizational and computer skills—we’ll put you to work!
     
    Frog and Toad Monitoring – Frog and toad populations over the world have been in serious decline, and critical data needs to be collected for scientists to make some sense of why these amphibians are disappearing. Portage Park District has been monitoring species occurrences of frogs and toads on park property for two years, and sending the data to Frogwatch USA, a national database sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation. Data are collected by Volunteers on a weekly basis through the frog and toad breeding season. A relatively simple monitoring scheme is used, based on learning the different species calls and listening for them at predetermined locations at dusk in our parks. We currently have sites that need volunteers for the 2008 breeding season.
   
     
    Vernal Pool Monitoring – Vernal pools are critical habitat for a number of amphibians and aquatic invertebrates but little is known about how many occur in Ohio. These seasonally wet pools may be found in woods, meadows, and floodplains and are considered unregulated wetlands in this state. Information needs to be collected and compiled to create a case for protecting theses wetlands here in Ohio. The Ohio Environmental Council is sponsoring this challenge with a Vernal Pool Monitoring Program that PPD has been involved in for two years, but we are in need of Volunteers who can dedicate themselves to the seasonal task. More challenging than the Frogwatch program, one will have to learn to identify many different species of insects and amphibians, and get their feet wet! Sites are in need of Volunteers for the 2008 season.

email - phone 330.297.7728 - 128 N. Prospect St. Ravenna, Ohio 44266