An assessment of state-level adult natural resource conservation education and volunteer training programs in the United States

Abstract

<p>Adult natural resource education programs exist nationwide, in an effort to provide volunteers with the basic skills they need to participate in natural resource outreach. Natural resource professionals expressed some concern about the potential use of trained volunteers in natural resource programming. To evaluate these concerns and provide a more thorough understanding of volunteer activities, a nationwide assessment of state level adult natural resource education programs was conducted. Program managers were asked their opinions regarding the issue of volunteers replacing paid professional staff and the roles of volunteers used in programming.;Results showed that there is very little concern, nationwide, regarding the replacement of paid professional staff with trained unpaid volunteer staff. The assessment found that the volunteers trained by these programs are participating mostly in outreach and educational programming. Awareness of the roles volunteers are playing in outreach provides potential for long-term evaluation of volunteer impacts in education.</p>