Thank you for volunteering with the USDA Forest Service!
This section of the website hosts a variety of training materials, forms, and other resources relevant to your work as a volunteer, including content specific to campground hosts and trail work. All of these resources are meant to help enhance your experience as a Forest Service volunteer. Thank you for your service!
Information that will help expand your knowledge base
Access training and a manual which will enhance your experience as a host
Access general training materials, skills & safety
Explore frequently asked questions.
Helpful Terms & Phrases
As you navigate both this website and your role as a Forest Service volunteer, you may encounter some terms and phrases that are new to you. We’ve compiled some of these below in a glossary of sorts, listed alphabetically. This is of course not a complete list; you can always ask your Volunteer Coordinator or other Forest Service official to explain anything you encounter that may be unfamiliar.
Campground Host:
A volunteer that lives for extended periods of time on public campgrounds and is responsible for providing friendly service and recreational information to the public, collecting data, and maintaining facilities, among other possible duties.
Designated Official:
This is a phrase sometimes used to identify a Forest Service employee, such as a Volunteer Coordinator, with whom you might interact.
Direct Volunteer
An individual or group that freely donates time, talent, and resources to perform duties that support Forest Service projects and is engaged through a Volunteer Service Agreement.
Job Hazard Analysis (JHA):
A procedure that focuses on project tasks as a way to identify hazards before they occur by examining the relationships between the worker, the task, the tools, and the work environment. This may be replaced by a Risk Assessment.
Partner-Led Volunteer:
An individual or group that freely donates time, talent, and resources to perform duties that support Forest Service projects and is engaged through a larger group, organization, or corporation that works with the Forest Service through a cooperating or partnership agreement.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE):
Protective clothing or other equipment used to protect the wearer from injury. This may include, but isn’t limited to such items as steel-toed boots, protective eyewear, gloves, respirator masks, and helmets.
Program Partner:
This is an organization, school, community group, or other entity that partners with the agency through a formal arrangement.
Ranger District:
These are the smaller management units that comprise each National Forest.
Region:
The Forest Service is divided into nine regions; regional office staff coordinate activities between national forests and grasslands, monitor activities on those lands, provide guidance for forest plans, and allocate budget to the forests.
Risk Assessment (RA):
This is a process that aims to identify potential risks and their mitigation. This may be used in lieu of a Job Hazard Analysis.
States Department of Agriculture (USDA):
This is the federal department that oversees the Forest Service.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement:
USDA and its Agencies, offices, employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity.
Volunteer.gov:
A national, centralized portal where land management agencies, including the Forest Service, post volunteer opportunities searchable by city, state, agency, and interest. Potential volunteers can search and apply for opportunities through this website.
Volunteer Coordinator:
This is a Forest Service employee responsible for managing volunteers and volunteer activities in a specific region.
Volunteer Rights:
These include appropriate assignments, safe conditions, meaningful tasks, orientation and training, supervision and support, recognition of service, respect, development of individual potential, and the ability to terminate a volunteer agreement at any time.
Volunteer Service Agreement (VSA):
Also known as OF301a, this document outlines the project goals, agreement period, and responsibilities of a volunteer position, and must be signed by a designated Forest Service official prior to your volunteer service.