How to find that special volunteer position.

With 391 National Park Service Areas your choices are many. Some are the big parks people normally think of such as Yellowstone, the very first park established by law anywhere in the world in 1872. Others are smaller areas set aside to protect our history. The Antiquites Act of 1906 allowed the President to set aside government lands as National Monuments. Many of these National Monuments eventually become National Parks. Start your search on the internet at volunteer.gov As well as National Park volunteer opportunites you will find listings for all of the federal areas including The Forestry Service and Department of Fish and Wildlife. All 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii will post opportunites. You can view the listings by “newest opportunites” which are those most recently posted, you can go to the United States map, click on a state and view the listings in that state in the order of most recently posted or you can request a list for the type of volunteer work you are interested in, for example archeology, photography, interpretation, visitor service or campground host.Most State Parks also offer opportunites for volunteers. You are not limited to the state you live in but can apply to a park in any state. On the internet search for Texas State Parks, for example, to bring up the Texas Parks and Wildlife Site where all of the state parks in Texas are listed. You will need to look at each park individually. Many of the parks have a volunteer link that will give you more information. In many cases you will need to call each park that you are interested in to inquire about current opportunities.Coming Next: Are you a good fit for the park you have selected? How to decipher the details on the posting and what questions you should ask.