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The primary purpose of the Volunteer Program is to give volunteers the training they'll need to help park visitors learn about the park's cultural and natural history and to promote protection of parklands through interpretive programs and public contact.

Volunteers do all sorts of things for the park.  They staff the Visitor Center, go on patrol, build and maintain trails, plan and provide interpretive programs and nature walks, work at fund raising events (like the fall TarantulaFest and the Mother's Day Breakfast), help with the Coe Backcountry Weekend, and develop their own special projects.

Interpretation and staffing	Staffing the Visitor Center, interpreting the park's resources, helping visitors plan hikes and backpack trips, assigning campsites, leading walks, conducting evening programs, designing new programs, and much more.
Special projects	Conducting park resource inventories in the backcountry, building benches and all sorts of other things, preparing and maintaining museum exhibits, writing or illustrating books and pamphlets, helping with the volunteer program and training for new volunteers, compiling park history, cooking for various visitor and volunteer events, building and maintaining trails, and so on (the possibilities are endless).
Foot, bike, and horse patrol	Assisting the ranger by patrolling backcountry trails (with a radio), answering visitor questions and interpreting park resources on the trail, providing assistance to visitors, observing and reporting backcountry conditions.
	Horse patrollers become members of the park's Mounted Assistance Unit.   They provide their own horses and transport their horses to the park.  There are no facilities to board horses at the park.  Patrol horses and riders must pass tests of endurance, trail composure, and trail etiquette.

Benefits of Being a Uniformed Volunteer

Although uniformed volunteers get free admission to Coe Park and other state parks within the Gavilan District, to many volunteers, the most important benefit of membership in the program is the satisfaction they get from providing valuable services to the public and to the park, services that simply could not be accomplished without the help of the volunteers.  Most volunteers also feel that the training classes, the special campouts, and continuing seminars offered each year for uniformed volunteers add significantly to their appreciation of the park and the outdoors.

Volunteers also value the close friendships they form with fellow volunteers and look forward to the opportunities they have to get together at potlucks and other social events each year.

Joining the Program

Each year there are a number of openings in the uniformed volunteer program. If you're interested in joining, please complete and submit a volunteer application form by August 1.  During early August, a volunteer will contact you to schedule an interview on August 13th, 15th or 16th with the park ranger and two or three members of the Volunteer Committee.

Volunteers are not required but are strongly encouraged to join the Pine Ridge Association, a non-profit cooperating association that provides educational and interpretative assistance to Henry W. Coe State Park.

To remain in the program, volunteers must donate a minimum of 50 hours of service each year, and at least 20 of those hours must be spent staffing the Visitor Center.