The Nature Conservancy. Protecting nature. Preserving life.™

Saugatuck Forest Lands, Dorr's Mill Fish Passage Project © Sally Harold/The Nature Conservancy

Help us protect Connecticut's special places! Join us for volunteer opportunities in the Saugatuck Forest Lands. You can choose from a variety of seasonal or ongoing activities described below.

Ongoing Volunteer Opportunities in Saugatuck Forest Lands:

Adopt a Trail: Volunteers who can commit to visiting a preserve at least once a season are needed to carry out basic trail maintenance. Equipment and supplies can be provided. For more information please download the flyer.

Workday Volunteers: Scheduled workdays can cover a wide range of activities and interests, including trail maintenance, removal of invasive plants and clean-ups of local beaches. Please visit our events page for a list of any upcoming work days.

National River Cleanup: In celebration of Earth Day, National Rivers Day or any time of the year, volunteers are needed to organize other volunteers and pick up trash at sites on the Saugatuck River.

Saugatuck River Continuity Project: Poorly designed culverts and bridges can prevent fish and wildlife from reaching spawning grounds and other important habitats. Volunteers are needed to conduct surveys along the Saugatuck River, identifying problem culverts, dams and bridge crossings.  For more information, please download the flyer (.pdf, 40 KB).

Seasonal Volunteer Opportunities in Saugatuck Forest Lands:

Fish Monitoring (April–June): Volunteers are needed to monitor fish activity in the Saugatuck River. The resulting data is submitted to the Connecticut Department of Energy & Environmental Protection for assessing spawning runs of migratory fish. For more information, download the flyer.

Horseshoe Crab Tagging and Surveying (May-July): Horseshoe crab populations are in decline, and they need your help! Volunteers are needed to document and tag horseshoe crabs on local beaches. Training is easy and does not require previous experience. For more information, please download the flyer.

Lamprey Nest Surveying (June or July): A small number of volunteers is needed to locate and record lamprey nests in the Saugatuck River. This is a one-day event, and interested volunteers will be notified of the date on short notice.

Macroinvertebrate Monitoring (Fall): Volunteers are needed to sample freshwater benthic macroinvertebrates in the Saugatuck River watershed. These animals without backbones live in stream bottoms and are key indicators of water quality because they do not tolerate pollution. All training is provided. For more information, please download the flyer.