At Redbird State Riding Area in Greene and Sullivan counties, volunteers who are members of off-highway vehicle clubs removed more than 20 tons of trash from a site that had been used for 40 years informally for all-terrain and other vehicles.
When the DNR acquired the property, these volunteers also stepped forward to help us manage the place and turn it into an awesome official state riding area.
They volunteer their own equipment, give their time and care for the place day to day. This sort of cooperation goes way beyond "helping out" --- we have a partnership bond.
This sure has helped the DNR during tight economic times. To make ends meet, we've raised user fees, curtailed some services and cut back 25 percent on our summer staff.
Volunteer help means we haven't closed any entire facilities, though we did shutter portions of some properties for awhile. In other states they've closed parks. In Indiana, volunteers helped keep us on track.
Another excellent example of hard work from volunteers is found at the new state museum.
For more than 25 years, a heroic corps of volunteers kept the Indiana State Museum going. Volunteers helped the institution move from the basement of the Statehouse to the "old" facility in the former Indianapolis City Hall, and then on to a fantastic new structure at White River State Park in 2002.
The effort to move and build a new State Museum catapulted from the volunteers to a foundation that has come into its own by raising incredible amounts of money for permanent and rotating exhibits for the new museum.
But volunteers didn't just pass a torch, they enlisted more helpers. In the new facility, the foundation attracted 1,280 volunteers who contributed 35,000 service hours to a variety of areas. Volunteers assist with customer service, grounds keeping, collections management, events and programs and office help. Their total service hours for 2002 are valued at $590,000.
That is an astonishing accomplishment, but not surprising given the way people pitch in to help the DNR.
At Patoka Lake last year, we had a tremendous outpouring of volunteer labor, with folks staffing our boat ramps. That kept a facility open and earned money for operations.
On the news pages of this edition of Outdoor Indiana, you can learn about the historic CCC shelterhouse at Salamonie State Forest that needs to be rebuilt. Mennonites from the Mennonite Disaster Relief Organization who embrace a peace ethic will help us make new what arsonists destroyed in December; conscientious objectors in World War II were detained at Salamonie State Forest.
Are there other ways volunteers can get involved? You bet. Call me at my DNR office (317-232-4020) and we'll put you in touch with properties that need help, or send an e-mail to goodideas@dnr.state.in.us.
To those volunteers who help the DNR in big and small ways --- Thanks! To those who want to help, we can use your gifts now more than ever.
