Budget cutbacks everywhere are causing local programs to pursue different and creative ways of maintaining services. This is especially true of the county park services, whose amenities and locations offer sanctuary to visitors and islanders alike.
The San Juan County Parks organization has taken steps to create a volunteer program due to cuts in park budgets that have affected, especially, county parks’ employee hours.
Dona Wuthnow, Director of the San Juan County Park system, oversees all of the county parks on the islands.
“We experienced budget cuts, and at first we considered closing the parks. But no one wanted that. Many islanders recommended a volunteer system, and so we began to pursue this idea. We conducted a survey online asking essential questions like name, at what park(s) are you available to volunteer, do you have any special skills? We’ve had a very good response,” said Wuthnow.
“So far, 102 people representing all four islands have responded positively to our survey. We then created a database of information, broken down into parks, islands, and people at those locations. Now we are setting up team leaders who can lead a group of volunteers for each park. I am going to provide the orientation for the different groups.”
On Lopez Island, Ann Palmer and Carl Jones, park commission members for Lopez, were ready to do their part to spread the need for volunteers among islanders.
“The county parks, which include camping parks, also include day parks such as Otis Perkins, Mud Bay dock, and Blackie-Brady, here on Lopez. A volunteer, for example, would pick up trash, walk the trails, make notes if a tree or large branch is over the trail, or record any other issues that need to be reported. The volunteers will have a small amount of training that they will be asked to go through in the interest of keeping people safe,” said Palmer.
Wuthnow is currently trying to work out the scheduling for the individual parks. Volunteers will need to sign an agreement stating that they understand the job.
Orcas Island, on the other hand, only has two day parks and doesn’t need a volunteer program as of yet.
Gil Blinn, park commissioner on Orcas Island, said, “We have no volunteer program yet. San Juan Island and Lopez Island have more day parks and more need for a volunteer program than we do.”
The two days parks on Orcas are Eastsound Village Green and the Waterfront Park, which is right across from Indian Island, in Eastsound. Shaw Island also has one of the day/camping parks that has beach access and camping and may need volunteer maintenance.
For people who are interested in volunteering, email parks@sanjuanco.com and put “volunteer” in the subject area, and a park representative will send a link to the park survey and instructions on how to proceed. Individuals can also contact the parks office in Friday Harbor, across from the courthouse at 378-8420.