Join our community of volunteers who help make a difference in the Lower Haw River State Natural Area! We have a variety of opportunities and flexible time commitments. Contact lowerhawevents@gmail.com and let us know your interests. Current volunteer opportunities include: Invasive Plant Species Workdays Pollinator Garden Birdhouses and Wildlife Cameras Monitoring Trash Can Litter Reduction Team Clean-Up Events Whack-Attack! Invasive Species Removal Workdays Friends of Lower Haw conducts invasive plant
species workdays led by State Parks biologists. We plan to hold workdays throughout the year. Invasive species
workdays typically involve identifying and removing non-native plant species
using clippers, pruners, saws, or any other non-motorized hand tool. Only Park staff
will be able to use motorized equipment like chainsaws and brush saws for
larger plants. Learn about
invasive plant species and removal techniques. All tools will be provided. Bring
work gloves, insect repellent, and water. Wear long pants, long sleeve shirt, and sturdy closed-toe shoes. Contact lowerhawevents@gmail.com with "Invasives" in the subject line to sign up for our Whack-Attack Team. Note: Group volunteer workdays are suspended due to COVID-19 precautions. Pollinator Garden Friends of Lower Haw partnered with a Boy Scout in 2019 to create a pollinator garden as part of his Eagle Scout Service Project. Spring/Summer of 2020 is our first season for the pollinator garden, located near the US 15-501 parking lot at the Haw River. We are partnering with the North Carolina Wildlife Federation to give our pollinator garden some much needed attention. We need volunteers to help with weeding, removing invasive species, and continuing to plant more native plants to enhance our pollinator garden. This is a good opportunity to learn about native and invasive plant species, or to put your knowledge of native and invasive plant species to good use. If you are interested in helping tend our garden, contact lowerhawevents@gmail.com with "Pollinator Garden" in the subject line to sign up. Our workdays will begin again in spring of 2021. Note: this is a volunteer opportunity that can be done alone or in small groups practicing social distancing. Birdhouse Monitoring Friends of Lower Haw needs volunteers to monitor our birdhouses in the Lower Haw River State Natural Area. The birdhouses were funded by a generous donation from bePhilARThropy's Bynum Bridge Fest. Friends of Lower Haw and New Hope Audubon partnered on a bird nest box project by installing 15 nest boxes intended to accommodate a variety of bird species. These boxes are located in 4 general areas: Bynum Mill (5 bluebird boxes), Bynum Mill trail (2 prothonotary warbler boxes), SW Bynum (1 wood duck box, 1 bluebird box), and Bynum Dam area (1 brown-headed nuthatch box, 2 prothonotary warbler boxes, 1 wood duck box, 1 screech owl box). An additional bluebird box and two bee houses have been added in a pollinator garden near the Bynum Dam parking lot. Volunteers sign up to monitor one or more boxes between February and June every two weeks for nesting activity, then weekly if there is a nest, and report the results. Adoption is a commitment for the entire breeding season. Contact lowerhawevents@gmail.com with "Birdhouses" in the subject line if you want to volunteer. Note: this is a volunteer opportunity that can be done alone. Wildlife Camera Monitoring Friends of Lower Haw is needs volunteers to monitor our wildlife cameras in the Lower Haw River State Natural Area. The wildlife cameras were funded by a generous donation from bePhilARThropy's Bynum Bridge Fest. We installed 3 wildlife cameras to capture wildlife activity and need volunteer monitors for each wildlife camera. The wildlife cameras are monitored year-round, downloading the images every month. Contact lowerhawevents@gmail.com with "Wildlife Cameras" in the subject line if you want to volunteer. Note: this is a volunteer opportunity that can be done alone. Trash Can Litter Reduction Team We initiated an ongoing project to help with the trash problem along the riverbank. We installed trash cans at popular access points at the Haw River, and volunteers empty the bins on a regular basis, since State Parks does not have the staffing resources to do it. Locations include US 15-501 near the Bynum Dam, next to the old Bynum Bridge, the Bynum Mill lower parking lot, and US 64 on the SE side. We augment annual clean-up efforts by tackling the trash problem on an ongoing basis. Litter is not only an eyesore that detracts from the beauty of this state natural area, it also harms wildlife, their habitats, and water quality. This project has been successful in reducing the amount of litter from recreational use at popular access points! Join us in helping to keep the Lower Haw River State Natural Area beautiful. Volunteers sign up on a monthly basis for locations and months of their choice. Contact lowerhawevents@gmail.com with "Trash Can" in the subject line if you want to volunteer to help tackle the trash problem. Note: this is a volunteer opportunity that can be done alone. Clean-Up Events |