Do you enjoy the outdoors? Do you want to help make the State Forests more enjoyable for yourself and others? Then consider volunteering with the Virginia Department of Forestry on one of our 20 State Forests. Most of our forests have trail systems that offer a users a variety of enjoyable activities from hiking, mountain biking, horseback riding, bird watching, physical fitness, and peace of mind. Many of our trails, however, are in need of a little bit of tender love and care.
The Virginia Department of Forestry now has the ability to reward you for volunteering on our forests. With just 10 hours of volunteer time you can earn a free forest use permit which allows you to hunt, trap, fish, bike, and ride horses on our state forests. This is normally a $16 annual fee. The permit will be good for one year from the date of issue. All you have to do is fill out a volunteer form and timesheet and have a local forestry official sign off on your volunteer hours; your pass will then be mailed to you.
So how can you volunteer? Talk to a state forest employee or county forestry official to see if any specific tasks need to be done. To be honest, we aren't very picky. You can pick up trash along our roads, help remove invasive plants, cut brush from trails, or a number of other activities. Virginia's State Parks consistently ranks highly among America's State Parks because of the hard work of their many volunteers; we hope to be able to maintain the same enjoyable atmosphere in our forests. So put on some bug spray, smear on some suntan lotion, grab your gloves, and come on out to a State Forest near you!
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