Each month we will be highlighting various opportunities, events, and notable volunteers. Check out our website, and call or email us for any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you at Indiana Dunes National Park!

Volunteer Spotlight 

Mark Amstutz

Mark Amstutz has been a dedicated volunteer at Indiana Dunes for many years. Although he lives a couple hours away, Mark still finds time to drive up and help out during monthly drop-in days. Mark is a hardworking and skilled volunteer who is always willing to step up and take on a task. Most recently, he put in some serious elbow grease tilling the entire Chellberg Farm garden! Mark is also an avid geocacher who loves exploring nature. Thank you, Mark! We appreciate you.

photo of the month


Signs of Life!

Mark Chantell recently snapped this shot of some budding pussy willow at Tolleston Dunes. Better days are on the way! This is an excellent time to hit the trails and soak in the changing landscape.

Do you enjoy taking pictures of the park? We're interested in seeing your work! Volunteering as a park photographer is your opportunity to showcase both your photography skills and the work of our volunteers in action. Please contact us at 
parkconnection@gmail.com. for more information.

SAVE THE DATE!

upcoming opportunities


Logs to Lustrons Volunteers Needed

June 25

Indiana Landmarks and the National Park Service are once again partnering to offer an in-person Logs to Lustrons tour on June 25! If you are interested in volunteering for this tour, follow this link and select the location and time slot you would be interested in serving. Information regarding a specific date and time for volunteer training will be available soon. For more information, please contact Blake Swihart, director of Indiana Landmark's Northwest Field Office, at 219-947-2657 or bswihart@indianalandmarks.org. We hope to see you out there!


Drop-In Volunteering 

May 21, 9 AM - 12 PM

The Park Connection Office
 


Drop-in volunteering provides hassle-free opportunities at Indiana Dunes. With no previous experience or sign-up required, drop-ins are perfect for those with just a few hours of free time or those visiting the dunes for the weekend.

Join us every third Saturday at the Park Connection office (
618 N Mineral Springs Rd) from 9am to 12pm for drop-in volunteering. Projects vary by date and season, but can include working with invasive species, land and building restoration, or preparing for special events.

You can also volunteer through Trash Trekkers, a drop-in litter clean up program. Simply check in at the Visitor Center to receive trash bags, then choose from one of our many beaches or hiking trails to collect trash. Visitors are awarded with a free, reusable water bottle for filling up their bags.


Animal Feeding Volunteers Needed

Are you an animal lover? Additional volunteers are needed to help take care of the chickens and cows at Chellberg Farm. Please reach out to the Volunteer Office if you're interested at parkconnection@gmail.com. 

EARTH DAY HIGHLIGHT

Despite the inclement weather, our annual Earth Day park-wide cleanup was still a huge success! Over 150 volunteers came out to collect litter on the park’s beaches, trails, and roadsides. Thank you to all the individuals and groups that attended. Special thanks go to Mermaid Straw for organizing and staffing the Porter Beach cleanup! 

Park Happenings

Chellberg Farm Maple Syrup is now available for a $15- $20 donation at the Friends of Indiana Dunes produce stand, located at the Friends of Indiana Dunes’ office at 1000 W. Oak Hill Road, Porter, IN.


Our Indiana Dunes maple syrup is sustainably harvested and bottled by volunteers at the historic Chellberg Farm. With its dark color and robust taste, it endures the traditional great flavor drizzled over Swedish pancakes.

Finances help support Chellberg Farm and the overall mission of the Friends:

 "to enhance and foster understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of the Indiana Dunes through financial and volunteer support of the National and State parks as well as the Dunes Learning Center"

Come on over and pick some up before it's gone!

Spring Interpretive Programs

Indiana Dunes' interpretive rangers bring in the spring with public programming in May. Join a ranger on Mother’s Day Wildflower Hikes at the Heron Rookery’s east parking lot for a hike to see what flowers are blooming. The Rookery is perhaps the best location in the region to see spring wildflowers. Be prepared for muddy conditions.
 See the park's
event calendar or Facebook events page for the full schedule of guided hikes, interactive events, and presentations.

Tick Time

The Park reminds you that the warmer weather we are enjoying also brings out ticks. Tick-borne disease can have serious, life-long or even life-threatening consequences. So, please protect yourself. 

New park fees and you 


The park now requires an entrance fee. What does that mean for volunteering? While you are actively volunteering, your park fee will be waived. Depending on the type of volunteer work, you will receive either a vehicle parking sticker or temporary paper waiver. 

All volunteers that participate in an episodic volunteer project or special event will receive the temporary paper waiver. All other volunteers will receive the vehicle parking sticker. 
Please note, these passes are only valid while you are volunteering.

Volunteers will be able to pick up their vehicle parking stickers every Wednesday from 9am - 3pm at the Volunteer Office. Stickers will also be available every third Saturday of the month from 12pm - 1pm. If neither of these options work, contact parkconnection@gmail.com.

Episodic volunteers will be issued temporary paper waivers on an as needed basis. Contact parkconnection@gmail.com if you have any further questions. 

what's new
with the Friends 

Friends of Indiana Dunes logo

The Friends of Indiana Dunes, Inc. sponsor invaluable educational and recreational opportunities. Since 1982, our mission is: “to enhance and foster understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the Indiana Dunes through financial and volunteer support of the National and State Parks as well as the Dunes Learning Center."

The Friends of Indiana Dunes would like to thank all who volunteered to help and/or purchased plants from our 26th Annual Native Plant Sale. The numbers are in – 3,365 native plants, trees, and shrubs will be added to our local habitat. We know the pollinators (bees, butterflies and hummingbirds) are as excited as we are.

Please feel free to stop by the Chellberg Farm Stand located in the parking lot adjacent to the Friends of Indiana Dunes’ Office, just north of the farm. All produce and other farm items are available for a donation to the Friends.

Hope to see you at the upcoming 8th Annual Birding Festival’s Migration Marketplace located in the parking lot at the National Park’s Visitor Center on May 12-15, 2022.


REMINDER:  All Friends of Indiana Dunes members – Any hours donated

on Friends projects that benefit the National Park count as VIP hours.


For more information on our philanthropic organization, visit:

dunefriends.org or facebook.com/friendsofindianadunes.

Virtual Enrichment 

Are you bored at home, missing the excitement of serving the park? Never fear, you can volunteer without ever leaving your computer! Below is a list of free trainings that may help you prepare to get going when we reopen -- or just stimulate your mind! Time spent on training DOES count for volunteer hours, so make sure to include it on your monthly hours report.
Trail Riding 101
Equine professionals created this course to prepare riders to make informed decisions when riding horses on trails. This 3-5 hour course will prepare you to take on Indiana Dunes' riding trails like a pro!
 

 Find course here.
Foundations of Interpretation
This introductory course provides the philosophical groundwork for why we do interpretation, what interpretation is, and how interpretation works form personal connections between the meanings of the resources and the interests of the audience.

Earn certificate issued by the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, Indiana University

 Find course
 here.
Leave No Trace Online Awareness Course
This brief course will provide you with a better understanding of recreation-related impacts, the Seven Principles and how Leave No Trace skills and ethics can help protect the outdoor places we love.

Earn Leave No Trace certificate


Find course here.
Trail Safe!
This program is a unique safety training program designed specifically for National Park Service (NPS) Trail Volunteers, but is useful to everyone! It's based upon NPS Operational Leadership Training, where the Human Factor of safety is explored. Trail Safe! captures the core learning objectives of the 16-hour Operational Leadership course while allowing volunteers to learn from their homes online.

Earn Trail Safe! certificate, SPE/GAR card, and pin


 Find course here.
Introduction to the National Park Service
Learn about the ideas that formed and later transformed the National Park Service (NPS), the people who generated those ideas, and the laws that continue to shape the NPS today.

Earn certificate issued by the Eppley Institute for Parks and Public Lands, Indiana University


Find course here.
Fire Extinguisher Training
National Park Service employees are required to complete annual fire extinguisher training. It's important to knowing how and when to operate an extinguisher, whether you are volunteering at the park or not!

Find course here.

Administration  

We are working hard to restructure and update our database, but we need your help. Please take a brief moment to review these tasks:

1. If your contact information, address, or emergency contact has changed since you were onboarded as a volunteer, please fill out and sign a new
Volunteer Service Agreement and email it to parkconnection@gmail.com.

2. We rely on your feedback to be the best supervisors we can be. If you have suggestions or comments about your volunteering experience, please respond to this
brief survey and send it to Volunteer Program Manager Jim Whitenack at james_whitenack@nps.gov.

3. The park's
resource guide has been updated for 2022 and contains tons of valuable information about the park. Feel free to review it for background on the park's purpose, history, ecology, and more!
Please don't forget to turn in your times monthly to parkconnection@gmail.com.
Time Sheet
Park Alerts & Trail Conditions
Facebook
Twitter
Flickr
Website
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