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!
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Chesterton High School Building Trades Program
Chesterton High School students from the Building Trades program have been getting hands-on experience with Natural Resource Management chief Dan Plath over the past month. 29 students under teacher Kevin Ortiz have been working four to five days a week in the park to help raise a new pole barn for the resource management division. Recently, they helped put metal up on the barn sides and they are currently helping to pour the concrete floor. Thank you to these fantastic students for their hard work and help in this large-scale project!
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Volunteer photographer Paul Kemiel captured this curious white-tailed buck in the Great Marsh last November.
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enter the Raffle for a Chellberg turkey!
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If you spent any time at Chellberg Farm this year, you may have noticed some new additions. Over the past four months, the volunteer Farm and Garden Crew has raised heritage turkeys in an enclosure in the cow pasture. This Thanksgiving, one of these tasty farm-raised turkeys could be YOURS!
Park Connection is raffling off one turkey to a lucky volunteer in time for Thanksgiving. To enter, all you have to do is send an email to the volunteer office at parkconnection@gmail.com saying you want in. One entry per volunteer, final weight of turkey is not guaranteed. Happy harvest season!
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National public lands day follow-up
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THANK YOU to all the amazing volunteers who joined us at West Beach for our annual National Public Lands Day clean-up with Mermaid Straw! In just three hours, volunteers picked up a total of 208.12 pounds of litter from the beach, a whopping 99.12 pounds of which will be recycled by Brightmark!!
One follow-up note for anyone who joined us: Every volunteer who attended the event is eligible for a fee-free pass to our federal lands. Unfortunately, the agency that issues passes was late in putting them in the mail so we were unable to provide them at the event. As soon as we receive the passes, we will distribute them ASAP. If you did not receive an email containing this information, please reach out to us at parkconnection@gmail.com to ensure you receive your pass. Thank you for your patience!!
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reminder: send in your 2021 hours
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In the federal government, our reporting period runs from October to September, which means that we are preparing to report our annual hour totals for the 2021 fiscal year. If you have any hours earned between October 2020 and September 2021 that you have not reported, please send them to parkconnection@gmail.com ASAP!! Our funding from the federal government for the volunteer program is based on the number of hours that we report, so we want to make sure we count all of the time you have donated. If you have questions or are unsure whether you have reported hours, feel free to reach out via email. Thanks for all your help!
ALSO: Volunteer supervisors for each volunteer program provided short summaries of their program's accomplishments for the year. See them here to celebrate all the amazing ways volunteers impacted the park this year!
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Drop-In Volunteering
Saturday, October 16th, 9am-12pm
Meet at Park Connection Office
Drop-in volunteering provides hassle-free opportunities at Indiana Dunes! With no previous sign-up or experience required, drop-ins are perfect for those with just a few hours of free time. Events are held on the third Saturday of the month at the Park Connection Office (618 N. Mineral Springs Rd.). Projects vary by date and season, but can include working with invasive species, and land and building restoration.
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Trash Trekkers
Every day 8:30am-4:30pm
Dorothy Buell Memorial Visitor Center
Trash Trekkers is an easy way to get involved at the park at your convenience! Simply check in at the Visitor Center on Route 49 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. Together, we can keep our beaches beautiful!
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Fall Foliage
'Tis the season - for fall colors!! October is the best month for viewing the foliage in Northwest Indiana. Use this handy foliage predictor tool to see when peak colors are expected in the region or anywhere in the country. Enjoy the colors on any of the national park's trails, like Cowles Bog (pictured above, photo by Paul Kemiel) and share your photos by tagging the park's social media @IndianaDunesNPS!
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Fall Interpretive Programs
Indiana Dunes' interpretive rangers are continuing their public programming as we enter a new season! See the park's event calendar for the full schedule of guided hikes, interactive events, and presentations. From fungus to birding to park poetry, there's something for everyone!
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what's new
with the Friends
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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."
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The FRIENDS are happy to continue to support the National Park's BARK Ranger program. We are pleased to announce that 1000 of these tags have just arrived and are ready for distribution to our canine rangers. Every Friday in October at 10am-12pm, the National Park will offer a "Hike with Your Hound" program at the Douglas Center. The hike is a great opportunity to learn more about this wonderful program and to get your canine registered as a VIP BARK Ranger. Any hours donated by your dog as an official BARK Ranger help other visitors learn the importance of being responsible canine visitors to our Indiana Dunes. Email photos of your BARK Ranger in the dunes to angel@dunefriends.org and then check our Facebook page to see your BARK Ranger highlighted in the future.
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Interested in helping? Contact Friends Chair Angel Goins at 219-707-3617. Hours donated on Friends projects that benefit the National Park count as VIP hours.
www.friendsofindianadunes.com
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Volunteer ball caps have been restocked! If you did not receive a hat during your orientation due to the shortage, please feel free to come in and grab one. Sarah is in the volunteer office (at Chellberg Farm) every Wednesday 9am-3pm -- drop by or send an email to get a shirt outside of that time. Thanks for your patience!
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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 2021 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!
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Please don't forget to turn in your times monthly to parkconnection@gmail.com.
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