Interested in volunteering with Friends of Tryon Creek? Check out these on-going opportunities.

Friends of Tryon Creek offers numerous long-term and on-going volunteer opportunities. Find the one that works best for you! Email Sarah at sarah@tryonfriends.org or visit www.tryonfriends.org for more information.

 
Nature Guiding

The guide’s mission is to educate and inspire park visitors in areas relating to the ecology of Tryon Creek State Park and to be an integral part of the community of volunteers working with the Friends of Tryon Creek to accomplish their mission. These guides lead elementary school groups on hikes in Tryon weekday mornings throughout the school year. We are always accepting new guides so please contact us if you would like more information.

Adopt-a-Plot Tree-Focused Program

Do you enjoy working outside and protecting trees? Do you like making your own schedule? If so our Adopt-a-Plot Tree-focused program might be just the right volunteer opportunity for you!

Although volunteers at the Park have initially removed ivy on some 200 acres, an ongoing, parallel task is saving the trees on the remainder of the Park (another almost 500 acres) from being killed by ivy before we clear the ground of it.  In most of the Park the ivy growing up trees has been cut once and, on over half of that 500 acres, twice.  But it grows back up at a rate of about ten feet per year.

Much of the previous cutting was accomplished by a few dedicated volunteers.  Some of those people have moved on while others spend much of their volunteer time maintaining a significant part of the 200 acres once cleared of ivy on the ground.  As a consequence we aren’t keeping up with the ivy re-growth on trees. 

We’re looking for some volunteers who want to adopt areas of ten acres or so to save the trees. As with areas adopted for removal of ivy on the ground, the work can be done on a schedule that suits the adopter.  Not all the trees in a given adopted area would need attention right away. Each adopted plot could easily be considered a two or three-year project, covering a few acres a year.  If you don’t have a pruning saw of your own, we can loan you one.

We are happy to orient you, train you and offer you support as needed.

Adopt-a-plot program

 Interested in park stewardship & invasive species removal? Want to make your own schedule? Check out our Adopt-a-plot program! We will assign you a plot of land in the park for one year’s time during which you and your friends can come in and maintain the natural landscape. Ivy takes over an area, killing off all ground cover, brush and eventually the trees. Sign up today to care for your very own section of the park!

Nature Center Hosts

Tryon Creek is a 640-acre State Park located in SW Portland. We have 14 miles of hiking trails and a plethera of educational programming for the greater Portland community. Many visitors come through the park every day!

The Friends of Tryon Creek are currently looking for Nature Center Hosts. If you enjoy meeting new people and sharing information then this opportunity might be great for you!

Some of the responsibilities are as follows: Provide info about the Friends’ programs and activities to the public, answer general questions about the park, answer phones, act as the nature center store clerk, and offer support to the Friends Staff as needed.

For this position a minimum of 8 hours monthly time commitment is preferred

Stewardship Saturdays

2^nd and 4^th Saturdays of the month

9am to noon

2^nd Saturdays are always ivy pulls and 4^th Saturdays may be trail maintenance in the winter

Pull together to remove invasive English ivy and to protect our forest.  Ivy out competes our native plants, covers tree canopy stopping photosynthesis, takes over the forest floor and ruins precious habitat.

• ·        Registration is not required but please call ahead with groups of 5 or more
• ·        All minors must be checked in at the Nature Center with their minor’s insurance form signed by a parent/guardian (can be found on our website)
• ·        Anyone under 14 MUST be accompanied by a parent/guardian
• ·        Gloves and a light snack provided
• ·        Please bring your own water bottle
• ·        Please dress for the weather, to get dirty, and to be off trail (sturdy shoes and long pants are strongly suggested)

We usually need to hike at least 15-20 minutes to get to the spot where we will be working

Friends of Tryon Creek is also sponsoring the following upcoming events. Please contact Sarah (sarah@tryonfriends.org) to sign up or learn more: