Coldwater Spring Restoration Crew is dedicated to enhancing and maintaining Coldwater Spring/Mni Owe Sni. If you want to participate, please sign up for a shift! Email volunteer@parkconnection.org with any questions.
Thursday Morning
(9AM - 12PM)
The various stations for Big River Journey are shown below. For all volunteer shifts, meet at the Padelford Riverboats Landing at Harriet Island Regional Park (205 Dr. Justus Ohage Blvd, St Paul, MN 55107). This field trip runs on volunteer power, we couldn’t do it without all of your help!
Navigation and Mapping
Indoor Activity - Assist students in finding themselves on a local map of the Mississippi River, and then labeling their surroundings on that map. As we travel along the river, volunteers will assist students in identifying natural landmarks (e.g. forest, bluff, confluence), human landmarks (e.g. bridges, buildings, power lines), and navigation infrastructure (e.g. mooring posts, day-beacons, signage). Volunteers will also help with resetting the clipboards between rotations.
Ecosystem Ottersystem
50% Outdoors Activity - Set up/take down a binocular table and assist students in making and recording observations. Students attempt to view the Mississippi River from the perspective of a river otter. Students will record observations relating to habitat, food availability and other factors. Students will discuss how flooding and human interaction affect river otter populations.
Geology Station
Indoor Activity - Assist a park ranger with the presentation of the "Mystery of the Disappearing Waterfall" by passing out and collecting study materials. Assist students in making scientific observations and note taking. In this activity, students examine and describe samples of the three sedimentary rock types (limestone, shale and sandstone) present along the river’s bank. Students will then investigate the movement of Owamniyomni/St. Anthony Falls since the end of the last ice age, and how that migration led to the development of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.
Bird Station
Outdoor activity - Set up/take down a binocular table and assist the program leader in teaching students about birds, habitat and migration. Volunteers also assist students in using binoculars to view birds and other wildlife. This activity is on the deck of a moving riverboat. Working conditions may include cool temperatures, wind and precipitation. Dress warmer than you think!
Mighty Mississippi Mussels
Indoor Activity – Assist students in activities related to river mussels, water quality and life cycle. Assist students in making observations to ID mussel shells. Students will learn the importance of mussels to the ecosystem and how they serve as indicator species. We will discuss how they were once endangered, but now their population is rebounding. Millions now live in the river!
Flex Volunteer
The flex position will be assigned a station the morning of the trip. For those who like variety! Flex volunteers may even be assigned a different station on the morning and afternoon cruises! Volunteers signing up for this position should feel comfortable assisting all stations: Birding, Navigation, Mussels, River Otters, and Geology.
Join staff and other enthusiastic members of the public in welcoming back the herons to their rookery! Check out the available volunteer positions below.
Welcome Back the Herons Assistant
Saturday, March 29th; 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Great blue herons start returning to their rookery on the Mississippi River toward the end of March. Join a park ranger at Marshall Terrace Park in Minneapolis to watch the herons rebuild their nests and do a little flirting. If we are lucky, we might see the resident peregrine falcons fly over, or see migrating ducks like buffleheads and goldeneyes. But whatever the birds do, we could use your help with the logistics of this program. We need help greeting program attendees, providing basic information, tracking program attendance, directing attendees to viewpoints, helping with binoculars and scopes, and chatting with visitors about herons. Sign up to help this fun springtime program take flight!
Photo credit: NPS/Edwige Moses
Welcome Back the Herons Knowledgeable Birder
Saturday, March 29th; 9:30 AM - 1:30 PM
Not sure what to do with your passion for birds? Why not volunteer for our Welcome Back the Herons program and share your passion and knowledge with others? Our program attracts hundreds of attendees in a couple short hours, and they have all kinds of questions about the rookery and about birds in general. If you are bird-confident, we could use your help answering those questions from the public and helping them as they use a spotting scope or binoculars. If you have a spotting scope to share, that would be greatly appreciated too!
Photo credit: NPS/Kurt Moses
Junior Ranger: Fins & Feathers (F&F) is a summer event series that is an evolution of 2023’s Let’s Go Fishing! programs. F&F is a family-friendly program that targets BIPOC youth and their families, but it is open to the public. Park staff and park partners will lead recreation-based activities including fishing, biking, birding, and an urban, ranger-led walk at Boom Island Park on Saturdays.
Event dates and event runtimes times are July 13 (9 a.m. – 12 p.m.), August 10 (9 a.m. – 12 p.m.), and September 14 (2 – 5 p.m.).
All F&F events are at Boom Island Park, Minneapolis, MN. Please sign up if you attended the learning opportunities in May. Sign up for a shift below!
Knot Tying Assistant
Saturday, September 14; 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Volunteers will assist park partner staff from Baztec to teach program participants proper techniques in knot tying.
Casting Assistant
Saturday, September 14; 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Volunteers will assist park partner staff from Baztec to teach program participants proper techniques in casting.
Practice Fishing Assistant
Saturday, September 14; 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Volunteers will assist park partner staff from Baztec with group management and practicing fishing techniques with program participants. Special attention to participant safety and encouraging safe fishing practices are preferred.
Strider Relay Obstacle Course
No upcoming opportunities this season.
Bike Alliance of Minnesota (BikeMN) will lead a strider relay obstacle course for participants ages 5-10 years old. Volunteers will assist partner staff in facilitating the strider course activity. Duties include assisting participants with fitting helmets, selecting a strider and adjusting to participant size, explaining the “rules” of the obstacle course, monitoring for safety, group management on the course, and cheering on participants!
Ranger-led Walk Assistant
Saturday, September 14; 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Want to be part of a sandwich? A ranger sandwich, that is! We’re looking for volunteers passionate in getting youth excited about exploring the outdoors and their national park. You’ll assist a park ranger by being the last bread slice in a ranger sandwich for two (2), ranger-led, 1-hour walks. Group management skills for youth audiences are preferred to ensure the group sticks together in the public setting while participants wander and wonder on their short, urban walk.
Birding Assistant
Saturday, September 14; 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Are you ready to flap your wings to share your knowledge of birds? We’re looking for enthusiastic individuals who enjoy working with youth and families to join Lisa Keitel to share their passion for birds at a stationary birding station. Volunteers should have general knowledge about birding, the Mississippi Flyway, and use of equipment including binoculars and spotting scopes.
Tabling Assistant
Saturday, September 14; 1:00 PM - 5:30 PM
Friendly, welcoming, knowledgeable, national park enthusiast—do any of these words describe you? If yes, then we’d love you at our information tent for the program! You’ll provide general park and event information to the visitors, directing them to activities to do or places to see in the national park. A good pointing finger and experience giving out high-fives for earning a Junior Ranger badge are preferred!
Volunteer Beaver Activity Survey
Mississippi Park Connection along with our partner, the National Park Service, need help finding beavers and beaver activity along the Mississippi. Learning more about beavers and their behavior will help our understanding of floodplain forests in the national park, and inform our efforts to maintain and restore habitat. If you spot beaver activity along the Mississippi River or nearby parks, please click the button below to launch the survey. It only takes a few minutes to complete and is invaluable data for our resource management team! If you spot more than one type of beaver activity, please submit separate surveys for each observation. Thank you!
The various stations for Park After Dark are shown below. Each shift lasts approximately 3.5 hours. Thank you for your interest in supporting our public programming at the park!
Fire Tender and S’more Maker
We are searching for a dedicated s’mores connoisseur to light and tend beach fire (wood provided) and help participants make s’mores. A love of marshmallows and good roasting technique is preferred, but not required.
Sound Garden Station Assistant
Immerse visitors in the sounds of the mighty river with an artist who creates “sound gardens.” Position may include helping to set up and take down a speaker systems and other electronics. It may also require using tools and climbing on a step stool.
Insect Assistant
Want to recapture a slice of your youth? We need a volunteer to help support our resident entomologist and to explore insects during our nighttime program. Responsibilities include catching fireflies, putting insects in jars, looking at cool insects, helping set up lights and equipment, and chatting with visitors.
Trail Guide
Good at finding your way? Volunteers are needed to act as guides for the public as they navigate between different stations at Park After Dark. Volunteers will help guide people down to the river, as they embrace the park’s trails in the dark, they may also help with other needs that arise during the program.
Moon Journal Station Assistant
How do you feel about the moon? Assist visitors as they explore and create connections to the natural world with “moon journaling,” help to organize and hand out journals. Cover the station for short periods of time while the station organizer leads plant walks.
Welcome Table Assistant
Welcome people to the Park After Dark program, orient them to the program, and help them plan an awesome evening. Knowledge of the river and the other interpretive programs at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is beneficial.
Ranger Night Hike Assistant
Assist ranger-led hikes -- follow behind a ranger-led group, chat with hikers about what they see, and assure the safety of visitors on a dark trail.
In October, volunteers are needed to help park rangers engage 4th-grade students in four educational stations, along with set-up, take-down, and rotating students between each station. This opportunity requires quite a bit of walking and student engagement (park rangers will lead all stations). These activities build a foundation for outdoor camping skills, something many of us learned when we were young and still use today. You can be a part of this learning for young students, sign up below!
Orienteering Station
Volunteers will teach students how to use a compass, read the guided hike directions to the group, and facilitate navigation to predetermined locations in the park.
Shelter Building Station
Volunteers will help support and advise small groups of students while they build a shelter in the woods using found natural materials.
Geology Hike Station
Take a walk back in time as we discover the Hidden Falls that are the park's namesake. We'll explore what used to be a prehistoric sea floor, the fossils still there today, as well as the geology of the cliffs along the Mississippi River.
Fire-Building Station
Volunteers will guide small groups of students to build a fire with provided materials, focusing on student engagement, behavior, and safety.