Ways to Get Involved
Whether you want to further conservation, learn more about nature or share your love of the outdoors, you’ve come to the right place. National wildlife refuges provide many opportunities for you to help your community and fish and wildlife by doing what you love. National wildlife refuges partner with volunteers, youth groups, landowners, neighbors and residents of urban and coastal communities to make a lasting difference. Find out how you can help make American lands healthier and communities stronger while doing something personally satisfying.
Volunteers: Gain new experiences and meet new people while helping to advance wildlife conservation.
Friends: Join neighbors in helping refuges restore habitat and expand access to green space.
Landowners: Learn how you can partner with the Fish and Wildlife Service to voluntarily restore land.
Local Groups:Find out how communities can work with refuges better for wildlife and people.
Youth: Explore paid and unpaid opportunities to learn and develop leadership skills.
From its start in 1903, the National Wildlife Refuge System has owed its very existence to concerned citizens eager to protect America's natural resources. Become a Refuge Friend or Volunteer and contribute your time, talent and enthusiasm to our resources. More than 200 nonprofit Refuge Friends organizations support national wildlife refuges, whether they work with a single refuge, a refuge complex or an entire state. Friends members are crucial to conserving and protecting our nation’s wildlife and teaching millions of Americans that their actions today determine the conservation legacy of tomorrow. More than 42,000 people volunteer their time and ideas each year to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Whether they work on the land, in a visitor center or with youth, they contribute to the conservation mission that reaches back more than a century.
Get involved at Cape Romain NWR! We welcome individuals and organized groups to help us further our conservation goals.
Volunteering
Discover for yourself what tens of thousands of volunteers have learned: Volunteering for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is fun and rewarding in many ways. Meet new friends and master new skills. Enjoy a sense of accomplishment from doing your part to further wildlife conservation for the generations to come. Check out our station's latest volunteer opportunities on volunteer.gov
Throughout the year, Cape Romain NWR volunteers work with staff to meet refuge management goals and fulfill the mission of the Service to protect, conserve, and restore our wildlife, plants, and their habitats. Committed to conservation, the support we receive from volunteers is invaluable. We welcome individuals and organized groups.
What are volunteers doing that enable us to manage and maintain our resources, provide information services for visitors, and promote conservation education for our youth? Lots! Volunteers assist with a variety of tasks ranging from office support to construction projects. We consider the volunteer's interests and skills with the work to be accomplished at the refuge. Our programs include resource managment, visitor services and maintenance. Many volunteers at Cape Romain desire to work and gain hands-on experience in all three areas.
Resource management - Working with the seasonal sea turtle nest protection program, combating invasive plant species on Bulls Island, planting native shrubs and perennials and maintaining pollinator gardens, and assisting with Red wolf care at the Sewee Visitor Center.
Maintenance –Assisting with mowing and weeding and, clearing service roads and trails. Work may involve maintaining and repairing dikes on roads and impoundments at Bulls Island. Volunteers help with the general maintenance of all public use areas and facilities. Construction projects may include building and repairing boardwalks, small bridges and many other tasks. Other tasks may be with the repair and maintenance of boat and atv trailers. Skill and experience with tools, mowers and other small equipment is helpful with maintenance projects.
Visitor Services - May include providing refuge and forest information to visitors and assisting the Friends group with the nature store operation at the Sewee Visitor Center. Volunteers may lead interpretive tours for the general public at the Center and teach environmental education programs for youth throughout the school year and during the summer months. Education programs are taught both on-site at the Sewee Center and in off-site locations. Volunteers help staff at Sewee Center events such as the Youth Fishing Rodeo and Bulls Bay Nature Festival and at off-site events as well.
Resident Volunteer Program - If you own a self-contained recreational vehicle (RV), join our team. Resident volunteers work in the same areas of resource management, maintenance and visitor services. Three RV sites are within walking distance of the refuge maintenance shop and Garris Landing pier and boat ramp. Each site has water, electric and sewer hook-ups, and an outbuilding with washer/dryer is available. We ask an individual for a work commitment of 28 hours each week for a minimum of three months. Please check our current opportunities posted on Volunteer.gov.
Volunteer Opportunities
Our Partners
Nature does not recognize human-made boundaries. In order to conserve our natural and cultural resources effectively, we must work with others to bridge these boundaries. Partnerships foster creative solutions to challenging situations and often the results are greater than the sum of the parts. Learn more about our local partners.
Cape Romain NWR’s Partnerships provide significant support and strengthen the mission and goals of the refuge. We work closely with our Partners to enhance habitat areas, protect wildlife species and promote species conservation, conduct wildlife research and population surveys, and provide outdoor educational opportunities for underserved and at-risk youth in the community.
Education Programs
Environmental education and interpretive programming occurs throughout the year on Bulls Island and at the Sewee Visitor Center. Friends of Coastal South Carolina educators and Coastal Expeditions naturalists offer scheduled education programs for youth and school groups. Refuge and forest staff and volunteers provide weekend interpretive programs and walks for youth, scout groups and the general public at the Sewee Visitor Center. Interactive exhibits and the Nebo interpretive trail enhance self-guided interpretive opportunities for all ages. Please contact the Sewee Visitor Center for information on program offerings. Educators have a collection of excellent science education programming including both on-site and remote learning resources. Coastal Expeditions offers exceptional experiential learning with their Island Quest environmental education program on Bulls Island.