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. 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.

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." 

Volunteering

Volunteer Opportunities 

All volunteer opportunities raise public awareness of the essential role that habitat and fish and wildlife play in maintaining a sustainable, environmentally sound future with a focus on the Tampa Bay Refuges and the National Wildlife Refuge System. Most importantly, through volunteering with the Refuges, you will meet and work with people like you who care deeply about the environment and want to contribute to assuring that its natural areas, fish, and wildlife remain protected and healthy. 

Opportunities for volunteering either on the Refuges or in their support, include:  

  • Bird Stewarding at Egmont Key during the late spring and early summer to educate the public and provide protection to birds who use the island for nesting and resting. 

  • Facilitating educational outreach programs targeted for K-5 students. 

  • Removing exotic plants from several Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuge islands.  

  • Cleanups of everything from mono-filament (abandoned fish lines) to plastic containers, styrofoam, machinery, plastic bags, and many other products that can cause serious damage and even death to our fish and wildlife. 

  • Bird counts to monitor populations on several islands.  

  • Repairs to Egmont Key’s buildings and equipment. 

  • Public environmental information programs. 

  • Web-site management. 

  • Communications. 

  • Exhibiting at local environmental festivals. 

  • Fund-raising through community oriented activities.   

To learn more about volunteering with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Friends of Tampa Bay National Wildlife Refuges, please email us at Friends@TampaBayRefuges.org. 

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.  

Education Programs

YCC Program Information 

This special eight–week program for student’s age 15 - 18 is a work-learn-earn opportunity that will provide participants a better understanding of the management of our natural resources, as well as hands-on  experience in the day-to-day operations of a National Wildlife Refuge.  Selected participants will assist refuge staff with a variety of physical maintenance and resource management duties and projects involving working outdoors under hot weather conditions.