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You, too, can help our national parks feel even more special. gokite
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1187 Duck Road ∙ Duck, NC 27949 ∙ 252 -715 - 0170 milepost
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“Slackers wanted!” Deflating tires is one of many duties park volunteers can help perform. Photo: Daniel Pullen
Not all heroes wear capes. Some sport tan shirts. And hats. And carry walkie-talkies.
keep things running smoothly, they create a better experience for everyone.
“That’s a park service thing — everyone has to look like a ranger,” says Michael Gould, a semiweekly volunteer at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse.
This winter, the campgrounds at Oregon Inlet and Ocracoke were open year-round — Oregon Inlet for its second consecutive year and Ocracoke for its first. And, according to National Parks of Eastern NC Superintendent Dave Hallac, “That is entirely a result of the incredible volunteer support.”
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“I was just thinking I would be in regular clothes, picking up trash,” the retired air traffic controller continues. “I didn’t know I would be interacting with visitors, doing ranger type stuff.” As part of the Volunteers-in-Parks (VIP) program, Gould is one of hundreds of helpful humans who donate time and energy to the NPS’ Outer Banks Group (Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, and the Wright Brothers National Memorial). Other VIPs work museums and front desks, mow the grass, lead children’s Junior Rangers programs, or feed the Ocracoke Island ponies on the herd staffers’ days off. In days of static budgets, the extra hands don’t just
Traditionally, both campgrounds are closed between Thanksgiving and spring break. But now VIP hosts live and work on-site, checking in guests and cleaning out grills. Duties that winter’s smaller staffs could never cover alone. “They are helping us fill gaps,” says Hallac, “but they are really helping us do more and do differently and offer experiences that we did not offer in the past.” And not just inside the Seashore. According to Scott Babinowich, chief of interpretation, education and visitor services, volunteers
