Opportunities From: United Way of East Central Iowa

Assist with transplanting prairie flowers from areas in a Native Pollinator/Butterfly Garden at the Central Park Nature Center to other select sites within Central Park.  Wear your gardening clothes and bring along your gardening gloves.  Please contact he Jones County Naturalist at naturalist@jonescountyiowa.gov for directions/instructions.  We'll show you which areas need to be thinned and where to transplant removed plants.   This volunteer opportunity runs from the end of April through mid-June annually. 

"Adopt an Area" while you are out and about at any of our Jones County Conservation Board sites.  Help us keep our parks and wildlife areas clean and litter free.  As you hike and explore bring along a garbage bag to pick up litter you might encounter.  Please use caution when picking up litter - use a litter picker upper and/or wear protective gloves.  Click the link for Keep Iowa Beautiful Litter Clean-Up safety guidelines at AAH_safety_brochure.pdf (iowadot.gov)

Help clean up Central Park! 

Pick up while your on your daily hike!  Or Volunteers can arrange to check in at the Central Park Nature Center to receive orange safety vests, garbage bags, and garbage grabbers before heading out to clean up the trails and public spaces of Central Park.   (Contact the Jones County Naturalist at naturalist@jonescountyiowa.gov to set up a date and time.) 

During the summer the Nature Center is open to the general public from 1 - 5 PM on Saturdays and Sundays.  Come view the exhibits and grab a garbage bag to hike the trails and help pick up garbage along the way.

Monitor bird nesting boxes on Jones County Conservation Board Areas.  Following instructions on monitoring protocol volunteers will be able to monitor nesting boxes and record nesting data from April - July.  Nest monitoring in August will include cleaning out nest boxes, making box repairs, and preparing nesting boxes for the winter season.  Volunteers can adopt certain areas to monitor and are encouraged to check and maintain the houses at that site weekly from April through mid-July.  Please notify us if you or your family/group is interested in being a bird house monitor.  Conservation areas with Bluebird Trails include:  Central Park, Hale Wildlife Area, Hamilton Tapken Prairie Preserve, and the Scotch Grove Prairie.  Participating families/group will be issued a backpack with monitoring supplies for the nesting season they are monitoring.  

Help keep our trails clear of sticks and limbs while getting in your daily dose of exercise!  While hiking at Central Park feel free to safely pick up and move any small sticks or tree branches that you find on the trail.  Just toss them into the unmowed or unmaintained areas off to the sides of the trail.  You will find hiking trails and mowed firebreaks at many of the Jones County Conservation areas.  These areas offer wonderful hiking and exercise opportunities.