Volunteering with FBH

Photo by Jean Lewis, Canton

People like you are our greatest resource. A variety of opportunities are available to fit your interests, talents, and schedule. Let us know how you’d like to get involved! Call 781-828-1805 or email: info@FriendsoftheBlueHills.org.

Help Our Trails and Our Forests

  • Individual Trail Events: Join a work party of FBH volunteers. Tools will be supplied, just bring your hands, gloves, some water and a smile. To get notices of the next trail event, visit our trail maintenance page and sign up for the yahoo group at the bottom of the page.  We also list all the trail maintenance dates on the trail maintenance page.
  • Community Events to Protect our Forests: Each year we have a family-friendly event to engage all ages in removing invasive species that threaten the forests.
  • Youth and community group activities: Contact us if your youth group is looking for outdoor community service activities.  Each year, we lead groups of all ages in activities that help make the forest healthier.  We also have some trail maintenance activities for old youth.  We also have activities appropriate for Eagle Scout projects; for example, Eagle Scout Max Montalto worked to build water barrels and remove invasive species in Ponkapoag Pond.  Here’s a copy of Max’s Eagle Scout final report.
  • Adopt-A-Trail: Want to maintain the trails on your own time?  Contact us and choose a trail (or section of trail), or ask for a suggestion. We’ll provide training – and furnish you with a tip sheet and report form. Adoption commitments are for a minimum of two years. Just let us know by e-mail each time you work on the trail, if you need help, and the state of the trail before and afterwards.

Outreach and Events

  • Event Planning: Help plan community festivals in the park and other programs designed to encourage people to enjoy the Reservation and garner public support for the park. Volunteers are part of a well-run committee, dedicated to accomplishing the maximum effect with the fewest number of meetings.
  • Outreach in the Community:  Help reach the people who care most about the park by spending a few hours tabling at an event in your community.

Advocacy

  • Campaign-related Activities: Every potential threat to the park – whether it’s lack of funding for key park resources or potentially damaging proposals from developers – requires FBH to adopt a different approach. Learn about one of these issues and some of the methods used in a campaign. Activities could include organizing a letter-writing campaign, sending letters to the editor, or working with other groups to promote the issue.

General Volunteer Opportunities

  • Web site: Help with posting, updating, and modifying the FBH website and blog, our most public face.
  • Newsletter: Publish with us! Submit your photos and write articles! Use your experience with desktop publishing to help us reach our members!
  • Administration: Help get mailings out. We have over 1600 members and we want to reach them all!
Want to hike the Blue Hills, but don't know where to begin? Click here for recommendations to the best hiking near Boston. If you're interested in hiking Boston and Boston hiking, the Blue Hills Reservation offers great hikes near Boston. If you want to go hiking around Boston, be sure to check our suggested Boston hikes in the Blue Hills. The Blue Hills also offers a good place to find a South Shore MA mountain biking trail and you'll enjoy great Boston birding and birding near Boston. You'll also find a great swimming hole south of Boston at the Blue Hills Reservation and in general, great family fun South Shore.