Florida State Parks Foundation is proud to acknowledge all the incredible work that our park volunteers do through the annual volunteer appreciation awards but, of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Thousands of volunteers put in more than a million hours serving the parks and it is widely acknowledged that the park service could not operate as it does without them. That is why we welcome all news about volunteer achievements and are happy to be able to pass this information along in our newsletters.

For instance, congratulations to Bob and Carol Love, from Lake Talquin State Park who are District 1’s April Volunteer of the Month. As Park Ranger Billy Harrison said, “It’s awesome to find volunteers that are talented in so many areas. With Bob and Carol’s dependability and high quality of work, they were able to take care of Lake Talquin on multiple days while I assisted staff in our other 7 parks accomplish operational goals.”

Also kudos to the board and members of the North Florida Springs Alliance who built an impressive new deck and stairs into the water at Madison Blue Springs State Park. The CSO raised the funds and volunteers completed the ambitious project by the end of April.

Many volunteers can turn their hands to almost anything which is just as well as so much maintenance work needs to be done to cope with every increasing park visitation. In one day, park staff and volunteers at Suwanee River Wilderness State Trail removed rotten wood and built new sections of deck and walkway at the Holton Creek River Camp. The repairs allow paddlers to walk up from the river the campsites, restrooms and camp shelters while hikers on the Florida National Scenic Trail can safely take a quick detour to the river as they pass through the river camp.

A huge thank you to all our volunteers. We really couldn’t do it without you.

Also, check out the new and improved Volunteer Portal at https://volunteers.floridastateparks.org