Your Time is Valuable

We understand that your time is very valuable. That is the one thing that cannot be replaced once it is gone so we all want to spend our time wisely. Those of us who have chosen to work to preserve and enhance Harbison Forest feel we are spending our time wisely and we would like to work with those of you who feel the same way. Listed below are some of the ways you can contribute to this effort. It is by no means an exhaustive list and, if you do not see something on the list that you could contribute, please let us know.

Trail Work

Trail building and repair is the elephant in the room. With constant use, the trail system can always use repair. As traffic increases, additional, carefully planned trails are needed. If you use the trails, you understand. There is a regularly scheduled trail work day on the first Saturday of each month. We meet in the parking lot at 9 am and, depending on how many people come out, split into teams to work on projects set up by the Forest Manager and the trail committee.
Periodically, there may be a need for special work days in addition to the one scheduled once a month. This might be needed if a new trail is being constructed, special events are to be held in the Forest, or a lot of rain or other natural event has occurred that would affect the trails.
We are planning to hold a mini trail school once a year so we will know how to better build and maintain trails.
All of these events will be put on the calendar so check it regularly.

Meetings

If you check the calendar for this month, you should see a Friends' Meeting scheduled for the second Thursday. The officers meet at 6-7 pm and would welcome anyone who is interested to come and help brainstorm or offer ideas.
We are working on putting together interesting and helpful programs for members' meetings to be held immediately following the Board meetings from 7-8 pm. As these are set up, they will be posted on the calendar also. Do you have ideas about some topics that would make interesting programs? Come and join in the discussion!

Volunteer for a Committee

Committees active at the present time are:

• Trails - this committee, in consultation with the Forest Manager, sets up trail workdays, prioritizes areas needing maintenance and chooses strategies to use in fixing problem areas, trims overhanging growth, designs new trails, etc.
• Membership - this committee keeps an up-to-date database of member information sending out membership renewal notices as needed, heads up the planning for our Friends Weekend each year, plans other events and projects that will increase membership and also increase general awareness of the benefits of the Forest.
• Communications - communications covers everything from the web page design and maintenance to producing the Friends brochures, the posters, banners, etc. for Friends Weekend. Also there are news releases publicizing events, communications with our elected representatives and the surrounding communities, producing and promoting a slide presentation telling the story of Harbison State Forest, etc., etc.
• Nominations - nominates a yearly slate of officers and finds replacements to fill vacancies on the Board as they occur.
• Legislative - suggests changes to the Bylaws when needed and addresses other concerns referred to it by the Board.

Other Active Projects

Some other active and potential projects are:

• Photo Galleries - we need photographers who will regularly take pictures of the forest in every season and also during events. Some of the photos will be put on the web site under Photo Galleries and some will be used to update the banners for each page from time to time. The banners now on our webpages were taken by volunteer photographers!
• National Mountain Bike Patrol - an IMBA related activity is being established which would encourage good trail etiquette, provide first aid to trail users and communicate problems to the Forest Manager. The hopes are to incorporate hikers and others into the patrol as well as cyclists.
• "What's blooming in the Forest?" - could be an interesting and ongoing feature off a web page. This needs a person who is interested in photography, in finding out about the plants in the Forest and willing to write a short paragraph to accompany the photo.
• Grant Writing - the Stewardship Trail was constructed with money received from a grant. This project will take someone who is acquainted with the grant writing process and who is willing to seek out grants that would be applicable to Harbison Forest. One of the main missions of the Forest is education of both teachers and students. Education and Conservation might be areas for which grants are available.
• Community Outreach - we hope to develop a short Power Point presentation about The Friends of Harbison Forest that can be offered to local clubs and associations as a way to increase awareness of the Forest and all it has to offer. If you have good Power Point skills or are willing to present the program once it is developed, that would be GREAT!
• Newsletter - a newsletter would be a good way to present what happens at Board and general meetings and to publicize upcoming events. The Forest Manager could have a column to communicate items of importance to everyone. This could be put out in pdf or doc format and linked from the website. This would be a BIG help in keeping down website maintenance and could almost replace the "whats new?" page if put out on a monthly basis.
• Web Site Maintenance - a web site needs to be kept up-to-date or it is useless and that requires time! The home page and 'whats new' probably change the most. The photo galleries need to be rotated as new pictures are available. The trails page still needs commentary on some of the trails-- it might be interesting to describe the trails from different points of view: a runner, a biker, a hiker, etc. The 'our projects' page needs to be completed and changed as we add a newsletter, T-shirts & caps and other projects. If you have had experience designing web pages, that is definitely a plus. But if you haven't and want to learn, choose an area you are interested in and we can get started. All you need is some time, a computer and a good imagination.

Let us hear from you! Use this form to volunteer or offer your suggestions.