Restoration

Human Hands are the Tools of Restoration

Add glove, shovels, and brush axes to human hands, and you have the strongest dune restoration tool around. Within months of initially removing invasive plants, volunteers witness native plants re-sprouting on their own. Our methods of removal have minimal impacts to the dunes, and thus native plants are able to repopulate the dunes on their own.

Join the Dune Ecosystem Restoration Team (DERT)

Help restore the dunes by volunteering with the dune ecosystem restoration team. Volunteers help remove non-native invasive plants in order to promote native plant and animal life in the dunes. No experience necessary. Training, tools, refreshments, camaraderie and beautiful scenery are provided. Returning volunteers are eligible for free t-shirts and hats. All ages welcome!

DERT meets most Saturdays each month. Visit our calendar for dates and times or subscribe to our DERT email list and be kept up to date on where and when to meet.

Drop-in Restoration at the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center

If you don’t like to follow schedules and have time during the week to volunteer, this is for you. After an initial orientation with our Restoration Manager, Emily Walter, you can spend as many hours as you like helping to remove invasive plants at the Humboldt Coastal Nature Center. Just check in at the center and we’ll set you up with gloves and tools. Contact Emily at 707.444.1397 or emily@friendsofthedunes.org to get started.

Dune Ecosystem Restoration Team (DERT) Leader

Occasionally we have large groups or multiple restoration events occurring at the same time and can use extra leadership help. We prefer DERT leaders to have gone through Bay to Dunes training, Coastal Naturalist Training, or have participated with DERT on a regular basis. Contact our Restoration Manager, Emily Walter, at 707.444.1397 or emily@friendsofthedunes.org to discuss this opportunity.

Alternative Spring BreakAway

Many college students across the nation are choosing to spend their spring breaks volunteering for good causes. Students perform short-term projects for community agencies and learn about issues such as literacy, poverty, racism, hunger, homelessness and the environment. Friends of the Dunes has hosted groups from as far away as Vermont since 2000.

We provide students a free place to sleep, use of a kitchen space and access to showers. Students work to restore the dunes at different sites each day while learning about the variety of dune habitats found in Humboldt County. There are planned tours throughout the week to visit the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) at Humboldt State University, the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary, and the redwoods.

If you are interested in scheduling a group contact Emily at emily@friendsofthedunes.org or call 707.444.1397.

To get more information about the Alternative Spring Breakaway program their website is www.alternativebreaks.org.