Land and Water Partnership
Narragansett Bay Estuary Program RI Land Trust Council

Resource Library:

Small grassroots conservation organizations face many of the same issues, and run into many of the same questions. From volunteer management to board development, half the battle can simply be finding the right information. With this in mind, the Land and Water Partnership has started this resource library of materials and links useful to small conservation organizations in Rhode Island.

The library includes many documents in Microsoft Word format, so they are easily adaptable for your use, and in Adobe Acrobat format, in case you cannot open Word documents. There are also some documents in Microsoft Excel format and some links to websites with useful resource documents. To access the documents for a particular topic, click on the plus sign next to the heading, and then click on the Word, Excel, or PDF link to open the document in each format, or click on the "website" link to go to the website. Once you have opened a Word or Excel document, make sure to save it to your own computer if you want to edit it. Changes you make will be lost if you do not save a copy of the document to your own computer.

If you have suggestions or have documents you would like to contribute, please contact us!

  • Clean up projects
    • American Rivers tip-sheet on planning a river clean up (website)
    • This guidebook from the Federation of Ontario Naturalists is a great resource for planning clean-up projects. It covers the actual planning, leading volunteers at the event, and safety tips. (website)
  • Donor/Member Management Materials
    • Fund Raising Performance and Methods, a presentation by David Francis at a workshop on donor/member management software on October 7, 2008 (WLT) (PDF)
    • How Software can Improve your Organization, a presentation by Claudia Swain at a workshop on donor/member management software on October 7, 2008 (SKLT) (PDF)
    • See the donor/member management page on this website for more information on the Land and Water Partnership's program to help conservation organizations with management of their membership programs and donor relations.
  • Invasive Species
    • Invasives Preparedness for Land Conservation Organizations, a presentation by Hope Leeson and David W. Gregg at the 2007 Land and Water Conservation Summit (PDF)
  • Safety Information
    • The Kids Health website has helpful instruction sheets on dealing with common outdoor and seasonal safety concerns (website)
    • Ticks (WLT) (Word) (PDF)
  • Trail Design and Maintenance
    • Menu of Guiding Principles for Trail Design: a checklist to help guide your thinking (NPS) (Word)(PDF)
    • 10 Trail Mistakes to Avoid (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • Trail Log Template: a form to use to log trail conditions and record where work is needed (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • Trail Monitor Report: a more detailed form to use to plan trail work at a specific location (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • Trail Log Gear List: Tools for Monitoring and Planning Trails (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • 12 Trail Design Principles - Human & Physical, adapted by John Monroe from Natural Surface Trails by Design by Troy Scott Parker of NatureShape, LLC (NPS) (PDF)
    • Designing an ‘Experience’ into a Trail, from the October 2008 issue of Connections, the newsletter of the Massachusetts Greenways and Trails Program (NPS) (PDF)
    • Trail Specifications and Standards Menu: a list of trail specifications from which you can pick which to use for your trails (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • Safety Checklist for Trail Work Days (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • Ticklers for an Annual Trail Maintenance Calendar (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • Trail Construction and Maintenance References: a bibliography of additional resources (NPS) (Word) (PDF)
    • Model Trail Easement: a template for a legal trail easement. This template should only be used in consultation with knowledgeable legal council (AQLT) (Word) (PDF)
  • Volunteer Handbooks
    • Volunteer handbook outline (Word) (PDF)
    • Sample Handbooks
      • Barrington Land Conservation Trust's volunteer handbook (Word) (PDF)
      • Evergreen – Hands for Nature: A Volunteer Management Handbook: Great tips on working with volunteers with a focus on conservation volunteer projects (website)
      • Lexington MA Conservation Commission: This is an excellent example of a volunteer handbook/information manual with information on safety, proper trail trimming, invasive species, and more. (PDF on Lexington Conservation website )
      • John H. Chafee Blackstone Valley National Heritage Corridor Coalition Volunteer Page: This is a very successful local volunteer program of the National Park Service with another good example of a volunteer handbook. (website
  • Volunteer Management Materials
    • Volunteer program planning (Word) (PDF)
    • Step by step volunteer program planning (Word) (PDF)
    • Tips and concerns related to administrative volunteers (Word) (PDF)
    • Volunteer interest form/application (Word) (PDF)
    • Short five question volunteer survey (Word) (PDF)
    • Benefits of having a volunteer policy (Word) (PDF)
    • VCRI volunteer hours tracking info sheet (Word) (PDF)
  • Volunteer Position Descriptions
    • Creating a Volunteer Position Description (Word) (PDF)
    • Volunteer Coordinator Position Description (Word) (PDF)
    • Administrative Assistance Position Description (Word) (PDF)
    • Newsletter basic position description (Word) (PDF)
    • Newsletter basic position description and with BLCT adaptation (Word) (PDF)
    • Assistant Stewardship Chair Position Description (BLCT) (Word) (PDF)
    • General Stewardship Volunteer Position Description (Word) (PDF)
    • Property Monitor Position Description (Word) (PDF)
    • Invasive Plant Management Position Description (Word) (PDF)
    • Sample Board Job Descriptions (Word) (PDF)
  • Volunteer-Related Resources (General)
    • Seniors Helping Others: A South County organization that works in various ways to support volunteering, especially among seniors (website)
    • Energize Inc: An extensive, free resource library of volunteer management materials on everything from volunteer recruitment to membership development. (website)
    • Independent Sector: This research group sets the industry standard for the value of the volunteer hour – visit their website for current and past statistics on volunteering. (website)
    • Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center National Network: Another helpful resource library of volunteer management articles and resources, including a Volunteer Economic Impact Calculator that allows you to calculate volunteer economic benefit by specific job performed. (website)
    • Volunteering in America: State Trends and Rankings: The Corporation for National and Community Service has compiled national, regional, and state profiles on volunteer statistics and demographics. (website)
    • Dollar Value of Volunteer Time: Every year Independent Sector, which is a national forum for charities and foundations, calculates a standard rate for valuing volunteer time. This information is posted on their website and is considered the standard when figuring the value of in-kind contributions from volunteers for use on grants and similar things. (website)
  • Watershed Stewardship Program
    • Extensive collection of presentations and materials from local conservation experts in water quality monitoring, conducting a watershed assessment, fish passage, developing trails, and other topics. (website)

The following codes are used to indicate the origin of the each document (where it is not self-evident). We thank these groups and organizations for donating the materials!

 

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