Volunteer Opportunities
It takes many hands to keep our open space and trails in a natural and safe condition, and the work of our ranger corps goes a lot further when volunteers step up to help.
COSCA has abundant opportunities for our community to get involved in open space care through the formal volunteer programs described below.
COSCA works closely with the Conejo Open Space Foundation (COSF), a non-profit support organization, to organize and advertise volunteer opportunities.
Ready to lend a hand?
Adopt-a-Trail
Trail adopters commit to the maintenance of a trail or trail section, performing minor repairs, removing litter, trimming vegetation, and reporting hazardous or degrading conditions or illegal trail uses. They communicate directly with COSCA Rangers to coordinate trail management.
Trail Watch
Trail Watch volunteers are people that spend a lot of time out on the trails and act as additional eyes and ears for COSCA’s Rangers. Program volunteers file reports based on their open space visits and report safety hazards, trail conditions, visitor numbers, and illegal activities.
Trail Work Day
Trail Work Days are large volunteer events scheduled to address COSCA’s biggest projects. These events, which happen twice annually, may draw upwards of 150 volunteers on a single day to tackle challenging projects such as new trail construction, challenging trail repairs, and trail re-routes. These are fun events and a great opportunity to meet people that share your love of the outdoors.
Special Trail Work Days
These are scaled down versions of the larger Trail Work Days and are scheduled as needed. These often involve projects taken on by community organizations such as Scouts and service clubs.
If you have a club or organization interested in helping with a project, you may contact COSCA’s Supervising Park Ranger for more information.
Trails Education Days
The annual Trails Education Days program provides lessons on open space subjects for all Conejo Valley Unified School District fourth grade students. The program includes a 30-minute video presentation and a field trip to Wildwood Park where the students experience nature hikes, park ranger talks, a trail safety and courtesy workshop, and a presentation of live indigenous animals. The goal of this program is to instill the students with a sense of stewardship of the open space at an early age.
Each year approximately 100 volunteers as well as public agency staff members contribute to making the Trails Education Days program a success. Volunteers may lead nature hikes in Wildwood Park, participate in trail safety and courtesy workshops, or act as general event coordinators.
Trail Ambassadors
Trail Ambassadors is a volunteer program focused on outreach to open space users in support of trail etiquette, trail maintenance, and safety. Uniformed volunteer hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians are trained to extend the efforts of COSCA Rangers through positive social interactions with open space users to enhance the safety and enjoyment of visitors to the COSCA open space system.