Volunteering Articles

Support Us – Articles that contain information about volunteering with the Friends’ organization.

“Once in a lifetime” letters from Outer Island

“Once in a lifetime” letters from Outer Island

Volunteering for the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore can create once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Cynthia Howk spent the summer of 1986 on Outer Island as part of the Volunteers in Parks (VIP) program of the National Park Service. She documented her experiences on Outer Island in a series of letters to friends, recently rediscovered by her brother Neil, who worked as a ranger in the park at the time, and who currently serves on the Friends of the Apostle Islands board of directors. Cynthia's letters provide some fascinating insights into the life of a volunteer four decades ago.6/13/86...

Friends volunteers work to control invasive species on Long Island

Friends volunteers work to control invasive species on Long Island

Purple loosestrife flower headHundreds of vibrant magenta or purple flowers standing three to seven feet tall over Apostle Islands wetlands may look pretty, but dig a little deeper into the story of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and you'll understand why this invasive plant poses an ongoing threat. A single plant can produce a million seeds or more. And left to multiply, these highly aggressive plants from Asia and Europe can choke out native vegetation, leaving wildlife without proper food, nesting grounds, or shelter. The plants flower from July into the fall. Removing the flower...

Friends volunteers tend historic gardens on Raspberry, Michigan islands

Friends volunteers tend historic gardens on Raspberry, Michigan islands

More than a century ago, Apostle Islands lighthouse keepers and their families planted gardens as sources of food, beauty and pride. The traditions continue today, with help from Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.This month, two volunteer crews joined the National Park Service to plant and maintain gardens on Raspberry and Michigan Islands. The process involves loading locally-purchased plants, tools and supplies onto a Park Service boat, unloading and hauling everything up the stairs and getting to work. The gardens are designed to be historically accurate. The vegetable...

Friends volunteers tend Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden, first of many gardening opportunities

Friends volunteers tend Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden, first of many gardening opportunities

Prairie Alumroot - Jon Okerstrom photoThe first green shoots emerge from the warming earth as spring arrives in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Outside of park headquarters in Bayfield and on the grounds of iconic island lighthouses, the gardens will grow, with help from green-thumbed Friends of the Apostle Islands volunteers.A team of five volunteers recently worked in the Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden, clearing away last year's plant debris, pulling weeds, placing signs identifying the plants and refreshing the wood chips covering the paths. The project organizer says the garden...

Here’s your chance to live on Sand Island this summer as a National Park Service volunteer

Here’s your chance to live on Sand Island this summer as a National Park Service volunteer

Volunteering in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore can be an extremely satisfying, gratifying experience, whether you're working with Friends or the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The National Park Service currently has volunteer positions on Sand Island for August 18 - September 8th. Read their volunteer opportunity posting below and apply at the link below on volunteer.gov."✨Volunteer Alert! ✨ Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is looking for volunteers for the Sand Island Lighthouse Keeper & Campground host position.How would you like to live on an island on Gichigami (Lake...

Plovers Welcome: Volunteers prepare nesting locations

Plovers Welcome: Volunteers prepare nesting locations

The seemingly endless sand beaches of Long Island may look, to us, like the perfect place for a summer picnic or barefoot stroll. But to piping plovers, those same beaches are something much more important.Long Island is the most important habitat in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and, until 2019, the only successful nesting spots in the park for this federal, tribal, and state endangered species. Along with the Michigan Island sandspit, its beaches were designated as “critical habitat” for the species in 2001 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and until 2019, Long Island was the...

You’re invited! Friends Earth Day event set for Saturday, April 25th in Bayfield

You’re invited! Friends Earth Day event set for Saturday, April 25th in Bayfield

"Our Power, Our Planet" is the theme of Earth Day 2026 and it fits right in with Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore's focus on service and volunteerism to support the Lakeshore We Love.Earth Day is celebrated around the world on April 22nd, every year since Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson founded the event in 1970. This year, Friends of the Apostle Islands invites you to join us for our special Earth Day event, at 10 a.m. Saturday, April 25th at the Carnegie Library in Bayfield.The Earth Day organization says this year's theme reflects the fundamental truth that...

Love Our Lakeshore: Final thoughts as a Sand Island volunteer

Love Our Lakeshore: Final thoughts as a Sand Island volunteer

During this challenging time of change for our nation and for our national parks, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore wants to shine a bright light – a lighthouse beacon if you will – on this very special place and on the people dedicated to protecting the national lakeshore for future generations. That's the goal of our series entitled “Love our Lakeshore." In this report Friends of the Apostle Islands board member and former NPS ranger Neil Howk wraps up his two-week assigment as a National Park Service volunteer stationed on Sand Island by reflecting on the experience, on...

Love Our Lakeshore: So much to do on Sand Island

Love Our Lakeshore: So much to do on Sand Island

During this challenging time of change for our nation and for our national parks, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore wants to shine a bright light – a lighthouse beacon if you will – on this very special place and on the people dedicated to protecting the national lakeshore for future generations. That's the goal of our series entitled “Love our Lakeshore." In this report Friends of the Apostle Islands board member and former NPS ranger Neil Howk tells us what it's like to be a volunteer for the National Park Service, stationed on Sand Island or Waabaabikaa-minis. He says...

Love Our Lakeshore: A glimpse inside the Sand Island volunteer logbook

Love Our Lakeshore: A glimpse inside the Sand Island volunteer logbook

During this challenging time of change for our nation and for our national parks, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore wants to shine a bright light – a lighthouse beacon if you will – on this very special place and on the people dedicated to protecting the national lakeshore for future generations. That's the goal of our series entitled “Love our Lakeshore." In this report Friends of the Apostle Islands board member and former NPS ranger Neil Howk tells us what it's like to be a volunteer for the National Park Service, stationed on Sand Island or Waabaabikaa-minis. Neil gives...