5700 North Sabino Canyon Road

Tucson, Arizona 85750

Dear

Thank you for expressing an interest in the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists. We want to tell you a bit more about the program in the hope you will want to pursue enrollment in the fall 2008 training class and work with us in Environmental Education in the Canyon after the training class is completed.

The Sabino Canyon volunteer naturalists are community volunteers who, as a group, work with the Forest Service to provide Environmental Education activities in the Sabino Canyon Recreational Area. The Forest Service grants us access to the Canyon and provides us with work areas, basic supplies, and equipment. We, in turn, agree to abide by the established guidelines in conducting programs in the area and in training new volunteers.

Volunteer Naturalist has an opportunity to help in a number of interpretive and educational areas in Sabino Canyon. These volunteers are selected carefully by personal interview and are then required to complete a 15-week training course on the natural history of Sabino Canyon and on interpretive techniques and procedures. The training class this fall will begin on Tuesday, September 2^nd and will continue each MONDAY through December 8^th. Classes are conducted at Sabino Canyon from 8:00 AM until 12:30 PM.

Additional time will be required to observe each of our School Field Trip Program activities in action on days other than Monday. In an effort to assist you in honing your interpretive skills, you will be assigned a mentor who will help assure your success.

After you graduate from the class, you will be expected to provide leadership in conducting Environmental Education programs in the Canyon on a regular basis. We ask that you dedicate a minimum of one morning a week during the school year. Each Volunteer Naturalist is required to give at least 50 hours per year mid- (September through May) to the program. We also ask that you attend at least four Advanced Training Education classes per year.

In the School Field Trip Program volunteers work with the elementary school children who come to the Canyon from districts throughout the Tucson area. Activities include nature walks and “hands on” experiences. We think our “learning by doing” approach is one of the program’s strongest points.

Because of the thousands of school children who come to us each year we require each new volunteer to give a year to the School Field Program. After that first year, SCVNers may elect to participate in any of several other Public Interpretation Programs offered or create one of your own.

There is a registration fee of $50.00 for those accepted into the training class. This fee covers the cost of the training materials and $10.00 yearly dues for the first year of membership in the Sabino Canyon Volunteer Naturalists. The fee for couples sharing training material is $80. In addition to the fee, trainees will be expected to have a copy of “A Natural History of the Sonoran Desert.” We also highly recommend the purchase of David Lazoroff’s “Sabino Canyon.” Both can be purchased in the Visitors Center of Sabino.

We hope you are interested in enrolling in our fall class. A volunteer naturalist application form, required by the Forest Service, is attached. Please complete and send the application back to me and I’ll coordinate a personal interview at the Sabino Canyon Visitor Center.

We are looking for people who love nature and enjoy sharing and interpreting it for others. There are now over 170 active Sabino Canyon volunteer Naturalists, and we our program is exciting as well as a lot of fun. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at home at 722-6001.

Sincerely,

Susan Burdick

Vice President, Children’s Program

Please return application to:

Susan Burdick

6640 river Heights Pl

Tucson, AZ 85750

burdickms@comcast.net