By volunteering on Rauscher Farm you can enjoy nature, support our environment, learn about our region’s wildlife habitats and native and invasive plants, and share what you know with others. You can volunteer by coming to any of our published volunteer work days and events to share in maintaining and improving our conservation land. Another way to volunteer, If you have the available time and interest for a deeper level of commitment, is to consider becoming a Rauscher Farm Land Steward.
Volunteer Events
Rauscher Farm holds several volunteer work days or events each year, in which people of all ages and abilities are invited to share in maintenance and improvement of our varied habitats. These events are publicized on this web site, on Rauscher Farm’s Facebook page, in the events listings in The Item newspaper, and on other local social media or Facebook pages. Tasks on these days can suit interest and abilities of volunteers of all ages. Volunteers might work on teams or as individuals to cut back or uproot invasive plants and shrubs, weed or mulch in or around our pollinator meadow nursery, remove old farm fencing, create brush piles, or install or replace signage, among other tasks that might be needed.
Rauscher Farm Stewards
Our land stewards are Rauscher Farm’s year-round worker bees. Most contribute a few work sessions each month, especially during the growing season. A work session might range from an hour or two to a half day or longer, as their availability and the weather permits.
Our land stewards are not expected to be experts. A new volunteer works with existing stewards, and over time, becomes acquainted with Rauscher Farm’s habitats and trails, and the needs and goals for maintenance and improvement established by the Clinton Conservation Commission and its Rauscher Farm Management Subcommittee. Professional advice and reports by experts in forestry, wetland and grassland management, native and non-native plants, pollination, and other areas of conservation and management guide our established and evolving goals and practices.
According to abilities, routine work by stewards can include mowing grassland trails throughout the growing season, mowing the farmhouse lawn and parking areas, cutting back growth that encroaches into fields from forest edges, maintaining woodland trails, removing fallen trees or branches, monitoring Clamshell Pond for invasive plants, maintaining equipment, monitoring and reporting on habitat conditions, and leading work parties at scheduled volunteer events.
If you would like to explore becoming a land steward, please send an email to info@rauscherfarm.org