Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
• Resource sharing (i.e., equipment, training) between the agency and volunteer
group members
• Equally shared decision making between the agency and the volunteer group
regarding the projects and goals to be accomplished by the volunteer steward-
ship group
• Feedback provided to group members on their accomplishments
• Commitment by the agency to work with a volunteer stewardship group
Responses were summarized as an average importance rating for land manage-
ment personnel and volunteer group leaders. Differences in responses between the
two groups were tested using the Mann-Whitney U-Test with a significance level of
0.05.
Survey Results
Twenty-five of the land management personnel (64 percent) responded to the survey
and thirty-one of the volunteer stewardship group leaders (61 percent). Of the land
management personnel, nineteen respondents worked for a federal agency and six re-
spondents worked for a state agency. The respondents were primarily volunteer coor-
dinators or park rangers, with a few Forest Service district rangers. Their years of expe-
rience ranged from three to thirty-nine years, with an average of twelve years of
experience. Years of experience among volunteer group leaders ranged from one to
nineteen years with an average of five years' experience. Volunteer group leaders were
most often presidents or executive directors of their organization.
Volunteer stewardship groups ranged in size from nine to almost 7,900 members
(mean = 801 members). On average, they had been formally organized for fiftteen
years. Members averaged fifty-one years of age and were generally evenly split be-
tween male and female volunteers. Most volunteers were Caucasian, had a college
degree, and were employed full time.
Land management personnel and volunteer group leaders generally agreed on the
organizational elements that most contribute to the success of a volunteer stewardship
group (fig. 2.3). The culture of the organization, including the shared values and work
ethic common among members of an organization, was most often mentioned. For
example, respondents wrote, “[group members have] the willingness to do volunteer
work when called upon” and “[they] work hard for a few hours and then have refresh-
ments.” Other elements that contributed to a group's success were organizational
skills, strategy, and aspirations as illustrated by comments such as “a feeling of accom-
plishment,” “a willingness to work on projects that are needed rather than 'fun,' ” and
“a clear vision of the role of the organization.” The only statistically significant differ-
ences between stewardship group leaders and land management personnel in the ele-
ments that contributed to volunteer group success were systems and infrastructure
(planning and decision making) (
p
= .037) and organizational structure (
p
= .004).
The comments regarding the characteristics of volunteer stewardship groups that
make them unsuccessful had similar results. Strategy and culture received the most
