Annual Volunteer Service Agreement - Effective January 1, 2017
Effective January 1, 2017 all volunteers who work in parks managed by the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) must complete an annual Volunteer Service Agreement (VSA).The agreement is valid through December 31 of the calendar year in which it is signed.
The VSA must be completed by ALL Trail Conference volunteers before work begins, which includes: maintainers, supervisors, trail chairs, invasive volunteers, map field checkers, trail crew members and chainsawyers.
Friends joining maintainers on the trail must also complete the VSA form before work begins.
You have the option to either fill out the online form or a paper form. The online form covers all OPRHP lands that we volunteer on but the paper forms are region-specific. If you fill out the paper version, please be sure to choose the appropriate form for the region where you'll be volunteering.
VSA Online: https://arcg.is/1Se1H90 (Covers both regions)
VSA Paper Form by Region: Palisades Region (West of the Hudson River)
Taconic Region (East of the Hudson River)
- Trail leaders are encouraged to use the online form via smartphone to sign up volunteers not yet registered before beginning work (cell service permitting), when already in the field.
- Otherwise bring copies of the Palisades Region or Taconic Region paper forms to sign up a volunteer in the field on the day of the trip, or anyone who has not registered yet. New volunteers should be encouraged to complete the online form when they get home as well.
Additional Requirements
Trail Maintainers:
- Volunteers maintaining trails in the Taconic region (Hudson Highlands SP, Fahnestock SP, Mills-Norrie SP, Taconic SP, Clay Pit Ponds SP, FDR SP, and Wonder Lake SP) are required to notify their Trail Conference Supervisor prior to any maintenance trips.
Trail Crews:
- Submit to the park a list of planned worktrips for approval before volunteers begin any work.
- Adhoc trips or projects also need approval before starting any work.
Chainsawyers:
- Chainsawyers must notify the park about all trips.
- Some parks may require preapproved permission for all chainsaw work. Check with your park to obtain park permissions before starting any work
- In the Palisades region, the park manager must be emailed before work begins.
- The Taconic region requires that all sawyers must check in with Evan Thompson via email or phone (845) 225-7207 before starting any work.
