Great Smoky Mountains National Park needs more volunteers at Clingmans Dome Information Center

If you would like to help park visitors at the Clingmans Dome Information Center which at 6,300 feet and is often in or above the clouds, here is your chance as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is in need of about a dozen volunteers to help out.

The volunteers will be needed from May through November 30th to help provide park information to visitors and assist in trip planning including giving directions in the Clingmans Dome Information Center which also has a bookstore area managed by the Great Smoky Mountains Association (GSMA).

The Volunteers needed would be working alongside GSMA employees and will need to be able to work at least one 4 hour shift per week, 11 am to 3 pm. Park Volunteers are most needed for shifts from Friday through Sunday, but help is needed during Monday - Thursday as well.

The information center is relatively new opening in 2010. The building itself was originally constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and before it was turned into the Clingmans Dome Information Center and bookstore, it was a comfort station.

Water quality issues required that the national park switch to vault toilets so that rather than the waste be treated high atop the mountain, it could be pumped out and treated elsewhere where there would be less environmental impact.

While the vault toilets where installed in the parking, the original bathrooms were completely overhauled and turned into the useful building that you see now in its place.

"In the past, visitors to this popular destination did not have a chance to obtain information on their high elevation visit or have questions answered," said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson. "Now with the help of volunteers staffing the center, visitors can inquire and learn about the spruce fir ecosystem and the impacts of invasive insects, such as the balsam woolly adelgid, and air quality."

While Clingmans Dome does not see the amount of visitation that the Sugarlands Visitor Center or Oconaluftee does, it is vitally important to park visitors and through hikers along the Appalachian Trail.

Training for Volunteers will be held from 9:00 am until 4:00 pm on Friday, May 17th. To sign up for training or for more information, contact Florie Takaki Monday - Fridays at (828)497-1906 or by email her at Florie_Takaki@nps.gov.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park needs more volunteers for the Elk Bugle Corp Program.

If you love the Great Smoky Mountains national park, wild animals, history and working with people this an opportunity you just can't pass up.

You will only be paid in sunsets, sunrises and lots of smiles in the beautiful Cataloochee valley teaching people about and help protect our valuable herd of North American Elk in the Smokies.

If you become a volunteer Elk Bugle Corp member, you will have the opportunity to work alongside more than 80 other volunteers who work in the valley who also love nature and the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

To be an Elk Bugle Corp Volunteer you must be able to work at least 2 scheduled 4-hour shifts a month from May until November and you should enjoy working around people.

Your job will be to promote safe and ethical wild life viewing, educate park visitors about the elk restoration program in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and their behavior, and help with traffic management in the busy seasons especially in the rut season from late September through November.

You should also enjoy being outdoors and various weather conditions and have patience when dealing with the public. The rewards are tremendous when you are a volunteer Elk Bugle Corp member knowing that you are helping educate people about the park, its inhabitants, its colorful history and protecting the park.

Just the simple act of a park volunteer securing garbage pail lids and keeping bear out of the trash containers and getting acclimated to human food, protect our beloved black bear and park visitors from having too close and encounter with a black bear.

The park will train all volunteers with a full day of training that you must attend on either the last week in April or the first week in May.

If you are interested in joining the ranks of the Elk Bugle Corp in the Great Smoky Mountains national park RSVP to Ranger Mark LaShell at mark_lashell@nps.gov (E-mail is preferred) or call (828)269-3161. Once signed up you can attend one of 2 informational meetings and new volunteer orientation sessions that will take place in the Cataloochee Valley at the ranger station on April 15 and 17, from 1 pm to 5 pm.

If you would like to help the Elk Bugle Corp Volunteer program and cannot join the program, you can contribute to the programs enormous success by supporting the Elk Bugle Corp program with a financial contribution of any size to the Bull Elk 21 Memorial Fund set through Friends of the Smokies.

Last year members of the Elk Bugle Corp who had contact with more than 85,000 visitors volunteered more than 7,000 hours. Won't you come join us and support us?

Help Volunteer for a day of Non-Native Plant Control in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Exotic plants in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park - sounds real nice and pretty doesn't it? Well it's not. Non-native plants in the Smokies are a big problem and the Great Smoky Mountains national park needs your help riding this protected biosphere of these monstrous botanical nightmares!

At one time these plants were brought into what is now the Great Smoky Mountains national park by both settlers and later on the Civilian Conservation Corp in a an effort to beautify and control erosion.

Now these unwanted pests such as kudzu, garlic mustard and Japanese Honeysuckle are near the top of the Park's 'Most Wanted List.' They outgrow native species of plants and change the habitat for other plants and animals in the Great Smoky Mountains national park.

Join us in removing these exotic plants on Saturday, February 21 from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm as part of the 10th annual Tennessee Invasive Weed Awareness Week which is organized by the Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council.

Here you will be taught how to identify two of these exotic plant species that are taking over large areas of the GSM National Park. One you know what you are looking for, you will be sent out to remove these non native plants.

Our target pests on this outing will be the Honeysuckle vine which grows rapidly forming a dense blanket over native shrubs and small trees and the Garlic mustard which is a ground cover that quickly takes over the shady areas choking out native wildflowers and grasses.

It's something to love the park as many of do but there is a very special feeling in getting your hands dirty and giving back to a place that offers you a lifetime of peace, serenity, educational opportunities and fun. We need your help!

Meet us at the Big Creek picnic area before 10 am on Saturday the 21st. Bring suitable clothes, your lunch and work gloves to make the work and cleanup easier on your hands. For more information you can contact Kristine Johnson at (865) 436-1707 or email her at Kristine_Johnson@nps.gov.

Help us here in the Great Smoky Mountains national park and you will have a day to remember and we will be eternally grateful.