Giving back.

While many people retire and park themselves in hard-earned easy chairs after years of labor, a growing number of seniors are heading into the great outdoors to toil on trails and participate in environmental projects. They gladly offer their time and talents in an effort to enhance and preserve the world around them, eagerly investing in the next generation that's waiting in the wings.

Commuters driving along the George Washington Memorial Parkway leading into Washington. D.C., probably don't notice her. But if they slowed their pace and paused at one of the many wooded rest areas lining the parkway, they just might catch a glimpse of a woman wearing a satellite pack on her back, carefully studying numbers flashing on a handheld Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. The stranger would make some notations in a notebook, then move farther down the Mount Vernon Trail as it shadows the banks of the Potomac River. Observers would see that the woman was intent on her work, but also glorying in the sights and sounds surrounding her.

That mysterious stranger is Mary Hastings of Alexandria, Virginia, an ex-FBI employee who now divides her time between two important environmental undertakings: the Dyke Marsh Habitat Restoration Project and the Fort Ward Park Tree Survey. Dyke Marsh wetlands is an area along the George Washington Memorial Parkway--a unit of the National Park Service. Fort Ward Park is the Alexandria City Arboretum and a historic site featuring one of the fortifications built for the defense of Washington during the Civil War.

Mary's contributions include surveying, water sampling, and children's programs. "I help survey a portion of the 18 miles of the Mount Vernon Trail using a satellite pack and GPS instrument that records data along the trail," explains Hastings. "At Dyke Marsh I assist the park rangers in performing the required water samplings to determine the water quality in the Potomac River."

The Heart of the Volunteer

Hastings has been a member of the Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps (VSRC) since December of 2000. She retired January 2, 1999, after 32 years of service with the FBI. "When I retired, I became active in our condo association's woodlands committee. I took a forest ecology class at Northern Virginia Community College to learn about trees, but learned so much more--such as field mapping and sampling techniques, forest ecosystems, and wildlife habitats. I also took a tree-pruning class, and that was where I met a VSRC member who encouraged me to attend their upcoming meeting. I remember thinking at that first gathering that I just completed the course about tree assessments so I was very interested in helping with the proposed tree survey project."

Mary reports that the unique activities with which she's now involved are not only physically stimulating but mentally challenging as well. "I did some training while I worked, but never thought that I would be giving presentations during my retirement," says Hastings, who created a slide presentation of the Fort Ward Park tree survey and presents it at senior centers. "Volunteering has given me a lot of self-confidence."

Hastings is quick to note that you're never too old to pick up new skills. Since retiring she has learned to identify trees, use a GPS, learn compass and mapping skills, and become competent at conducting the inventory database.

Program director for the Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps, Gerrard Jolly, is delighted with the success of the program and believes the National Park Service accomplished its goal. "The National Park Service endeavors to create deeply interactive and meaningful volunteer experiences that create a relationship with the volunteer and the Park Service," he explains. "I continue to be amazed at the initiative of the seniors and how they're always willing to do more and more."

Gerrard insists that it's a win-win situation for everyone involved. "The projects help seniors stay healthy and active, and their assistance helps our national parks be clean, safe, and friendly places for people to visit." There are currently 15 national parks across the country running active Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps programs.

Monumental Service

Kelvin C. Clayton of Orem, Utah, has been a Volunteer Senior Ranger at Timpanogos Cave National Monument for four years. While he's certainly interested in protecting the environment, it's his love of working with people that energizes him most. "I serve in many capacities at the monument, including greeting visitors, assisting forest rangers on guided tours, and volunteer training," Kelvin says. His environmental contributions include the somewhat challenging task of relocating bothersome rattlesnakes and participating in trail maintenance. "It was the sheer joy of volunteer service, my interest in people, and the outdoor environment that got me involved in the Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps," explains Clayton who, before retirement, served as the Utah state director of school transportation, the Alpine School District director of transportation, and school administrator and teacher. "When I am not volunteering, I work part-time for the Utah Department of Public Safety, where I teach defensive driving for the Utah Safety Council."

Kelvin says his volunteering keeps him physically, mentally, and spiritually in balance. "Hiking to the cave--approximately 2,000 feet in altitude--in 35 minutes builds cardiovascular endurance, muscular strength, and the clean fresh air is invigorating," he states. "My conversations with people from different cultures, ethnic backgrounds, and occupations from around the world, along with studying ecology while gleaning the wisdom from the rangers, helps me to learn about and appreciate the environment."

Volunteering in the Utah wilderness is aesthetically pleasing to Clayton and gives him a sense of gratitude. "The beauty of God's creations and the smell of the fresh breeze in the mornings as the sun rises over the peaks of the majestic mountain invigorate my very being and build gratitude for life and all of God's handiwork."

New Jersey Demonstration

Earle Post's handiwork is in demand every Friday. Post, who lives surrounded by the rich farmland of Frankford Township, Sussex County., New Jersey, has been a part of the "Friday Work Crew," at Millbrook Village for the past five years. "We're a small group of volunteers within the Millbrook "village Society, Inc., who do the maintenance and construction work on the nineteenth-century demonstration village," Earle explains.

While doing their various maintenance projects, they focus mostly on traditional woodworking and construction techniques. "We construct buildings that are needed to expand the village's interpretive programs," he says. "For example, we've replaced rotted sills and repaired and replaced damaged roofs on original buildings. We've reerected old buildings that were moved to the village from other sites, and we've replaced buildings that had decayed past the point of restoration. We've also built new buildings in period style using traditional, timber-frame materials and techniques. Recently we completed a 40-foot wagon shed, tool shed, and a 50-foot sawmill building."

Prior to his retirement, Post was a biology teacher. He decided to become a volunteer to continue his love of learning, and to be useful. "I joined the Millbrook Village Society because I thought I could be of use as a volunteer and learn some interesting things at the same time. Both have occurred."

Post has also discovered that there's a spiritual side to giving of your time. "Working in the outdoors in cooperation with nature, making things fit into the environment instead of the reverse, can be almost a religious experience," he says. He looks forward to his Fridays of camaraderie, construction, and communion with God.

Partnership Effort

Seniors enjoy many opportunities to volunteer their time; everything from being mentors to helping care for the environment. The Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps program is designed to create and model opportunities for seniors to develop and express stewardship for national park resources, and positively affect local communities through volunteerism. It's a partnership effort between the National Park Service, the Environmental Alliance for Senior Involvement, and United Parcel Service (UPS). "UPS is a champion of this cause," reports VSRC program director Gerrard Jolly. "Corporately, they encourage their employees to volunteer and want to encourage others outside of their organization as well."

UPS initiated and now financially contributes to Volunteer Senior Ranger Corps programs nationwide. If you'd like to supercharge your retirement with additional service to society and the environment, contact Julia Washburn or Gerrard Jolly at 202-238-4200.

Connie Pilston Shoemaker is a writer and home-school mom who lives near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, with her husband, three children, and chocolate lab.