Volunteer hosting with a federal agency
Cash wage is zero. Compensation is the site, the utilities, and occasionally a mileage or completion allowance. Hours are the variable that decides whether it's a good deal.
- Who hosts
- Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service Volunteers-in-Parks, Forest Service, BLM, Fish and Wildlife. Most positions post on volunteer.gov.
- Apply
- Year round. Corps projects keep waitlists and say openings appear unexpectedly.
- Commitment
- Corps park hosts are described as long term, six months or more. Park Service postings often set a one-month minimum with a preference for longer.
- Required
- Background check, your own RV, 18 or over. Some positions specify two-person teams.
What's been advertised
- Full hookups for 20 to 30 hours a week, Corps recreation operations listing
- Water and electric for 20 hours a week across Friday to Sunday, Corps listing
- Water and electric plus laundry for 32 hours a week including weekends, Catoctin Mountain Park
- Round-trip mileage at the federal rate capped at $1,000, for a full 16-week commitment, one Corps posting
Nearly a two-to-one spread on the same compensation. Full hookups for 20 hours and water-and-electric for 32 hours are both advertised as a free site. One is worth roughly twice the other per hour worked, and no listing does that arithmetic for you.
One thing federal volunteers get that state volunteers may not. Volunteers for federal agencies are covered by federal workers' compensation and by the Federal Tort Claims Act. State cover varies — Idaho provides it, North Carolina states plainly that hosts are not entitled to it, and most states say nothing at all.
Work out what an offer is worth
Who's hiring
- volunteer.gov — Year-round, openings appear unexpectedly
- US Army Corps of Engineers Volunteer Clearinghouse — Year-round waitlist
- US Fish and Wildlife Service resident RV volunteers — Year round, posted per refuge