Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy

How would you like to work in a place where every visitor has the potential to come away better for having been there? Whether it be building and maintaining park infrastructure, keeping our parks and environment clean, teaching children and adults about the natural world, or simply providing a respite from the stresses of daily life - we make a difference! You can help.

Docent Programs – Docent programs throughout our parks are critical to meeting the agency goal of providing visitor service and education programs to the public at our park locations. Volunteers take part in a nationally recognized training program before staffing facilities and helping with special events. Additional training is provided for volunteers leading educational and interpretive programs for both schools and the general public. Continuous training is offered throughout the year in other specialty areas. Parks featuring volunteer led programs include Santa Clarita Woodlands, Santa Susana Mountains (Happy Camp, Sage Ranch, Rocky Peak), Franklin Canyon, and the Puente/Chino Hills in Whittier. Programs at Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space / Ahmanson Ranch are being established.

Park and Trail Maintenance & Restoration – Special workdays come up on a regular basis. These days usually involve manual labor on rewarding work projects. Some examples of workday projects include: historic site restorations, trail building, invasive plant removal, stream/river cleanups, litter removal, tree/vegetation plantings, and many more. Inquire with your local volunteer coordinator for upcoming workdays. Volunteers regularly provide trail maintenance in the Santa Clarita Woodlands Park on Wednesday mornings and the second and fourth Saturday's of the month.

Attention Mountain Bikers of all ages!
WE’RE LOOKING FOR A FEW TOUGH BIKERS.
(click here)

Mountain Bike Unit (MBU) – The MBU patrols in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area and Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority owned or managed properties in the cities of Whittier, Hacienda Heights and La Habra Heights. MBU exisits to educate and care for mountain biking needs and mountain bike user groups. MBU is supervised by State Parks, the National Park Service, and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. MBU consists of approximately 150 volunteers that work closely with rangers and are trained in first aid, CPR, and visitor contact skills. MBU helps to enrich your park experience by providing safety and education for mountain bike user groups.

Mounted Assistance Unit (MAU) – The MAU patrols Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA) managed parks in the Santa Susana Mountains from Moorpark to Santa Clarita. They also patrol Puente Hills Landfill Native Habitat Preservation Authority owned or managed properties in the cities of Whittier, Hacienda Heights and La Habra Heights in addition to Bosque del Rio Hondo. Members of the unit ride their own horses on trails and fire roads providing visitor services under the supervision of MRCA rangers. Each member is asked to patrol a minimum of 60 hours and attend at least two quarterly meetings per year.