Friends of the Black Rock Request Help at the Visitor Center

Hello from Gerlach, NV and the Friends of Black Rock! If you are reading this it means you might have volunteered for us in the past, or have expressed an interest in volunteering at some point in the future. We really appreciate your willingness to contribute, and we really do need your help! 

The main area where we need volunteers right now (and pretty much every weekend for the next 5 months) is in the Visitor Contact Trailer, now located next to the info kiosk (across from Bruno's) in beautiful downtown Gerlach. (We just got back from taking the VCT on a week-long whirlwind tour of Earth Day events, starting at Cabelas in Boomtown, Reno Earth Day at Idylwild Park, UNR Earth Day, and Tahoe-Truckee Earth Day at Squaw Village. Many thanks to Jon Willers, David Book, Gino Oliver, Margie Reynolds, and Justin Robbins for volunteering for shifts a these locations! Thank you all!) 

As some of you may already know, the Friends of Black Rock have a contract with the BLM to staff this mobile Visitor Center with knowledgeable and helpful volunteers from April thru October. If you have knowledge of the Black Rock Desert and/or NCA, we really need your help to staff this. The VCT serves as a valuable resource to folks unfamiliar with the area, and your participation in this role may ultimately save lives, while helping to preserve the unique character of the desert we all know and love. 

You do not need to be an expert navigator, or even know most of the nooks and crannies of this big desert in order to help people out in the 
Visitor Center. There are big maps posted in the Visitor Center, and everyone is learning about this amazing desert together. Even our experienced guides and old-timers are learning from each other. So, if you have been out on the playa more than a few times, if you have been to the hot springs, if you are familiar with the 3-mile and 12-mile entrances and/or the East and West tracks, we need YOU! If you have driven out Jungo Rd to Trego or Sulfur, or out Soldier Meadows Road past Mud Lake, so much the better! If you have been to Double Hot, Hardin City, or High Rock Canyon, we would REALLY love to be able to tap your experience and expertise in this region. 

(Maybe this opportunity will actually prompt a few of you to do some more exploring in the NCA and surrounding Wilderness areas, as you realize just how big this desert is, and how much there is to see out here. I know that working in the Visitor Center has definitely been having that effect on me! ) 

To check out the schedule for staffing the Visitor Center, and 
to sign up for shifts:  http://blackrockdesert.org/vct/signup.php

All your mileage, travel time, and hours spent in the Visitor Center is tax-deductible, and will be tracked as an “in-kind donationâ€� to the Friends of Black Rock, allowing us to claim matching funds from our sponsors. This is very important for the continued survival of FBR. 

Your mileage will also be reimbursed if you so desire, here is that 
link:  http://blackrockdesert.org/friends/files/travel_reimb_form.pdf 

Thank you all for volunteering your time and energy in the past, without you this organization could not exist. We need your participation so that we can continue into the future. If you have some time to give, please sign up for some shifts in the Visitor Center, and help the Friends of Black Rock to fulfill our commitment to the public and the BLM. Thank you! 

Ranger Crow

Friends of the Black Rock

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