2027 RV Volunteer Opportunity - Bison and Fish!

ONE-OF-A-KIND SPLIT VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITY

Experience Two Amazing North Dakota Destinations in One Season!\

Spend one season exploring eastern and western North Dakota while volunteering at two outstanding U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service locations.

Your volunteer experience will be divided between White Horse Hill National Game Preserve in northeastern North Dakota and Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery in west-central North Dakota.

May–July 15: White Horse Hill National Game Preserve

Located just 13 miles south of Devils Lake, White Horse Hill offers a unique combination of woodland, prairie, and wetland habitats. Visitors come to enjoy the area's natural beauty and opportunities to see bison, elk, prairie dogs, and a wide variety of birds and other wildlife.

Volunteer duties may include:

• Welcoming and assisting visitors
• Sharing information about the preserve's natural and cultural resources
• Explaining safety precautions, rules and regulations, and recreational opportunities
• Providing information about local services and attractions
• Assisting refuge staff and Friends of White Horse Hill
• Emptying trash and cleaning restrooms
• Mowing and trimming
• Trail maintenance
• Other facilities and grounds maintenance as needed

The typical schedule is four 6-hour days per week, for a total commitment of 24 hours per week per volunteer.

Visitor Center summer hours are 12:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. seven days a week, including holidays.

July 15–September: Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery

Continue your North Dakota adventure at Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery, located directly below Lake Sakakawea along the Missouri River.

Garrison Dam is one of the largest U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service fish hatcheries in the nation. The hatchery raises a variety of fish species, including: walleye, Northern pike, ,trout, Chinook salmon, paddlefish, muskellunge, burbot, Pallid sturgeon, and Shovelnose sturgeon.

Volunteer duties may include:

• Leading informative tours of the hatchery
• Welcoming visitors and answering questions
• Working with school groups and other visitors
• Assisting with fish production activities when opportunities are available
• Helping with spawning operations
• Caring for fish
• Managing aquariums
• Assisting with other visitor center and hatchery activities

Tour groups range from small groups of visitors to busloads of enthusiastic school children. We work with volunteers to develop a schedule that meets both the volunteer's availability and the needs of the visitor center.

The typical schedule is three 5-hour days one week and four 5-hour days the next week, for an average of 20-24 hours per week per volunteer.

Visitor Center summer hours: 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m., seven days a week, including holidays.

RV Accommodations Provided - Each location offers an RV pad (no length restrictions) complete with water, sewer, 50 amp electric hookups, Wi-Fi and a washer and dryer located nearby all free of charge. Volunteers will relocate their RV from White Horse HIll to Garrison Dam as part of the split-season experience. Pets are welcome.

Explore North Dakota- White Horse Hill National Game Preserve is located 13 miles south of the city of Devils Lake, a full service community with a local grocery store, super Walmart, several hardware stores, restaurants, multiple clinics and a hospital. Garrison Dam National Fish Hatchery is located in west central North Dakota, an hour’s drive from Minot or Bismarck. You will need to drive about 30 miles for groceries, a drug stores, clinics and hardware stores. 

Make next summer an adventure!-This split volunteer opportunity is an excellent way to experience two very different sides of North Dakota while contributing to wildlife conservation, environmental education, and public service.

You'll have the opportunity to work alongside dedicated conservation professionals, meet visitors from across the country, experience North Dakota's incredible wildlife and landscapes, and gain hands-on experience in both a national game preserve and a national fish hatchery.

Exact start and end dates are negotiable.

Couples Welcome - Couples interested in volunteering together may submit one application. Please include the full names of both applicants on the application.