Hartig Park and Wildlife Reserve, Gallatin County's newest park, is comprised of over 530 acres of unspoiled beauty. When the previous Gallatin County Judge Executive first approached Extension to seek help in converting this old piece of property into a functioning county park, one of the first things he said was, "Of course, we don't have much money". And that's when we knew how important the roles of volunteers were going to be in accomplishing this challenge.

As a result of this obvious need, Gallatin County Extension actively sought out interested people from all over the county. At first, only nine or ten people answered the calling. But as the park became more and more popular, other people (from as far away as Cincinnati, OH) have contacted us to find out how they could help. One local company even offers their employees the opportunity to take a day off (with pay) to volunteer at the park. Our local Boy and Girl Scout troops have volunteered many hours and completed some great projects at the park as well. 

Over the past year, volunteers have contributed over 2,250 hours of their time to Hartig Park. When using the current estimated national value of volunteer hours, this equates to nearly $65,000 worth of their time!  

Many of these fine folks have become much more than just "volunteers"; they have totally bought into the park's mission, and now feel as if they have some ownership in the park. In management terms, this is called having "working managers" instead of just "managed workers". This is exactly what anyone who works with volunteers is hoping to achieve.