Description:

Wild South’s newest conservation project is an inventory of non-native invasive plant species (NNIPS) in the interior of the Sipsey Wilderness in the Bankhead National Forest in northwest Alabama. Wild South staff members need volunteers to accompany them in the field work, which involves walking all the marked trails and both sides of all year-round streams in the 26,000 acre Sipsey Wilderness and documenting with a GPS all NNIPS populations encountered. Volunteers will be trained in identifying the species of concern and in the use of our Garmin GPSMap 60CSX handheld GPS units.

Candidate Background:

The ideal candidate for this position will be an adequately equipped and experienced day hiker in good physical condition, comfortable in the forest setting and not minding occasionally having to bushwhack through dense vegetation. Experience with plant identification and GPS use would be helpful but not necessary. We will train you. Candidate should be available any days Monday through Saturday. This is a great opportunity to see those remote parts of the Sipsey you may have never visited.

Supervisor and Location for the Project:

Wild South’s Alabama Program Manager, Mark Kolinski, is the supervisor for this project. Volunteers will be required to meet Mark and/or Outreach Coordinator Janice Barrett at the Alabama Field Office in Wren, Alabama between 8 and 9 AM for the day’s survey, returning by 4 or 5 PM. Interested volunteers should call Mark at 256-974-6166 or email him at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .