Volunteer
Habitat Stewardship Volunteer
Come volunteer with Sutro Stewards and join us in physically distanced habitat restoration activities such as weeding, mulching and native planting and work towards our mission of building community, connecting people with nature, and protecting and enhancing Mount Sutro, one of the city’s wildest and most beautiful green spaces. Due to COVID-19, we've adapted our volunteer events to ensure that volunteers remain 6 feet apart throughout volunteer programs, wear face coverings throughout the volunteer event, along with modified and increased sanitation of tools. We ask that all volunteers review this screening questionnaire the day before coming out to volunteer.
Volunteers are required to RSVP before attending each volunteer event! Events are limited in size in accordance with the City's guidelines on outdoor gatherings.
We have volunteer program available on Wednesdays, reserved for at-risk volunteers 60+ or with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of COVID-19, and Thursdays, open to all other volunteers. Sign up below!
Habitat Stewardship
At Risk Populations
Wednesdays | 9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Meet at the Sutro Nursery Parking Lot
(476 Johnston Drive, San Francisco)
Habitat Stewardship
Everyone Welcome
Thursdays | 9:30 AM – 11:30 PM
Meet at the Sutro Nursery Parking Lot
(476 Johnston Drive, San Francisco)
Trail Stewardship Volunteer
Come volunteer and join us in socially distanced trail stewardship activities such as brushing, trail maintenance or trail building and work towards our mission of building community, connecting people with nature, and protecting and enhancing Mount Sutro, one of the city’s wildest and most beautiful green spaces. Due to COVID-19, we've adapted our volunteer events to ensure that volunteers remain 6 feet apart throughout volunteer programs, wear face coverings throughout the volunteer event, along with modified and increased sanitation of tools. We ask that all volunteers review this screening questionnaire the day before coming out to volunteer.
Volunteers are required to RSVP before attending each volunteer event! Events are limited in size in accordance with the City's guidelines on outdoor gatherings.
Trail Stewardship
1st and 3rd Saturdays | 9:00 AM – 11:00 AM
Meet at the Sutro Nursery Parking Lot
(155 Johnston Drive, San Francisco)
Sutro Stewards is dedicated to fostering a safe and inclusive environment for all of our volunteers! Please read our community guidelines.
For larger groups, please email info@sutrostewards.org to find out how we can accommodate your group.
*Events are subject to cancellation due to high winds at or above18mph and poor air quality at or above 75 AQI.*
In-Person Volunteer Events
Virtual Volunteer Events
Nature in your Neighborhood
A standing virtual volunteer event in collaboration between Hands on Bay Area and Sutro Stewards.
We are so excited to announce the launch of a new virtual volunteer opportunity created in partnership with Hands on Bay Area and Sutro Stewards. Nature in Your Neighborhood is an interactive, virtual program where we challenge you to go out into your backyards or neighborhoods to learn more about the plants that grow around you.
Volunteers will attend an orientation with Sutro Stewards staff to learn how to identify Bay Area native and invasive plants and their impact on our local environment. We will supply you with all the resources you need to learn about the plants around you. Volunteers will then be tasked to venture into their backyards and neighborhoods to flex their new identification skills. You can create a short video about your plants, take photos and do a write up for our blog or create any other creative content for Sutro Stewards’ use on social media platforms. We ask you to rejoin us after your discovery to share your findings with the group.
Develop your own green thumbs and learn about the environment in your backyards and neighborhoods! Volunteers will first meet us via Zoom for an orientation every 2nd Saturday of the month and then reconvene via Zoom the following Tuesday to share your findings with the group.
Sign up for the next opportunity below!
Open Volunteer Positions
Crew Leader
The Nursery, Trails, and Habitat programs need dedicated crew leaders to instruct and support new volunteers to help get projects done safely and effectively! If you are interested in being more involved and gain experience leading others, managing projects, and learning technical aspects of trail building, nursery operations, or conservation practices, become a Crew Leader!
Crew Leaders are expected to commit to a minimum of 10 volunteer events per year, and attend a crew leader training. Interested in being a crew leader? Contact us, and make sure to include if you are interested in nursery, trails, or conservation.
Carpentry/Building (Currently Unavailable)
The Mount Sutro Native Plant Nursery is seeking a volunteer skilled and experienced with construction, building, and carpentry. We currently have several projects to execute building simple structures around our nursery facility. Sutro Stewards provides all materials and supplies, and some tools. Our current project list includes: soil bin with moveable slats, storage shelves, and a roof structure to cover our potting bench area.
We are looking for someone to advise, assist with design, and carry out projects alongside volunteers with assistance from staff. An ideal candidate is willing to work with and teach novices to complete projects. Our work parties generally take place on Wednesday mornings, and 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month; availability at those times is helpful but not required.
Contact us to learn more and let us know if you have questions, or require additional information. Please tell us briefly about relevant experience leading projects such as described above, and your availability. Thank you!
Clarendon Trailhead Volunteer (Currently Unavailable)
We're working to create the first major trailhead to the UCSF Mount Sutro Open Space Reserve from an outside street! The trailhead will have a gathering area and map and information kiosk. We're repurposing old granite slabs from one of the original Affiliated Colleges buildings on Parnassus that was taken down many years ago (learn more). Leave your mark on the trailhead as you learn to use masonry tools to shape and face the granite slabs, feel the power of teamwork as you move the large stones into place for seating and retaining walls, build a wood kiosk, and more. Join us 1st & 3rd Saturdays, plus other special event days just for this effort. Email Craig to learn more.
Database/Web Development
We are seeking a tech savvy volunteer to help build a plant inventory database. The database would allow us to track thousands of plants from seed to field to improve our conservation efforts regarding material origin, survival rate, and nursery timelines. We are looking for someone familiar with SQL Server, basic web-building, and web design. Please contact us for more information.
Drop-In Stewardship Volunteer
We regularly welcome volunteers to work with us on Wednesday mornings and 1st & 3rd Saturdays (Saturdays are suspended until further notice). Volunteer events include nursery projects to propagate and care for native plants, habitat conservation projects to increase biodiversity and wildlife habitat throughout the 61-acre Mount Sutro Open Space, and trail projects to build and maintain the 4.5-mile multi-use trail system. No experience necessary, just a desire to learn and contribute! See the event calendar for opportunities and to sign up.
(Corporate groups can find additional information here).