New York State Dogs Needed To Help Protect The Land You Love

Is your dog an expert sniffer? Want to put their nose to good use and help protect the land in New York and New Jersey?

The New York New Jersey Trail Confer Conservation Dog Surveyor program is looking for volunteers.

What is The The NYNJTC Conservation Surveyor Dog Program?

The New York New Jersey Trail Conference as a whole is a "volunteer powered non profit that builds, maintains, and protects public trails."

There are so many ways to volunteer your time with the Trail Conference, additionally there are also ways for your dog to volunteer. The NYNJTC Conservation Surveyor Dog Program is the first of its kind in the Northeast.

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The program uses trained detection dogs to protect the native habitats of New York and New Jersey according to their website.

Since 2018 these conservation dogs have offered a "game-changing advantage." According to the NYNJTC the use of dogs highly developed sense of smell allows them to "detect species that may be difficult, if not impossible, to find using traditional human search teams or other tools."

While these highly trained dogs are being used, the use of dog volunteers is needed.

Dog Volunteers Needed to Help Conserve NY NJ Trails

As spring starts to settle in, hikers are hitting the trails with their 4-legged friends. If you're dog enjoys sniffing around the hiking the trails, their services could be helpful to the NYNJTC.

In a social media post they write:

The New York-New Jersey Trail Conference is thrilled to introduce a new volunteer program that focuses on ways for dogs and dog owners to get involved in conservation work- no prior experience needed!

Your dogs nose could help protect places across New York and New Jersey that you love!

The post goes on to explain that the program is opened to anyone with "a curious, sniff loving dog." Owners will learn how to introduce their dog to the scent of an invasive plant species.

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Training is "self-paced" and you will have to attend a few start-up workshops.

Sign Up Your Dog For The Volunteer Conservation Surveyor Program

Sign ups are currently open for the dog surveyor program through a Google Doc on the NYNJTC website. 

Learn more about the program and how it works below: