The Individual Service Project:
Bonding the WSP Member and the Community in Direct Watershed Restoration Work
History
After the theme of more direct involvement between the community and the WSP member began to frequently reappear, the Individual Service Project (ISP) was implemented as a requirement for all WSP members in Service Year 11. It provides an opportunity to build the base of professional development for the WSP member, and offers a unique experience for community members to engage with the mission of the WSP while learning or utilizing a valuable skill set. Since its inception, the ISPs have engaged more than 13,500 volunteers and community members in direct watershed restoration work.
Project Goals
1.To develop community resources
ISPs create the unique opportunity for communities hosting WSP members to engage in coordinated and supervised watershed restoration work. Instilling both a sense of place and a sense of ownership, this is a volunteer opportunity unparalleled outside of Northern California. It offers the Northern California public access to a new skill set that could effectively promote conservation and restoration of our valuable salmonid habitat.
WSP Year 16 members Jordan Green, Ryan Walker
and Eureka community volunteer select their ISP tools
at an invasive ivy removal workday at the Sequoia City Park.
2.To build the professional capacity of the WSP members
Each WSP member is required to coordinate one ISP to complete the terms of her or his service year. The successful completion of an ISP includes recruiting and training at least 13 volunteers, soliciting at least one donation from a business partner, and creating and distributing at least one media resource: a Media Advisory, a Public Service Announcement, or a Press Release. Each ISP requires the development of professional management skills that build the member’s resume and career capacity.
Check out the WSP in the News link to read about press coverage of members' ISPs: http://www.watershedstewards.com/wsp_in_the_news
3.To enable positive WSP programmatic growth
Continued growth of the WSP program will offer more opportunities for community outreach projects and professional training for its members. An extensive WSP program provides accessible benefits for hosting communities to continue to deepen the pool of shared knowledge about watershed health, while also broadening the skills of the members who move into positions of more authority within the natural resource conservation and management field upon completion of their service year. The ISP provides quantifiable data to present to the California State and the Federal government to illustrate the WSP’s positive impact in the communities and within the watersheds.
Year 16 WSP member Lindsey Ritchey and her
mentor from the California Department of Fish and Game
work together planting native blackberry bushes along the Eel River
in Fortuna. Lindsey had collaborated with the Eel River Recycling
Center and the Fortuna High School for her ISP.
Developing the ISP
Each WSP member follows a semi-standardized strategic plan for accomplishing a successful ISP.
1. Identify several watershed restoration needs in the community
2. Brainstorm project ideas that address these needs
3. Evaluate the propriety and feasibility of each project idea
4. Select one to develop
5. Set realistic and tangible goals to accomplish
6. Secure an appropriate location
7. Schedule a time and date for the event
8. Create a timeline of small steps to reach the goals specified
9. Identify a target number of volunteers to recruit
10. Create a strategic plan for volunteer recruitment
11. Create a strategic plan for media and publicity
12. Create the media tools
13. Determine the most appropriate type of donation
14. Solicit a donation from a business partner
15. Compile necessary volunteer forms from WSP office
Want more information? Feel free to email the Volunteer and Media Team Leader at Wsp.vmtl@ccc.ca.gov or call the WSP office at 707.725.8601 with any questions about the Individual Service Projects.
Year 16 WSP members haul debris removed from the
Klamath River during the 9th Annual Klamath
River Clean-up. This event is a collaboration between
the Yurok Tribe and the WSP members serving with the
Yurok Tribe Environmental Program.
