Interested in volunteering with Freshwater Land Trust? There’s several ways to get involved!

  • Adopt-a-Trail
  • Group workdays
  • Public and partner cleanups

Volunteers with FLT can expect to spend quality time in the great outdoors contributing to trail maintenance, woods and water cleanups, invasive species management, or even special projects like stream bank stabilizations.

Adopt-a-Trail Program

Adopting a trail is a great way for neighborhoods, businesses, book clubs, families, friends — groups of all kinds — to make Birmingham a cleaner, greener, more beautiful place. As an Adopt-a-Trail volunteer, you’ll serve as an ambassador for your community’s existing and future trails by participating in active and regular maintenance of a half-mile (or more!) of a trail in the Red Rock Trail System®.  Adopt-a-Trail volunteers are vital to keeping the trails clean, safe, and enjoyable for all users.

Check the map of all current trails in the Red Rock Trail System® to see what trails are near you! A group can sign up to adopt anywhere from a half mile portion to an entire trail!

Interested in caring for a trail in the RRTS? Fill out the Adopt-a-Trail Interest form or contact Savannah Thompson (savannah.thompson@freshwaterlandtrust.org) to ask about which trails are available!

2024 Adopt-A-Trail Partners:

Bham Hardcourt Bike Polo- Hugh Kaul Trail

ROAM Projects- Vulcan Trail West

Treeline Expeditions, LLC- Vulcan Trail East

The Ricks Family- Irondale Furnace Trail

AdventureKEEN- High Ore Line Trail

The Harris Family- East Lake Park Trail

Birmingham Ultra Trail Society (BUTS)- Boulder Canyon Loop Trail

Vestavia Hills Sunrise Rotary Club- Little Shades Greenway North

FLT Junior Board- Wildwood Preserve

Rotary Club of Birmingham- Rotary Trail

Friends of Shades Creek- Homewood Forest Preserve

Cub Scout Pack 3538- Veteran’s Park

Ginny Brown- Cahaba Riverwalk

Morrow Railroad Builders- Bessemer Rail Trail

Birmingham Homeschoolers Community Beta Club- Reed Harvey Park & Community Wetland

Adopt-a-Trail Forms:

FLT Adopt-a-Trail Handbook_2024

Service Agreement

Service Report

Advanced Task Request

Group Workdays

We facilitate workdays for corporate teams, university clubs, and other groups of ten people or more looking for a fun and impactful team-building opportunity. Workday tasks typically involve cleanups (trash and other waste removal from woods and waters) and removal of invasive vegetation. Occasionally, a group can participate in special projects related to trail enhancement or erosion mitigation. 

What to know:

  • Workdays must be scheduled at least 30 days in advance of the proposed service date. Contact rebekah.correia@freshwaterlandtrust.org to enquire.
  • Your group must include at least 10 volunteers, and each volunteer must sign a waiver prior to the service date.

Public and Partner Cleanups

FLT will host a few “open workdays” throughout the year. These are great opportunities for individuals to join an existing cleanup or project and spend a few hours improving greenspaces throughout Birmingham! Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter to stay in the loop and find out about upcoming cleanups.

We work with a lot of awesome organizations contributing to cleaner water and greener spaces in and around Jefferson County. We’ll share cleanups and other events from our partners in our newsletters and on our events page.

Other ways to help

Surveying: Counts and surveys produce data invaluable to nonprofits. Individuals can help us gather numbers that we can later use for reports and grants. We provide you with training and materials; email us with enquiries!

Eagle Scout & Service Projects: We welcome service projects where scouts and volunteers can solve a specific problem or meet a specific need on our properties and trails! Have an idea? Share your plans with us and be as specific as possible about your goals.

Email rebekah.correia@freshwaterlandtrust.org to talk about volunteering with us!

Waivers: Please enquire with Rebekah on which waiver is appropriate for your group prior to committing to a workday or service event.

Waiver for FLT Properties

Waiver for Non-FLT Properties