Help protect precious water sources for wildlife
Join us July 15-18, 2026 in southern Utah to build fences around springs and wetlands.
Healthy lands depend on healthy springs. Despite the small area they cover, springs have an outsized, positive influence on the plants and animals around them. Unfortunately, many spring ecosystems are degraded due to cattle and human use, which has resulted in eroded soils, trampled sensitive habitats, unstable stream banks, and impaired water quality.
The good news: A sturdy fence can keep out cattle, while still allowing wildlife access to the water. On this trip, we will protect and support important springs and wetlands in Dixie National Forest by building fences, creating barriers to keep out vehicles, and building erosion control structures to support restoration. We’ll be working in high-elevation forested lands above desert landscapes — an important refuge for wildlife and precious wetland plants.
Who can sign up?
We encourage everyone who is excited about conservation on the Colorado Plateau to sign up for our trips. Our trip ratings will give you an idea of the physical work, terrain, and accommodations involved. This trip is rated as moderate.
Many of our trips are family friendly! Please see our FAQs for more information or email us with questions about particular trips.
Membership is optional, but we ask that participants who are comfortable financially become members of the Grand Canyon Trust with a $25 donation. Members receive a subscription to our biannual print magazine, The Advocate. Please contact us if you have any questions. You’ll also need to submit your volunteer application form to secure your spot on the trip.
What to expect
We’ll fuel up with coffee and breakfast in the mornings and spend our days working to create erosion control structures and vehicle barriers and build protective fencing around precious wetlands. We’ll return to camp in the evenings for free time, tasty appetizers, delicious dinners, and stargazing. We’ll hear from U.S. Forest Service partners and Grand Canyon Trust staff about conservation work and ways to stay involved after the trip. On the last day, we’ll finish any remaining field work, break camp, and head home.
Accommodations
We will car camp near our project site. The Trust will provide water, a full camp kitchen, and a camp toilet.
The Trust provides: All meals, water, snacks, field equipment, tools, and training.
Participants provide: Personal transportation to the site, individual camping gear, coffee mug, lunch container, work clothes, work gloves, wide-brimmed hat, sunglasses, rain gear, and clothes for warm days and cold nights. Please come prepared.
How to sign up:
- Select “SIGN UP,” and follow the prompts.
- Check your email for further instructions.
- Send in your volunteer application form for the year.
- Become a member of the Grand Canyon Trust.
- A Trust trip leader will confirm your spot.
Questions? Email volunteernow@grandcanyontrust.org
Trip packing list
Our gear list will help you prepare. We can loan some items on a first-come, first-served basis. Contact us for details.
Frequently asked questions
Curious about logistics, the food you'll eat during the trip, or the difficulty of the field work? Check out the frequently asked questions.
7 perks of volunteering with the Trust
When you volunteer with the Trust, we make it worth your while. From eating good food, to learning new skills. Find out the perks of volunteering.
Public health considerations on volunteer trips
Our top priority is the safety and comfort of our trip participants. Precautionary measures that will be followed on trips to avoid the spread of communicable diseases will be communicated in pre-trip emails. If we feel that a trip cannot be safely conducted due to public health conditions, or for any other reason, we will cancel the trip with as much notice as possible. Volunteers or participants may reach out to volunteernow@grandcanyontrust.org with any questions.
The Grand Canyon Trust is committed to justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at every level of our work. The conservation field and the Colorado Plateau have their own histories of racial injustice and exclusion and as a largely white organization, we know we have work to do. We are actively working to make the conservation field and the Colorado Plateau more just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Read the Grand Canyon Trust’s justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion statement
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