PARK VOLUNTEERS, 2: Volunteers are vital to state parks 
[:03--. Our volunteers make up about a third of our workforce] ... details 
on Passport to Texas.

Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife 

Texas State Parks rely heavily on the work of volunteers. 

Over the last several years it's been pretty consistent; we clock 
about six hundred and fifty thousand hours of volunteer time. . 
. :07

And that's just manual labor, says Lori Reiley, state park 
volunteer coordinator. Those 650-thousand volunteer 
hours translate into big savings for state parks.

That is equivalent this year -- in this fiscal year FY08 -- it's 
equivalent to about a ten million dollar savings in personnel 
costs. Our volunteers make up about a third of our workforce. 
So, we really couldn't function as well without them. :14

Volunteers do everything from mowing lawns and 
scrubbing toilets to taking entrance fees and leading 
interpretive programs ... and so much more. Reiley says 
state parks encourage and welcome new volunteers. 
 
We could always use their help. And while we get the occasional 
civic organization or nonprofit that wants to volunteer for 
service projects, we really could always use more individuals 
just on a regular basis to come out and volunteer in the parks. 
. :16

Find out how you can volunteer at Texas State Parks 
when you visit passporttotexas.org. While you're there, 
we encourage you to leave a comment on our blog.

That's our show for today ... we record our series at the 
Production Block Studios in Austin ... For Texas Parks and 
Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti.






Total sound bite time:		 0:37.0
Maximum Script time:		 0:48.0 Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25