Where You’ll Be:
The park has high fire danger due to the density of its forest. Fuel management, or the practice of reducing and modifying live or dead plant material to lower the risk of severe wildfires, is needed to help reduce these conditions. Genesee Mountain Park has dense mixed conifer, mainly ponderosa and lodgepole pines.
What You’ll Do:
The project area is steep and rocky in areas, which makes chainsaws and hand saw work the most viable solutions for fuels management. For this project, we are looking for saywer and swamper volunteers. Sawyers must be certified. Swampers will build burn piles that the city will burn later in the season when the conditions are safe for this activity.
Please bring your own lunch for the day!
Why It Matters:
The fuels management work will, first and foremost, assist with the local fire mitigation plan and implementation recommendations by the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. By removing fuels in the park, VOC volunteers will make the communities surrounding the park safer and more resilient to wildfire. VOC’s work will also help protect nearby homes, businesses, schools, infrastructure, and evacuation routes.
Eligibility Requirements:
Ages 18+
On this project, we need 2-3 B or C certified Chainsaw Sawyers. A-certified Sawyers will be able to work under the supervision of B Sawyers. If you are certified, please include this in the comments of your registration and send your certificate to the project manager. ALL SAWYERS MUST HOLD A CURRENT FIRST AID AND CPR CERTIFICATION IN ORDER TO OPERATE A SAW.
Project Difficulty:
This project is considered difficult. Please check our difficulty rating criteria here for more details.
Physical Considerations:
Expect physically demanding work, including moving heavy materials (such as logs and branches) and working on uneven terrain. Volunteers will hike on uneven terrain to find a good working area that is a sufficient distance from other active sawyers.
Access Factors:
Vehicle Access: Volunteers will be able to drive and park close to the worksite.
Join us in reducing our carbon footprint by carpooling!
Click here to sign up for the carpool (please do this after registering for the project).
