2011-Bear Creek Lake Park Invasive Weed Removal with Colorado Native

Start Date-End Date: 08/20/2011-08/20/2011 Land Manager Office: Land Manager Contact: Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Help remove the invasive species that threaten Bear Creek Lake Park! Description: Join VOC and Colorado Native's Friends of the Frontier for a morning at beautiful Bear Creek Lake Park in Lakewood. This popular park is a favorite for hiking, boating, biking and riding, but has been overrun by invasive weeds that threaten the native plants and wildlife communities. Help remove invasive weeds along Bear Creek Lake, including chicory, mullein, knapweed, yellow toadflax, and Canadian thistle. This project is suitable for children 8 and up, so bring the whole family! Top off the day with a lunch celebration provided by Colorado Native at Lodo's Bar & Grill in Highlands Ranch at 11:30. And for volunteers who are 21 or older, there will be free beer to toast to a great project! There is no fee for this project. Lunch will be provided. Please note: The lunch and volunteer celebration provided by Colorado Native at Lodo's Bar & Grill is approximately 30 minutes from Bear Creek Lake Park. The celebration will begin at 11:30 AM. If you know that you will/will not attend the lunch, please RSVP in the comments section of registration. Latitude/Longitude: 39.6535915, -105.1766958 Additional Information: Partnering with Colorado Native/Miller Coors was good and they would like to do more next year. They provided lunch and beer at an off-site location that was an approximate 30 minute drive. We made the suggestion to Miller Coors before the proejct to have a closer location but that was not our decision. Heard multiple complaints from volunteers about the distance of the drive however turnout at the restaraunt was fairly high. Camping Available: Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 55 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 2 Total Volunteer Days: 61 Total Unique Volunteers: 57 Total Volunteer Hours: 232 Staff Hours: 0 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Successes and Challenges: Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: City of Lakewood staff talked about the importance of removing invasives in riparian areas to allow for native plants to return. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Partnering with Colorado Native/Miller Coors was good and they would like to do more next year. They provided lunch and beer at an off-site location that was an approximate 30 minute drive. We made the suggestion to Miller Coors before the proejct to have a closer location but that was not our decision. Heard multiple complaints from volunteers about the distance of the drive however turnout at the restaraunt was fairly high. Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: 58 volunteers joined us on August 20 at our Bear Creek Lake Invasive Removal. We were able to pull enough mullein, knapweed and Canadian thistle to fill nearly 100 trash bags. Your efforts to clear out the riparian and grassland areas will help native plants be able to return and flourish in the park. A special thanks to our friends from Colorado Native for sponsoring the project and providing a great lunch at Lo-Do