Description
Start Date-End Date: 06/21/2014-06/22/2014
Land Manager Office: USFS - Rio Grande National Forest
Land Manager Contact:
Funding Partner: San Luis Valley Great Outdoors - SLVGO
Programmatic Partner: RWEACT Rio Grande Watershed Emergency Action Cordination Team
Summary: Join the effort to restore areas of the Rio Grande National Forest after the devastating 2013 West Fork Complex Fire.
Description: STEWARDSHIP SITE
On June 5, 2013, a lightning strike on USDA Forest Service lands northeast of Pagosa Springs ignited the "West Fork Fire." Over the course of the next several days two more fires ignited conflating into what is now called the "West Fork Complex Fire." As of Friday, July 12, 2013, the West Fork Complex Fire had burned 109,500 acres, more than 90,000 acres of which was Rio Grande National Forest land. More information about the West Fork Complex can be found on our partner's website atwww.rweact.org.
VOLUNTEER PROJECT - WHAT & WHY
The fires impacted several recreation sites on the Rio Grande National Forest including over 36 miles of motorized and non-motorized trails. Restoration work will focus on improving drainage, building erosion control structures, and clearing out blown down debris. Trained leaders will work with volunteers to improve the existing drainage structures, as well as build new structures where needed. The level of difficulty will vary and tasks will be available for most levels of physical ability.
PARTNERS & SPONSORS
USFS- Rio Grande National Forest
Rio Grande Watershed Emergency Action Coordination Team (RWEACT)
San Luis Valley Great Outdoors
Xcel Energy
REI
?Lockheed Martin
The Boeing Company
Oracle
The Anschutz Foundation
National Forest Foundation
Roundup Riders Foundation
OTHER FUN STUFF
Camping: Free camping will be available Friday and Saturday night.
Meals: Meals will be provided Saturday breakfast through Sunday lunch.
Latitude/Longitude: 37.560315, -106.799284
Additional Information:
Camping Available: Yes
Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate, Difficult
High Altitude Project: Yes
Desired Number of Volunteers: 55
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 86
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0
Total Volunteer Days: 86
Total Unique Volunteers: 47
Total Volunteer Hours: 524
Staff Hours: 211
Stipend Hours: 410
Project Summary:
Successes and Challenges:
Lessons Learned:
Special Notes:
Stewardship Education:
Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers:
Description of Accidents/Incidents:
Description of Work Completed: 50 wonderful volunteers joined us in South Fork, CO June 21 and 22 for VOC's West Fork Fire and Trail Restoration project. The Lake Fork Trail offers easy off-highway access to visitors of the Rio Grande National Forest, and is a popular stop for travelers as well as local trail users. It was heavily affected by the 2013 West Fork Fire and is surrounded by hundreds of acres of burned forests. The burned area, combined with seasonal monsoons and run off, could cause major wash outs and severe degradation of the trail. VOC helped by improving the trail's water drainage capacity-volunteers installed 5 rock water bars, 30 drain dips and 11 rock check steps. Project participants also removed 300 ft of berm and worked on approximately 800 ft of trail. At the camp site, Mike Blakeman with the Rio Grande National Forest gave a talk focused on the West Fork fire and other recent fires in the area.
Details
| 16 and older |
