2015-William Smith HS Youth SWAT @ Van Bibber: Trail work & Weed mitigation

Start Date-End Date: 08/26/2015-08/27/2015 Land Manager Office: Jefferson County Open Space Land Manager Contact: Matt Martinez Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Students will come out to Van Bibber Open Space Park for 2 consecutive days to perform a variety of trail maintenance and weed removal. Description: Students will come out to Van Bibber Open Space Park for 2 consecutive days to perform a variety of trail maintenance and weed removal. Latitude/Longitude: 39.796640, -105.144901 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 31 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 6 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 56 Total Volunteer Days: 62 Total Unique Volunteers: 31 Total Volunteer Hours: 372 Staff Hours: 40 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On Wednesday, Aug 26 and Thursday, Aug 27, 3 adults and 28 HS students from Aurora's William Smith HS came out to Van Bibber Open Space Park in Jefferson County to help with trail maintenance and weed mitigation. The students were on their beginning of school trip, and spent 2 nights at Altogether Outdoors camp, and served during the day. The group closed, seeded and matted 265 feet of social trail, restored 400 feet of natural surface trail by re-sloping and putting in 3.5 tons of fill dirt, repaired 400 feet of crusher fine trail by moving 18 tons of crusher fines, built 20 feet of fencing and removed 3 acres of prickly lettuce. On the first day of the project, two staff from the Lookout Mountain Nature Center came to give a presentation on snakes to the group. The kids got to hold a live bull snake! Successes and Challenges: This was a really hard working group of kids. We have partnered with William Smith a few times in the past, and it has always been a good experience. The junior class has an emphasis on service, so they align well with VOC work. Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: