2016-cityWILD Youth SWAT: Slash Hauling at Bear Creek Lake Park

Start Date-End Date: 07/20/2016-07/20/2016 Land Manager Office: City of Lakewood Land Manager Contact: Erik Nilsen Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: cityWILD Summary: Students will come out to Bear Creek Lake Park to help haul wildfire mitigation slash. Description: Students will come out to Bear Creek Lake Park to help haul wildfire mitigation slash. Latitude/Longitude: 39.651951, -105.143439 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 2 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 16 Total Volunteer Days: 18 Total Unique Volunteers: 18 Total Volunteer Hours: 54 Staff Hours: 5 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On Wednesday, July 20th, 18 volunteers from the Denver-based group cityWILD came out to Bear Creek Lake Park to help the City of Lakewood haul slash piles. These "slash piles" were trees that were sawed down by a wildland firefighting crew to reduce the available fuels, if a wildfire should come through the park. Despite a nasty encounter with a wasp nest, the group showed true grit, and kept up the hard work through the midmorning heat! Successes and Challenges: A wasp nest was in one of the piles, resulting in two stings. One girl just iced, but another boy is allergic to bees and paramedics were called to be safe. He was fine, and turned down the ambulance ride. It was pretty clear that none of the kids had done physical labor like this before, so there was a lot of complaining. A simplier project for this group would be better. Lessons Learned: The kids from cityWILD do have exposure to outdoor recreation opportunities, but they haven't done any outdoor physical labor. A simplier project, like weeding or gardening, would have been a better fit. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Two kids stung by wasps. Ice packs applied, and incident report forms filled out. Description of Work Completed: