2016-Corporate Day of Service at Chatfield State Park SWAT (EKS&H, Brownstein)

Start Date-End Date: 07/16/2016-07/16/2016 Land Manager Office: CPW - Chatfield State Park Land Manager Contact: Jennifer Anderson Funding Partner: Plante Moran (formerly EKS&H), Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP Programmatic Partner: Summary: Volunteers will rehabilitate an existing high use trail. Description: The work at Chatfield State Park will focus on the rehabilitation of an existing high use trail. We will focus on maintaining areas that have seen erosion over time from trail users and high water volume from rain events. The existing surface of the trail is composed of crusher fine material that has a tendency to wash away over time. Our goal on July 16th will be redefining the existing trail corridor by compacting more crusher fine material where it is needed and expanding areas of the trail that have been reduced. If we are lucky we will also have the pleasure of helping Chatfield State Park manage some of the invasive weeds that keep popping up around the park! Latitude/Longitude: 39.530227, -105.054436 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 36 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 2 Total Volunteer Days: 38 Total Unique Volunteers: 38 Total Volunteer Hours: 246 Staff Hours: 18 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Early morning at Chatfield State Park, the parking lot was empty, the mist was hanging over the lakes, and sun was just breaching the horizon. The weather was cool and not a cloud was to been seen in the crisp sky. Tools were lined up, tables were standing and covered with food, hot coffee, and paper work ready to be signed. Seven busy Crew Leaders hurried about preparing the necessities for the day as we awaited the arrival of two different corporate groups, one from EKS&H and the other from BHF&S...the day of the acronym's. As volunteers streamed in Jen Anderson from Chatfield State Park arrived and led the Crew Leaders on a short orientation of the work site. When they returned, we organized the crowd into 8 different teams to attack the work set out before them. We had a massive pile of material that needed to be distributed to the trail site. This was accomplished by the 25 - 30 dedicated volunteers that were taking turns filling, and running wheelbarrows 1000' feet to the work site. We placed six other crews of 8 people each along the trail to equally spread the crusher fine material and tamp it down to form a trail. The finishing touch was a slight crown down the middle in order for water to successfully find its way off of the trail. Due the distance from material pile to the trail site we had a bit of down time between wheel barrow loads. So we decided to break some groups off and start the corridor clearing on the east side of the northern pond. Roughly 25 people went over and began the work of widening the existing trail and trimming back the vegetation. We were also able to send a group of younger kids off trail to snap the heads of the invasive Mullein plants that dotted the landscape. Lunch could not have come any sooner as the temperature soared into the high 90's and there was no shade available in the working areas. At 12:30 a decision was made to bring the current work to a finished status, recover all of the tools, and meet back at the staging area for lunch. Lunch was purchased from Which Wich Superior Sandwiches. Successes and Challenges: Successes: Almost 70 volunteers showed up bright and early to work hard in the heat. We also had 8 VOC Crew Leaders show up to lend their expertise. Everyone was able to do a variety of work, form running the wheelbarrow's to snapping the invasive plant heads. At the end of the day we were able to finish 700' of trail on the south pond, and clear the corridor of another 678' of new trail. The invasive plant work was a great opportunity to educate the small groups on invasive plants and the reason that they do damage to a native ecosystem. Challenges: A few aspects of the work plan were miscommunicated by the park staff at Chatfield. We did not have an extra pile of material staged as they said they would do. We also did not prepare tools to build new trail as this was not discussed in the original conversation regarding the work day. We ended up having a short period in the initial stages of the day where volunteers were waiting for wheel barrows to arrive. We quickly fixed this by having them work on new trail and snap mullein heads. If we would have been informed that there was extra new trail construction work we would have brought tools to do this work. We managed to work with what we had. Lessons Learned: Always bring out a few extra tools if we have the room jsut in case there is extra work to be accomplished out side of the scope discussed. Remove tools from boxes if at all possible to make the day a bit more efficent. Special Notes: Brad McQueen & Sean ? were two VOC board members out on the project. Stewardship Education: The invasive plant work was a great opportunity to give the volunteers a more in depth look at why we are doing the things that we are doing, and how it relates to the surrounding areas. Snapping off the seed heads of the MUllein plants, bagging them up, and carrying them out was a direct impact that people were making that had tangible qualities. We were also able to provide a bit of historical context of the project site from Richard Martinez (a VOC Crew Leader) who hd worked on implementing the actual ponds and integration of the trail system many years ago at Chatfield State Park. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Making sure that there is enough work for everyone. We could have used more wheel barrows and/or more trail prepared to lay the crusher material on. Description of Accidents/Incidents: There were no accidents or incidents. Description of Work Completed: The two corporate groups were able to complete 700' of new crusher fine trail. Initially we were only going to work on laying the crusher trail but we managed to move forward and begin the corridor clearing of another section of trail that will have crusher fine compacted on a future date. This section of trail was 680' long. We galvanized a dedicated group of weed pullers to remove the seed heads of the invasive mullein plant. The invasive weed group worked through a 1.5 acre area. When the dust settled, I estimated that almost 250 trips with the wheel barrow were made back and forth. Despite the heat and the difficult nature of the work involved it was a very productive day, and it appeared that everyone was happy and satisfied as they replenished their energy with food from Which Wich Superior Sandwiches.