2016-Trail Restoration at Urad State Wildlife Area

Start Date-End Date: 08/06/2016-08/07/2016 Land Manager Office: CPW- Urad State Wildlife Area Land Manager Contact: Fletcher Jacobs Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Work to protect fish and wildlife habitat at Colorado's newest State Wildlife Area near Empire. Description: About the Stewardship Site Located near Berthoud Pass in Clear Creek County, Urad Lake is Colorado's newest state wildlife area. Long a popular fishing spot, the area's namesake lake also includes hiking with scenic forest, lake, and mountain views. About the Volunteer Experience Volunteers will work to repair existing trail and close and reroute social trails - or unsustainable trails formed by constant foot traffic. Volunteers will construct approximately a quarter mile of new sustainable trail, and perform maintenance tasks on other existing trail sections, including the construction of a rock staircase. Camping and meals will be provided throughout the weekend. About the Overall Impact The closure of social trails and repair of the existing trail network will ensure sustainable access to Urad State Wildlife Area for years to come! Work will also help to protect local fish and wildlife habitat. Latitude/Longitude: 39.742030, -105.853148 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 81 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 3 Total Volunteer Days: 84 Total Unique Volunteers: 46 Total Volunteer Hours: 717 Staff Hours: 54.25 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Poor weather conditions threatened the project all weekend. Despite this concern, volunteers were able to accomplish a great deal of the planned work. Friday, Saturday and Sunday all forecast rain and lightning that would have likely forced the cancellation of the project. However, actual conditions on the ground were more favorable, with only a few light showers over Friday and Saturday evening. Volunteers constructed technical structures such as rock walls, climbing turns, and rock staircases in close proximity. The majority of the work was contained to a very small area on one hillside. This led to some communication and confusion on Saturday morning as teams isolated what sections to work on and how to manage working in close proximity with other groups. After this learning period however, volunteers were able to get into a good groove and build a significant number of high quality structures. Food was good quality and plentiful without much waste. Shuttling volunteers from the parking lot to the camping area turned out to be a large time commitment on the part of the land manager and the project manager. Overall, volunteers were productive and had a good time working together over the weekend. Successes and Challenges: Successes - Weather turned in our favor. The Project Team was good about discussing in advance weather considerations regarding productivity, volunteer enjoyment, and safety and accurately relaying this information to the larger volunteer population. Because of this clear language and communication, volunteers knew what to expect and were willing to work through uncertain conditions. Food. We had just the right amount of food prepared for the number of volunteers present. Very little waste left over, but volunteers were adequately fed on the project. Challenges - Camping/parking logistics for this project changed between e-mail reminders to volunteers, confusing the situation upon arrival. Rather than the original campground adjacent to the parking lot, volunteers were required to camp farther down the road, where public vehicle access was not available. Due to this fact, volunteers had to have their things shuttled by VOC and CPW vehicles, causing a large increase to the amount of work time on Friday and Saturday evenings for the land manager and project manager. Volunteers seemed to be understanding of the situation and there were no complaints with regards to this change. Work proximity - Volunteers worked in very close proximity to each other throughout the weekend. The area volunteers worked on was likely less than 1 acre. Because of this, and with the additional confounding factor of mutliple social trails and complex trail notes in regards to closure vs. rehabilitation vs. new trail construction, in the morning there was some confusion about where one section started and another ended. After sorting out these details and allocating volunteer resources appropriately, the rest of the weekend went according to plan and without further confusion. Fire - We were unable to have a fire despite the cold and damp conditions. This would have been greatly appreciated by the volunteers, but the local sheriff, despite repeated request from Fletcher, was unwilling to allow us to have a fire. The main rationale given was that local campers to the area would see the fire and be encouraged to start their own. Rain in the evening however would have ended any social time around the fire anyways, so it was not a major issue in the end. Lessons Learned: Camping areas inaccessable by vehcile add considerable time investment to the Project Manager's schedule. Volunteers do not come prepared for backcountry camping unless explicitly stated, and therefore need assistance in bringing cumbersome gear to and from the camp site.This added an estimated 5-6 hours to the total working time on project for the Project Manager, mainly on Friday and Saturday evenings. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: None Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: None Description of Accidents/Incidents: None Description of Work Completed: