2017-First Creek Trail Construction and Restoration at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal with Colorado Native

Start Date-End Date: 09/23/2017-09/23/2017 Land Manager Office: USFWS - Rocky Mountain Arsenal NWR Land Manager Contact: David Lucas Funding Partner: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation, AC Golden Brewing Programmatic Partner: Summary: This large project is perfect for beginners and features a happy hour by Colorado Native. Description: About the Stewardship Site: Located on the site of a former weapons manufacturing facility, the 15,000-acre Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge (Arsenal NWR) is now one of the largest urban refuges in the nation. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the area is home to more than 330 animal species, including bison, deer and coyotes, bald eagles and other raptors. About the Volunteer Experience: VOC returns to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal to complete work begun on Earth Day. In addition to finishing any stretched of the 6,600 feet of new crusher fine trail, tasks may include rehabbing the area around the newly constructed trail by removing invasive weed species, re-seeding with native seed mixes, and constructing and removing fencing. Tasks will be easy-to-moderate in difficulty. There will be a maxiumum of 125 volunteers on this project, so come on out and meet people from all over the state! Breakfast and lunch will be provided! About the Overall Impact: The Arsenal NWR's eastern boundary is accessible to numerous local residents but has few amenities. Now, you have the opportunity to help the area become a valuable open space where thousands of people can gather, play and experience Colorado's great outdoors! Additionally, rehab work accomplished will help ensure the integrity of the native prairie ecosystem. After the project, volunteers are invited to a happy hour sponsored by Colorado Native! NOTE:MINORS ON VOC PROJECTSYouth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day projects. Latitude/Longitude: 39.798446, -104.789672 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 100 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 94 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 17 Total Volunteer Days: 111 Total Unique Volunteers: 111 Total Volunteer Hours: 660 Staff Hours: 28 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Overall, on this project we completed what we came out to achieve on this project. We were able to construct about 3200 feet of crusher fine trail tolink the wildlife observation deck to VOC's spring project area. We also leveled the edges of the trail and spread a native seed mix along the trail edges. Successes and Challenges: Successes: Lots of first timers came out to the project. Attrition was low. People generally arrive on time (when compared to projects like Hermit Park). People came prepared with coats for inclement weather. The weather, overall, was great. We had a 50%-60% chance of rain and it held out for the whole project (just clouds). The Denver Parks employee Scott arrived on time to help us with the gate in the morning. It was awesome to have CO Native host the happy hour which provided filling appetizers and free Colorado Native Pilsners. Challenges: We did not have a TA for this project (and I don't think we usually do with chrusher fine work). This made answering some questions difficult, like about how much berm to take each end. I asked the FWS employee running the end loader about what he wanted to see, which was helpful (he was set to run a 8 foot roller down the path on the following Monday). Some of the piles of crusher were small/far apart. We mitigated this by having the FWS staff take the end loader and bring more out to the trail (with waving and directing help from the crews). We were only given a half cambro from Starbucks which was not enough for all the volunteers on the chilly morning. We could have used more landscape rakes and bow rakes. I think we brought all the landscape ones but left some of the bow rakes at ops. Lessons Learned: Try to get a little more information on what standard to make the trail to so you can assist as a semi-TA role on project day. Special Notes: We had a ton of groups on the project (5). Stewardship Education: David Scott (FWS) presented before the project with a great talk about stewardship and the impact of our work. Scott Bartell said thanks on behalf of Denver Parks and Geoff thanked the volunteers on behalf of Colorado Native. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: The weather said 50%-60% rain but I'm glad that it held off for our project! Description of Accidents/Incidents: N/A Description of Work Completed: