2017-Gunnison River Habitat Restoration & Canoe Trip Stewardship Adventure

Start Date-End Date: 09/07/2017-09/10/2017 Land Manager Office: BLM - Uncompahgre Field Office Land Manager Contact: Robin Lewis Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Centennial Canoe Outfitters, Inc Summary: Spend four days exploring the beauty of the Gunnison River on a stewardship adventure! Description: About the Stewardship Site: This canoe trip will follow a gentle 27-mile stretch of the Gunnison River as it flows through the Dominguez-Escalante National Conservation Area and nearly 600 million years of geologic history. You'll pass through ancient fossil beds, scenic red-rock canyons and desert bluffs home to elk, mountain lions, black bears, golden eagles, desert bighorn sheepand the collared lizard. About the Volunteer Experience: Join us for this unique stewardship adventure! Volunteers will float to specific worksites along the Gunnison, helping to remove Russian olive, an invasive plant. This intimate trip of no more than 25 volunteers will be complete with plenty of recreation time, including floating, swimming and hiking. The trip will be guided and outfitted by Centennial Canoe, who will also be providing tasty meals from Thursday morning to Sunday afternoon. Volunteers are encouraged to bring their musical instruments to use around the campfire, provided, of course, that they will fit in a canoe. About the Overall Impact: In this area, the dominance of the Russian olive and other invasive species is changing the natural habitat and threatening native plants - including Cottonwood trees and willows - and wildlife. Volunteers will remove Russian olive using hand tools along multiple points of the Gunnison River. NOTE: There is a $260 non-refundable fee. Registrants' spots are not reserved until payment is made in full. NOTE: MINORS ON VOC PROJECTS All youth under 18 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on overnight projects. Latitude/Longitude: 38.973, -108.453 Additional Information: Meals:Tasty meals will be provided by Centennial Canoe Outfitters, Thursday morning through Sunday afternoon. Activities:During each of the four days there will be opportunities for leisure activities, including exploring canyons, hiking to see ancient rock art and a beautiful waterfall in Dominguez Canyon, or just kicking back and enjoying the beauty of Colorado's newest National Conservation Area. Trip members are encouraged to bring their own musical instruments to add to the evening entertainment around the campfire. Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 22 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 19 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 19 Total Unique Volunteers: 19 Total Volunteer Hours: 247 Staff Hours: 59.75 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: We partnered with Cennential Canoe and the BLM to execute a work/float trip along the Gunnison River from 9/7-9/10. The first two days were set for the working, followed by a day and a half of floating, hiking, and relaxing. With help from the BLM, volunteers were able to clip Russian Olive plants from about 3 acres, cage about 20 young cottonwoods, and plant 12 skunkbush sumac. Overall, the weather was great and the views were outstanding. People arrived and strangers and I witnessed hugs all around at the end of the project at the take out. Successes and Challenges: Successes: We were able to achieve BLM work goals. The weather was wonderful, with only a few bouts of sprinkles. The group hike on Saturday was an amazing experience. Floating the river in our life jackets was refreshing. Challenges: We ran out of work at each site (exhausted the BLM lands) The plant-killing sprayers were limited (4 BLM staff), which was some of the bottlenecking for the pace of work with 19 volunteers eager to lop Russian olive. They also asked if volunteers could spray as well, and I'm glad we decided against that. There were many mosquitos at the first camp There were some river obstacles including rocks, rapids, and logs. The Centennial Canoe staff were great leaders to get everyone safely down the river. 2.5 canoes tipped going down the river (everyone was safe however). Lessons Learned: Improvements I see could be made: It would be helpful/safer going foward to have a sealable/zippable canvas bag to transport the loppers in. It would be great if Centennial Canoe could provide more local produce for the projects (we were passing local orchards left and right) Trash, which was full of food, was left out overnight (and we saw many bears around camp 1) I wish we could have exclusively used reusable silverware and plates instead of plastic for some meals Special Notes: Some specific highlights of the trip: Happy hour by the river's edge Playing catch phrase, bocce ball, and ladder golf Showering in a waterfall Visiting Rambo's vacant cabin Stewardship Education: Ryan from the Colorado Canyons Association came to speak with us on Saturday evening. In addition to his brief presentation, he stayed for dinner to accomodate for more intimate conversations. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Below are comments from one volunteer: 1) I thought the food could have been a bit healthier. I would be willing to pay more and carry more weight for higher quality food and healthier options. 2) I would have been up for more work. At the end of the day, we only worked for a few hours on what was a 4-day trip. The DNR folks were a bit unclear about the work to be done, so a lot of time was spent wandering and confused. Description of Accidents/Incidents: A couple of people tipped their canoes but everyone was safe and no injuries were reported. Description of Work Completed: