2017-Trail Restoration at Urad State Wildlife Area

Start Date-End Date: 07/29/2017-07/30/2017 Land Manager Office: CPW- Urad State Wildlife Area Land Manager Contact: Fletcher Jacobs Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Create a sustainable trail system and protect wildlife at tranquil Urad Lake. Description: About the Stewardship Site: Whether you want to fish, hike or watch wildlife, you can't do much better than the uncrowded, peaceful Urad Lake. Urad Lake is in the Urad Lake State Wildlife Area (SWA), the newest SWA in Colorado. It is located just up valley from Berthoud Pass in Clear Creek County, minutes outside the town of Empire. About the Volunteer Experience: In this moderately sized project of about 50 people, volunteers will repair existing trail and help create a new, sustainable trail system. After being split into groups of between 8 and 10, tasks will include using native rock to create erosion control structures and the construction of new trail. First-class meals from our wonderful volunteer crew chefs will be provided throughout the weekend, and the camping is unbeatable. About the Overall Impact: The creation of new trails and repair of the existing trail network will help ensure access to Urad Lake SWA for many years to come. Efforts will also help to protect local fish and wildlife habitat. NOTE: MINORS ON VOC PROJECTS All youth under 18 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on overnight projects. Latitude/Longitude: 39.742030, -105.853148 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 45 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 86 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 2 Total Volunteer Days: 88 Total Unique Volunteers: 50 Total Volunteer Hours: 710 Staff Hours: 46 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Friday afternoon the project team met up with Fletcher Jacobs at the access gate to the site. He let us in and gave me a key to hold on to for emergencies, which is important to note to anyone involved In the next project since he usually doesn't camp overnight. We followed the setup of last year's project and it worked really well, plenty of room for a chef tent, restroom and camping spots. After we got most things set up it began raining, which ended up being the case for most of the weekend. We scheduled some time to shuttle volunteers on Friday night but only a handful showed up early, most likely due to the weather. Saturday morning Fletcher and Sally assisted in shuttling volunteers from the gate to the project site which was really helpful so I could run registration and get everything else set up. I think it is worth noting in project communication emails that volunteers won't be able to drive up to the project site as a few people expected to be able to bring RVs or sleep in their car. While sleeping in a car would only require a short walk back down, the parking area was a little small for RVs or campers so I discouraged that. Once everyone made it up to the registration area and got breakfast we stalled a little on getting started to see what the rain was going to do. There was no thunder or lighting, but the rain was coming down pretty hard and it made for a very cold start to the work. There is no service up there so we decided we would just have to get going since we couldn't monitor if the weather was going to slow down. Most of the volunteers were prepared to work in the rain but there were definitely a few who didn't bring jackets or proper footwear for an entire day working in the rain. Luckily it slowed down mid-morning and warmed up so it didn't become an issue. Terry was TAing and had also been on the last project so the work was very well laid out and she had a game plan in terms of what priorities she wanted to tackle first. Between Terry and the CLs the work went really well and was efficient in productivity. We accomplished the majority of the trail work and there are plenty of work ideas for next season so I assume we will be back out there. Saturday night went really well, the rain slowed down, the food was plentiful and the volunteers were excited to kick back, drink a beer and play some corn hole. It ended up being a younger crowd and a lot of the volunteers had a great time connecting with each other. Despite the return of the rain most of the volunteers packed into the tool truck to continue hanging out late into the night. The next day went off without a hitch and brought slightly better weather than Saturday which was great. We did one last shuttle run post project to help everyone get their gear down, it's worth encouraging volunteers to pack up Sunday morning if possible to avoid waiting around for all the breakdown. Successes and Challenges: Successes We accomplished almost all the work we set out to, with only a few low priority tasks left over The location is beautiful and lends itself to a great project site A few volunteers caught their very first fish It was great working with Fletcher as he is a former VOC employee and very in tune with what we need to facilitate a great VOC project Challenges The weather was wet and cold all weekend, which made for a tough start but by lunch both days it slowed down and warmed up a bit Volunteers had to park at the lower lot and be shuttled up to the camp site, which was only mile or so away. It wasn't a big deal but shuttling always just adds a little complication to getting everything going Lessons Learned: I'm glad we waited out the rainy weather because it didnt last the entire day which is usually the case around here. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: We had a fishing clinic, CPW brought all the gear but the instructor had to leave before the project work was done on Saturday. Luckily I had done some fishing there previously and was happy to step in and lead the clinic so volunteers still enjoyed the opportunity. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: We were working on a steep, wet slope and one volunteers slipped into the lake. She didn't get injured but needed to dry off for a bit in the truck before returning to work. Description of Work Completed: