2018-Weekday Forest Health #1 @ Dedisse Park

Start Date-End Date: 06/14/2018-06/14/2018 Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation Land Manager Contact: Bob Finch Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: WAITLISTED: Spend a Thursday helping forests thrive! For volunteers ages 12+. Description: NOTE: This project is full. Please register to be added to the waitlist; we often have spots open closer to the project date. About the Stewardship Site: With forested foothills, picnic areas, and the popular Evergreen Lake House, Dedisse Park provides a variety of recreational opportunities right in the heart of Evergreen. The nearly 100-year old park is managed by Denver Mountain Parks and connects visitors with Jefferson County's Alderfer-Three Sisters park through a series of trails on the North side. About the Volunteer Project: Spend your Thursday helping forests thrive in Dedisse Park! After a breakfast provided by our volunteer Crew Chefs, volunteers ages 14+ will take part in simple, but important, tasks designed to improve the health of native ponderosa pines and reduce the severity of wildfires. The majority of work will involve using handsaws to cut smaller trees at ground level, which will then be collected and removed from the area. Lunch will also be provided. Check out Weekday Forest Health #2 @ Dedisse Park on Thursday, July 12! About the Overall Impact: When trees grow in clusters, they compete for moisture, nutrients, and sunlight. This weakens the trees and makes them more susceptible to bark beetles and diseases, which in turn leads to dead trees - perfect fuel for wildfires. By reducing the density of Dedisse Park's ponderosa pines, volunteers will reduce the impact of wildfires and help the trees grow stronger and more resilient. Need-to-Know Details: Minors:All youth under 16mustbe accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day projects. Cancellation:Our land manager partners rely on VOC volunteers to accomplish critical stewardship needs, and our projects often have wait lists. If you need to cancel, pleasecontact Jamie Burkeat 303-715-1010 ext. 116 as soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce. Latitude/Longitude: 39.634942, -105.340261 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 49 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 6 Total Volunteer Days: 55 Total Unique Volunteers: 55 Total Volunteer Hours: 439 Staff Hours: 18 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: On Thursday, June 14th, over 40 volunteers arrived at Dedisse Park to work on the Weekday Forest Health Project- despite a few mule deer's efforts to block VOC;s signage. VOC's wonderful Crew Chefs had set out a delicious spread of food and a festive Flag Day display of, well, flags and decorative table cloths. Volunteers enjoyed a breakfast of donated coffee and bagels from Starbucks and Einsteins while Andi, with Denver Mountain Parks, helped to coordinate a work plan with VOC's Crew Leads, including two Crew Leaders for A Day. The day began with a welcome speech from VOC and DMP that included information on why cutting down trees can be a good thing for those who love nature. Volunteers were then divided into groups to begin their safety talks and ice-breakers. From this point on, volunteers worked together to thin 32.9 acres of Dedisse Park, removing an estimated 2,000 trees. The morale started high, but the temperature was higher. With blistering heat, volunteers felt fatigued. However, frequent encouraged breaks from Crew Leads and truck-to-trail delivery of lemonade rallied the troops once more. Although the day ended early, all the work that had been set out was accomplished. Volunteers, DMP, and VOC staff left the project feeling proud of the work accomplished. Some attended a post-project happy hour, while others took youth volunteers out for ice cream. Successes and Challenges: Successes: Accomplished all work on the work plan. Wonderful collaboration with Denver Mountain Parks, they provided ample support that led to a successful day. Andi with DMP refilled our lemonade several times at a nearby gold course that helped with volunteer morale. Positive attitude of volunteers, jovial group. Crew Leaders for a Day did a great job. Hoping to get Kerry to attend Crew Leader training. Crew Chef, Miller Hudson, arrived with Flags and festive table cloths for Flag Day celebrating. A staff member with Thornton Youth & Teen Volunteer Corps stated that this was their best VOC volunteer event yet, as project work was very suitable to youth volunteers. Challenges: It was a very hot project day, leading to volunteer fatigue. Brought 50L of water for over 40 volunteers, and we had to refill them several times. Volunteers relied on GPS and not email directions, leading them to the lake by Dedisse instead of project site. Several volunteers late due to this. One volunteer arrived over an hour late, with no lunch, and VOC lunch items had already been packed up. Other volunteers felt obligated to share their lunch items with him. May considering leaving some non-perishable snacks out during project day to combat this in the future. Lack of good hand saws. Better saws would have made the project day even more efficient and productive. DMP generously shared some of their new handsaws with VOC, and unfortunately one saw did not make it back. Despite contacting Starbucks a few days prior to confirm pick-up, there was no record of the donation upon arrival. There was not enough time before the project to wait for the order, so the project manager had to return to the project site with only 2 travelers of coffee. However, Crew Chefs returned a short while after and collected more travelers. Starbucks staff was incredibly helpful and generous considering the mix-up. Lessons Learned: Bringing special drinks and treats to hand out during the project day positively impacted volunteer morale. (Even if they are the same items offered at the start of the day.) Special Notes: Volunteers stated how well the Weekday Project format worked for them, with many being offered paid volunteer days by their employers. Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Hot weather required more water than originally planned. Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: