2019-Pioneer Trail Restoration @ Barr Lake State Park w/ Noble Energy

Start Date-End Date: 10/12/2019-10/12/2019 Land Manager Office: CPW - Barr Lake State Park Land Manager Contact: Michelle Seubert Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: This project for volunteers ages 12+ has something for everyone. Description: Project photo by Colorado Parks & Wildlife. Where You'll Be: Barr Lake State Park features over 2,700 acres just a short drive from Denver in the city of Brighton. With a multi-use trail circling the lake and more than 350 bird species, the park is a popular destination for families, hikers, wildlife watchers, anglers, and boaters. What You'll Do: With a variety of work to be done, this is the perfect project for all ages and skill levels! After a light breakfast provided by our volunteer Crew Chefs, you'll get to work with volunteers ages 12+ to improve the Pioneer Trail, a short spur off the loop trail around the lake. You'll get to do everything from laying down new sections of "crusher fine" trail (a gravel-like material) to constructing hand rails, painting an observation deck, removing invasive plants, and re-seeding damaged areas. This is a great opportunity to get outside with the family and improve a popular state park! Lake views and lunch will also be provided, and Noble Energy will sponsor a post-project happy hour at a nearby location. Why It Matters: With only two full-time employees, Barr Lake State Park needs volunteers to step up and help care for the park. Close to the water and great for osprey viewing, the Pioneer Trail in particular has taken a toll from heavy foot traffic. Your efforts will go a long way in improving the trail and park infrastructure not only for visitors, but for the local animal and plant life as well. Need-to-Know Details: Minors under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day projects. VOC will provide all equipmentincluding tools and work gloves. Cancellation:Our partners rely on VOC volunteers to accomplish critical stewardship needs, and our projects often have wait lists.If you need to cancel, please emailoutreach@voc.orgor call 303-715-1010 ext. 116 as soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce. About Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is the state's oldest, largest, and leading outdoor stewardship nonprofit organization. Founded in 1984 to motivate and enable people to become active stewards of Colorado's natural resources, VOC has engaged nearly 120,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $24 million. Through award-winning youth and volunteer programs, leadership training, capacity-building programs, and collaborative efforts with nonprofits and land management agencies, VOC is an invaluable resource in Colorado, especially as our outdoor stewardship needs are approaching near-crisis levels. For more information, visit www.voc.org or call 303-715-1010. Latitude/Longitude: 39.945158, -104.740897 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 48 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 8 Total Volunteer Days: 55 Total Unique Volunteers: 56 Total Volunteer Hours: 439 Staff Hours: 24 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: A snap of cold fall weather prompted us to delay the start time of this project by an hour, but once the sun came up it was a beautiful day. 56 volunteers gathered at Barr Lake State Park to help restore a spur trail off of the Lake Perimeter Trail leading to a small wildlife observation deck. Volunteers stained 405 feet of boardwalk with Penofin, resurfaced 420 feet of trail with 50 tons of road base material, built 30 feet of handrail with treated dimensional lumber, and repainted the observation deck, amounting to just under 1000 square feet between the inside and outside of the structure. They also removed kochia, a pervasive noxious weed, from just under an acre of land surrounding the trail. After the project, volunteers attended a well-deserved happy hour at Big Choice Brewing sponsored by Noble Energy. Noble provided drink tickets, chips, salsa, salads, and pizza for all who attended. Successes and Challenges: Successes: -The happy hour was a lot of fun -All the material for resurfacing the trail was staged really well and already distributed in the trail in piles Challenges: -The paint rollers Barr Lake provided for painting the observation hut and staining the boardwalk were poor quality. Worth requesting that they get something with better nap if we're going to do this kind of thing again. -Arland didn't put all the painting brushes/rollers/paint out at first, so everyone thought supplies were really limited. It wasn't until the day was nearly over that we found out there were three more gallons of paint available, they just weren't set out. We could have gotten a lot more done if it had been staged with everything else. Worth telling project partners to put all materials out, even if they don't think we'll use it all, and to provide more than they think people will need Lessons Learned: Remember you lose the morning summer light by early October! Make sure to set the start time for fall season 1-days for 9:00 instead of the usual 8 AM start. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: