2019-Rocky Mountain Tree Festival

Start Date-End Date: 09/21/2019-09/21/2019 Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation Land Manager Contact: Kelly Uhing Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Rocky Mountain Tree Festival with Vivax Pros. Description: Where You'll Be: The Sand Creek Regional Greenway is a jewel in the necklace of trails that has made Denver a national model for linked trail systems. This 14-mile public greenway connects the High Line Canal in Aurora, Colorado with the South Platte River Greenway in Commerce City. Along the way, it passes through northeast Denver and the new Stapleton community. The Sand Creek Regional Greenway is open every day from dawn until dusk. Runners, walkers, nature viewers, horseback riders, and leashed dogs are encouraged to enjoy the trail. What You'll Do: Volunteers will contribute to ongoing restoration efforts of Sand Creek by planting trees, shrubs, and wetland vegetation, that are native to riparian areas of Colorado. They will also help manage certain species of noxious weeds. Why It Matters: By incorporating native vegetation into the project area, volunteers will contribute to an overall improvement of the ecological integrity and increased biodiversity of Sand Creek. In the past, Sand Creek was overrun with noxious weeds and other non-native, undesirable vegetation. Now that Denver Parks and Recreation has taken ownership and management of this area, restoration projects have begun but with the help of volunteers will see completion of this important endeavor. Latitude/Longitude: 39.759172, -104.857150 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 90 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 59 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 73 Total Unique Volunteers: 59 Total Volunteer Hours: 228 Staff Hours: 3 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Rocky Mountain Tree Festival with Vivax Pros sought to plant several hundred trees on the Sand Creek Regional Greenway just north of Stapleton. Approximately 50 volunteers arrived at the Smith Road Trailhead between 9 and 10am on a clear, warm fall morning. Five crew leaders - 2 crew-leaders-for-a-day from Vivax and 3 from VOC - received a tutorial on tree, shrub, and grass plug planting from Denver 2 Parks and Rec staff, one of whom remained on site all day to act as technical advisor. At 10am sharp, volunteers paired up with their crew leaders and set off to 5 different work sites east along the greenway. A different group of volunteers had previously placed potted trees where they needed to be planted so VOC volunteers simply needed to dig holes, water, and mulch the trees and shrubs. There were a total of 100 five-gallon trees spaced along the work site, and another several hundred grass plugs which were planted immediately adjacent to the creek within the floodplain. Tree species included several varieties of willow, cottonwood, oak, and choke cherry. Plugs were a mix of native wetland grasses. By 11:30am all the plants and grass plugs were in the ground and crews moved on to secondary activities: scotch thistle removal, trash cleanup, and seed-mix dispersal. It was clear that the secondary tasks weren't as satisfying or enjoyable, and volunteers began leaving around 12:30pm. By 1:30pm the last volunteers were trickling in with bags of trash and weeds. Successes and Challenges: The tree planting work was enjoyable, fast paced, and satisfying. Unfortunately there were not enough trees available to keep 50 volunteers occupied for 3+ hours. Prior to work day, VOC staff advised project partner that this number of volunteers would be able to plant close to 400 trees in the soil present on site. Project partner was worried about no-shows and having too many trees to plant, which would result in plant death for any trees left exposed. However, even with a 40% no-show / attrition rate and 50 volunteers there still were not enough plants. Had the expected 85 volunteers been present, the primary work would have concluded an hour into the 3 hour work day. Volunteers were visibly restless and disappointed with the secondary work; this was a TREE festival, not a trash and weed festival, and more than half of the volunteers left when the trees were all in the ground. The volunteers who stayed worked at a greatly reduced pace and level of enthusiasm. Lessons Learned: VOC should establish a formula for determining the number of trees that can be planted. An example: R* V * T * S Where R is the planting rate (3 trees per volunteer per hour for #5 trees - adjust accordingly for larger or smaller trees); V is desired number of volunteers; T is time on site in hours; S is a unitless soil hardness modifier (1 being soft sandy or loamy soil; .5 being hard, dry, rocky, or clayey soil). Eg. 3 trees/volunteer hour * 50 volunteers * 3 hour * 0.8 = 360 trees In the two tree planting projects VOC project manager Alex Williams was a part of in the 2019 season this formula generally held true. It accounts also for mulching and watering time, but not staking. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Denver partners discussed the overall remediation plan for this section of the Greenway and talked about the role revegetation plays in stabilizing soils, mitigating flooding, and reestablishing a healthy native ecosystem. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: