2020-Invasive Weed Removal @ Poudre Learning Center

Start Date-End Date: 10/24/2020-10/24/2020 Land Manager Office: Poudre Learning Center Land Manager Contact: Larry Rogstad Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Help remove invasive weeds at Poudre Learning Center's new property! Description: Read Before You Register! Need-to-Know Details: We greatly appreciate you volunteering your time and energy to care for Colorado's outdoor places during COVID-19. To help provide a fun and safe experience for all, there are a few temporary changes to be prepared for: You may only register yourself.Every volunteer must sign our digital COVID-specific forms ahead of time to be able to attend. You must provide your own food.VOC will not be providing meals at this time. You must bring a face mask and work gloves.Pleaseclick herefor our full packing list of required and recommended items. Please come prepared to use the bathroom outdoors.VOC is not providing portalets at this time and public restrooms may be unavailable. Pleaseclick herefor more information on how to "go" outside. Cancellation & Waitlists:Due to this year's limited number of projects and volunteer spots, we expect projects to fill quickly with waitlists. If you need to cancel, please emailoutreach@voc.orgas soon as possible so we can free your spot for another volunteer and have a full workforce. If you are waitlisted for multiple projects, please call us at 303-715-1010 ext. 116 and we can help you find an open project, if available. Where You'll Be: Located in Greeley, the Poudre Learning Center (PLC) is situated right along the Poudre River and has been providing environmental education and opportunities to local schools and the greater community for years! Just over a year ago, the PLC received a donation of 133 acres to increase their offerings. This new land needs some TLC before they can add an observatory and tower, experimental grazing and prairie fields, a restoration farm kit, more trails and views as well as many other dreams to offer more to the community. What You'll Do: Spend a Saturday helping the Poudre Leaning Center remove two invasive species, Russian Olive and Tamarisk, from their new land. We are seeking three types of volunteers: 1. Certified sawyers to drop approximately 20 Russian Olive trees*; 2. Volunteers to serve as "swampers" to help haul the downed Russian Olive material to an area where it can be chipped at a later date; and 3. Volunteers to remove smaller Tamarisk by lopping and treating with herbicide in a separate area. Regardless of how you participate, you will play an important role in improving the health and usability of this new land for environmental education! *Only certified sawyers will be allowed to operate the chainsaws. If you are certified, please register and send your certificate to Beth at beth@voc.org. We have currently filled all of our Sawyer spots, so you may be placed on a waitlist. Why It Matters: Poudre Learning Center serves over 35,000 students and individuals each year, and by helping clear their new land, we'll be helping them pave the way to teach even more about environmental education! 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 125,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $25 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: 40.391537, -104.681168 Additional Information: Only certified sawyers will be allowed to operate the chainsaws. If you are certified, please contact Beth Ray at beth@voc.org to provide a copy of your certification. To help provide a fun and safe experience for all, there are a few temporary changes to be prepared for: You must provide your own food and, if desired, overnight accommodations.VOC will not be providing meals or campsites at this time. You must bring a face mask and work gloves.Pleaseclick herefor our full packing list of required and recommended items. Please come prepared to use the bathroom outdoors.VOC is not providing portalets at this time and public restrooms may be unavailable. Pleaseclick herefor more information on how to "go" outside. Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 19 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 19 Total Unique Volunteers: 19 Total Volunteer Hours: 138 Staff Hours: 20 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Great first project at the Poudre Learning Center removing Invasive Weeds!! 5 sawyers showed up. 7 mature Russian Olive trees were downed, 15 younger Russian Olive trees were downed, one giant crack willow was downed, (which resulted in three cords of wood), and two acres of tamarisk was cleared, cut, and treated! Successes and Challenges: Successes - Lots of great work was accomplished. PLC had six staff members show up, so each group had one staff member to help identify weeds and work with them all day. Larry is a wealth of knowledge, so I feel as though volunteers came away having learned something. First sawyer project that I ran, and they were all great and took safety seriously. Challenges - Planning with PLC usually doesn't happen very far in advance, which makes scheduling a little difficult, but they do run a good project and have lots of opportunities for the future. Lessons Learned: Tamarisk work does get pretty repetitive and monotonous, that crew finished ~2:30 and I don't think a full 8 hours of tamarisk lopping would be very enjoyable. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: None Description of Work Completed: