2020-Trail Construction @ Sacramento Creek Ranch #1

Start Date-End Date: 08/22/2020-08/23/2020 Land Manager Office: Mountain Area Land Trust Land Manager Contact: Dylan Sondermann Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Extend an existing trail near Fairplay on the first of two projects. Description: Photo courtesy of Jessica Hughes (2019). 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 sign up for one or all days of this project,though we encourage multi-day registration to limit the number of interactions and potential exposure. 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 and, if desired, overnight accommodations.VOC will not be providing campsites or meals at this time.Campsites will only be offered as needed to VOC Crew Leaders and Project Team members. 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. 130 and we can help you find an open project, if available. Where You'll Be: In the spring of 2019, Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT) acquired the land and assets of Beaver Ponds Environmental Education Center, a 70-acre property located near Fairplay on Sacramento Creek and bordering the Pike National Forest. The property is now known as Sacramento Creek Ranch and serves as an access point for Forest Service trails as well as an outdoor learning lab for many educational groups, including local schools, universities, and the Keystone Science School. With expansive views, a sense of solitude, and beaver ponds dotting the landscape, Sacramento Creek Ranch is well worth a visit. What You'll Do: Join VOC and Mountain Area Land Trust (MALT) to extend an existing trail loop at the educational Sacramento Creek Ranch facility near Fairplay. This project will have something for everyone with both basic trail construction tasks for beginners as well as more technical work for those who enjoy a challenge. Why It Matters: The only existing trail at Sacramento Creek Ranch is a 1-mile loop, and public trails are important to MALT's plan to utilize the property for education and outreach pertaining to land and water conservation. Volunteers' efforts will provide new opportunities for recreation and help establish a base of operations for MALT in Park County, where they can continue their important educational work. 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: 39.227543, -106.041788 Additional Information: 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 must provide your own food and, if desired, overnight accommodations.VOC will not be providing campsites or 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. Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 16 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 25 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 23 Total Unique Volunteers: 18 Total Volunteer Hours: 257 Staff Hours: 0 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: A small group of dedicated volunteers, many of whom drove nearly 2 hours to attend, gathered to help build this trail at Sacramento Creek Ranch. With just 11-13 people each day, we were able to cut nearly 2,600 feet of new trail, an astonishing amount! The priority was to cu as much trail as possible, and volunteers certainly delivered. There were a few sections that may require touch up on the outslope at a later date, but this was the first of three planned VOC projects on this trail, so there is time for additional touch up. Successes and Challenges: Successes: - The amount of trail built! TA expected to complete 800 feet at most, but the crews ended up blowing that goal out of the water. Much of the terrain allowed for scratch-and-go, with a few sections requiring more traditional trail building that took more time. Overall, though, volunteers moved very fast. Definitely the most trail I've seen completed in a single weekend! Challenges: - Wildfires burning in states across the country made for poor air quality . Ultimately we were lucky--it wasn't so smokey as to impede work, and we even got a few minutes of rain on Sunday and patches of blue sky on both days. Still, it remained hazy most of the time. A wildfire even started on Saturday afternoon 12 minutes up the road from the project site. Luckily, firefights contained it quickly and we did not have to evacuate or cancel Sunday's work. - The first COVID symptom cancellations occurred on this project. A volunteer called on Saturday morning to say she had a sore throat and headache. She was supposed to attend with her roommate, but they had been sharing a water bottle so decided they should both stay home. She noted the symptoms were most likely due to the smoke, but she didn't want to risk it. - 2 additional no-shows meant we were short 4 people on Saturday on an already small project. The most no-shows/cancellations I've experienced this season so far. Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: