Description
Start Date-End Date: 06/12/2021-06/13/2021
Land Manager Office: USFS - Rio Grande National Forest
Land Manager Contact: Jody Fairchild
Funding Partner:
Programmatic Partner:
Summary: In this training, you will learn crosscut saw techniques, procedures, and best practices for safely and effectively clearing trails in challenging situations. The course will also cover basic tool care and maintenance and include a mix of online course work, classroom learning, and hands-on field experience.
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 must provide your own food
Overnight accommodations.VOC will provide free camping Friday and Saturday night at the Big Meadows campground on Rio Grande National Forest. We can provide information on dispersed camping in the area as well.
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 during the field portion of the training. Pleaseclick herefor more information on how to "go" outside. There will be facilities at the camp site and at the trailhead to the cutting site.
Cancellation & Waitlists:Due to this year's limited number of trainings and trainee spots, we expect trainings 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 trainee.
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS:New cert participants are required to participate in both days of the training and the pre-project zoom call onJune 10th from 6:00pm-7:30pm. The Zoom call will cover the classroom portion of this course and will allow for more hands on training in the field. You must have at least a basic first aid certification and be able to present your card for the crosscut certification** or recommendation to be given. You will be required to complete a 3-4 hour online prep course before attending the workshop; access information will be provided within 2 weeks of the workshop date. You will also need heavy-duty, cut-resistant or leather, waterproof or water-repellent, 8-inch-high laced boots with nonskid soles for safety purposes.
Open to volunteers and employees from any organization - Free for San Luis Valley volunteers!
Where You'll Be:
Originally home to Ute, Pueblo, and Jicarilla Apache tribes, the Rio Grande National Forest stretches 1.83 million acres across south central Colorado. It features a variety of landscapes from high desert to rocky crags, as well as an abundance of wildlife and wildflowers. Volunteers will be working in the eastern edge of the forest near the small town of South Fork in the San Luis Valley.
What You'll Do:
In this two-day training, you will learn crosscut saw techniques, procedures, and best practices for safely and effectively clearing trails in challenging situations. The course will also cover basic tool care and maintenance and include a mix of online course work, classroom learning, and hands-on field experience. The pre-project classroom (via Zoom) training will be on Thursday June 10th from 6:00-7:30pm.Then there will be two days working in the field to earn your certification on June 12 & 13.
Why It Matters:
Maintaining wilderness trails is largely becoming a matter of clearing trails of downed trees. Gain the skills to safely and effectively clear trees with wilderness-approved crosscut saws.
Cost: $60*. Refunds will be provided to those who cancel at least 2 weeks before the training date.
*FREE for volunteers from the San Luis Valley area! If you are a volunteer and live in one of these counties, please email Katie Goodleaf at katie@voc.org and she will send your information to register for free: Saguache, Hinsdale, Alamosa, Rio Grande, Costilla, Conejos, Mineral, Archuleta, San Juan.
**Please note that certification is a recommendation that must be approved by each local agency or land manager where work with saws is being performed. We hope to get everyone evaluated and certified, but this will depend on the number of participants as well as the amount of qualified certifiers available to help. We may arrange for a a second certification session if we can't get everyone certified initially.
About Outdoor Stewardship Institute (OSI)
Originally created in collaboration with other organizations, OSI offers affordable, in-depth training courses for volunteers and employees from any organization to learn or improve their stewardship skills and prepare for a variety of leadership roles. Approximately 300 people each year receive OSI training in topics such as volunteer crew leadership; trail design, construction, and maintenance; ecological, habitat, and fire restoration; crosscut saw skills and more. OSI is a program of Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC), the state's oldest, largest, and leading outdoor stewardship nonprofit organization. For more information, visit www.voc.org/osi or call 303-715-1010.
Latitude/Longitude: 37.536462, -106.804115
Additional Information: Important:A current basic First Aid and CPR certification or higher is required to validate all saw certifications. You MUST have this certification PRIOR to taking this class.
Required Equipment & PPE:
Heavy-duty, cut-resistant or leather, waterproof or water-repellent, 8-inch-high laced boots with nonskid soles
Long sleeves
Pants (no fraying on the boot overlap)
Leather gloves
6pt hard hat (can be provided to you if needed)
Eye protection
Optional:Crosscut saw with removable handle (extra saws available to participants in limited quantities)
Camping Available: Yes
Physical Difficulty:
High Altitude Project:
Desired Number of Volunteers: 12
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 18
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0
Total Volunteer Days: 18
Total Unique Volunteers: 9
Total Volunteer Hours: 239
Staff Hours: 26
Stipend Hours: 0
Project Summary: Training Site GPS Coordinates: 37.5718702241504, -106.79131404681455 (burn site right past Shaw Lake)
Camp Site GPS Coordinates: 37.538756010115435, -106.79805524220855 (Big Meadows Campground, group site reserved for free via Kyle Burton, USFS)'
The OSI training went really well and we were able to certify 10 sawyer with the help of 4 instructors. Typically we can do groups of 4 vols:1 instructor but feedback was that these smaller groups really helped volunteers get more time on the saw and valuable individual feedback. Shaw Lake is a great location for crosscutting, plenty of down trees with various levels of difficulty. The site could definitely be used again next year.
Instructors were:
Walker Henry (USFS, Pagosa Springs)
Lisa McClure (USFS, retired)
Steve West (OSI, VOC)
Nate Wieland (OSI, VOC)
Successes and Challenges:
Lessons Learned: While having the Zoom training instead of the in person classroom portion was very convenient, I feel the hands on classroom training was much more effective. Having gone through the course myself in 2019, the opportunity to handle the tools while learning the material was really valuable, the in person style of learning was also much more interactive and prompted more Q&A.
Special Notes:
Stewardship Education:
Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers:
Description of Accidents/Incidents: n/a
Description of Work Completed:
Details
| 18 and older |
