2021-Electric Hills Trail Construction @ Montrose: Mike O'Brien Memorial Project

Start Date-End Date: 09/11/2021-09/12/2021 Land Manager Office: BLM - Uncompahgre Field Office Land Manager Contact: Caroline Kilbane Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Colorado Plateau Mtn Biking Association - Montrose Summary: Spend a weekend in the charming Western Slope town of Montrose building a trail on the Uncompahgre Plateau. Description: Project photo courtesy of COPMOBA 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 pack your own lunches. Please see below for more information on meals. You must bring a face mask and work gloves. Please click here for our full packing list of required and recommended items. All volunteers must keep a mask within reach at all times.We will ask you to wear a mask when working closely together (within arm's reach) on a task, such as moving a large rock. If you are not vaccinated,we encourage you to reconsider your participation at this time due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant. People who are unvaccinated are more at risk of serious illness, hospitalization, and death. If you choose to volunteer while unvaccinated, you must wear a mask for the duration of the project. Cancellation & Waitlists: Due to limited spots on this year's projects, we expect projects to fill quickly with waitlists. If you need to cancel, please email outreach@voc.org as 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: This proposed trail system, deemed the Electric Hills, is situated along the eastern edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau and offers spectacular views of Grand Mesa, the West Elk Mountains, and Storm King Peak. Just outside the charming Western Slope town of Montrose, the area offers a wealth of opportunities for adventure and volunteers may choose to extend their time to explore the Ridgeway Area Trails with switchbacks built by VOC, or other nearby attractions such as the hot springs pool in Ouray, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, and the San Juan Mountains. What You'll Do: In partnership with the Bureau of Land Management Uncompahgre Field Office and the Colorado Plateau Mountain Bike Association (COPMOBA), volunteers ages 14+ will build an exciting new segment of trail designed with mountain bikers in mind, but open to hikers and horseback riders as well. This weekend project will feature moderately difficult tasks, including the chance to build appealing mountain bike features and learn new skills in rock work. With campsites (and bathrooms) provided in town at Rotary Park and meals from our volunteer Crew Chefs, this is a great way to meet like-minded people from across the state and create new opportunities to hike, bike, and explore! Why It Matters: Montrose is a small town in a rural area on the Western Slope, with many trails for motorized OHV use, but limited opportunities for non-motorized use. The trail you help build will be part of a much larger proposal for an expansive 20-mile system of new single-track, which will provide a fun, safe recreation opportunity for visitors and residents alike. 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: 38.495355, -107.773613 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 pack your own lunches.Please see below for more information on meals. You must bring work gloves.Pleaseclick herefor our full packing list of required and recommended items. If you are fully vaccinated,you may work without a mask. If you are not yet fully vaccinated or if you prefer to wear a mask for any reason, please continue to wear a mask on VOC projects. We will have spare masks available if needed. Camping is available on both Friday and Saturday night. Please note that VOC doesnotprovide any camping equipment (tents, sleeping bags, etc.) but will provide dinner on Saturday night as well as breakfast on Sunday. More information about camping will be sent via email approximately two weeks before the project. Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate, Difficult High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 35 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 40 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 40 Total Unique Volunteers: 25 Total Volunteer Hours: 356 Staff Hours: 56.75 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Despite some limiting factors, this was still a great project with plenty of enthusiasm once people were actually on site and getting their hands dirty. We completed over 1200 feet of trail and 1 large climbing turn requiring a significant rock retaining wall and the removal of a very large, stubborn juniper tree. Successes and Challenges: Successes: - completed unexpectedly difficult climbing turn - Susan's food was amazing and definitely impressed MUT/locals--makes it more likely they'll apply to have us back next year! Challenges: -While the amenities at Rotary Park were great and convenient (soft grass, indoor bathrooms, running water) it wasn't great to be camping in the city. There were lights on all night at the school nearby and in the surrounding parking lots and neighborhood, the hospital is nearby so there were often sirens, cars and diesel trucks made it noisy throughout the day and night, and a group of teenagers tried to steal some of signage on Saturday night. People were worried their tents and gear were not safe during the day while we were on the trail so the kitchen crew had to keep at least one person in the park throughout the day. Plus it was a 20 minute drive to the trailhead each morning, which complicated logistics and made our morning starts very slow. - Low registration numbers--see below for factors affecting registration numbers. See "Lessons Learned" for suggestions on how to mitigate next year volunteer fatigue and far drive from Denver MUT had an event the weekend before for Labor Day so locals had already come out to volunteer Masking policy discouraged locals from attending (it's a conservative county and a lot of people don't want to mask and/or are not vaccinated and didn't like our policies/communications) Lessons Learned: If we/MUT decides to do this project again, definitely recommend scheduling in the spring to avoid late-season volunteer fatigue. A spring date would help with numbers a lot. Camp at the trailhead parking lot instead of Rotary Park--it's closer to the worksite, doesn't necessarily require any carpooling/shuttling, and is more secure. The city park was noisy, bright, and had a lot of people passing through. Camping outside of town would be much more pleasant even though there are fewer amenities. Communications with local/MUT volunteers: make sure to communicate differences between a VOC project and MUT volunteer day in advertising/recruiting leading up to project. Specify that VOC projects are a whole event with food, socializing, multiple crews, etc versus a MUT volunteer day where it's just a couple crews and only for a few hours//much looser and without the social component Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: