2021-Forest Health @ Buffalo Creek #1

Start Date-End Date: 06/19/2021-06/20/2021 Land Manager Office: USFS - South Platte Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Chris Kuennen Funding Partner: National Forest Foundation Programmatic Partner: Summary: Help forests thrive on this chainsaw project! 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 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 work gloves. Please click here for 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. 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: The Buffalo Creek area is an approximately 90-minute drive Southwest of Denver, in the Pike and San Isabel National Forests. With plenty of U.S. Forest Service designated campgrounds and 50 miles of hiking, biking, and equestrian trails - many of which tie in to the Colorado Trail - this area is a popular destination for urban-dwellers seeking to escape the city while avoiding I-70 traffic. What You'll Do: Join us for the first weekend of Summer as we help care for Colorado's forests. This project for volunteers ages 18+ will consist of two types of volunteers: chainsaw-certified volunteers to cut dead and dying trees, and volunteers to help clear debris from felled trees and move it to an area where our Forest Service partners will later collect it. In doing so, you will help promote a healthy forest ecosystem by mitigating threats of disease and wildfires. Camping is available Friday and Saturday night; VOC's volunteer Crew Chefs will provide breakfast on Saturday and Sunday as well as dinner on Saturday night. *Only certified sawyers will be allowed to operate the chainsaws. If you are certified, please register and send your certificate to Kelly Clouse at kclouse@voc.org. Why It Matters: When trees grow in clusters, they compete for moisture, nutrients, and sunlight. This weakens the trees and makes them more susceptible to bark beetles and diseases, which in turn leads to dead trees - perfect fuel for wildfires. By reducing the density of trees in the area, you will reduce the impact of wildfires and help the trees grow stronger and the forest more resilient. 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: 39.320721, -105.246259 Additional Information: Only certified sawyers will be allowed to operate the chainsaws. If you are certified, please contact Kelly Clouse at kclouse@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 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 breakfast on Saturday and Sunday as well as dinner on Saturday night. More information about camping will be sent via email approximately two weeks before the project. Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 9 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 30 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 30 Total Unique Volunteers: 17 Total Volunteer Hours: 291 Staff Hours: 34.5 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Volunteers safely thinned an area of forest near Buffalo Creek in order to help mitigate for future fires. Sawyers felled the trees and limbed them while swampers (those not working a saw) pulled the limbs away and stacked them in 10x8 slash piles. Successes and Challenges: Successes: No injuries Sawyers were able to get comfortable with the saw and advance their skills with the ability to give each other feedback and tips Really good food (especially the cookies) Challenges: Not enough felling axes, especially after one ax broke Very sloped areas which were hard to cut in, especially for newer sawyers Due to safety, everyone was quite spread out so taking an accurate reading of "area thinned" was difficult Lessons Learned: Bringing everyone together for lunches created a fun atmosphere where people could share what they'd done so far and connect which they can't really do while sawing. Having sawyers spread out in pairs so each sawyer had at least one more sawyer near-by helped so they could get feedback as well as observe if they were unsure about anything. Would be best to pair newer sawyers with those who already have a good handle on their cuts and reading of the tree. Bring extra water down to the site even if people have more than 4 liters! Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: There are some important chef equipment that have been slightly broken for a few projects now which don't seem to be getting set aside/fixed. We may need a better way of communicating what needs to be looked at. Description of Accidents/Incidents: One ax was broken -- not due to misuse One chain break handle broke after a sawyer misread the lean and the tree fell on the saw while they escaped Lots of dehydration on the first day Description of Work Completed: