2021-Monarch SWAT @ Castlewood Canyon State Park

Start Date-End Date: 09/24/2021-09/24/2021 Land Manager Office: CPW - Castlewood Canyon State Park Land Manager Contact: Jordan Boge Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: 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. Description: Where You'll Be: Hidden in the rolling prairie on Highway 83 near Franktown, Colorado, is Castlewood Canyon State Park. An easy drive from both Denver and Colorado Springs, this park offers unique geological formations, rich Colorado history, four different ecosystems and several hiking trails. What You'll Do: Work will include new trail staircase installation, implementing erosion control methods, and social trail closures. Why It Matters: The maintenance and erosion repair that volunteers will provide is essential in ensuring the trail's longevity and usability. Castlewood Canyon State Park is enjoyed by many Front Range nature lovers and hikers, and volunteers' efforts to keep this trail in optimal condition will be visible and appreciated for years to come! Latitude/Longitude: 39.333361, -104.744576 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 25 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 22 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 22 Total Unique Volunteers: 22 Total Volunteer Hours: 138.75 Staff Hours: 12.5 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: VOC partnered with Monarch Investments and Castlewood Canyon State park to give some much needed attention to one of the most used trails in the park, Lake Gulch Trail. The sandy soils, intense rainstorms, and high usage in the area cause major erosion to this hikers only trail. Tasks included building check steps and timber armored gullies to help retain the highly erodible soil at the bottom of the inner canyon. Crews also helped to close various large social trails to discourage users from meandering to the bankside of the fragile Cherry Creek riparian ecosystem. Monarch Investments brought a crew of 20 folks, including a Geoff Frazier- a Monarch Investment employee and VOC trained Crew Leaders. Crews arrived at 9:30 am, and were given a site orientation, divided into crews, and began the 1 mile hike down. Crews began working around 10:30 am and accomplished a good chunk of work before lunch. After lunch crews only had a few hours to continue working, as we needed to be out of the canyon by 3pm. The timing was great, and all work was finished right around 2:30pm. Jordan Boge, the CPW contact, was pleased with the quantity and quality of work done and was looking forward to working with VOC again in the future. Successes and Challenges: Success: A lot of work was accomplished given the short day and high traffic on the trail. Geoff Frazier was great to have as he helped to "link the gap" between VOC and Monarch Investments. CPW brought tools and materials down to site in the Kubota-made for a much easier and successful project. Challenges: The steep slope in the area the crews armor gullies were working in caused some safety concerns. We had a few crew members sliding around a bit, and it was difficult to step aside to allow hikers through, Not having the group sign waivers electronically beforehand created quite a bit of chaos in the morning ensuring everyone was ready for check-in. There was quite a bit of poison ivy in the area, and many crew members were not aware of what it looked like. It was a concern of the staff having folks head off trail. Limitations on where material could be collected was a challenge that slowed down crews (see Stewardship Education". Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: This area is Prebble's Jumping Mouse protected habitat and so material collection had to occur outside of "100 feet from the riparian area". Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: This trail was highly trafficked by children. Large groups of kids with 1 or 2 adults. This was a bit of a concern as they moved through our :Construction zone", It would've been safer to have the trail closed that day. Description of Accidents/Incidents: None Description of Work Completed: