2021-Origami Risk SWAT @ Cherry Creek State Park

Start Date-End Date: 09/13/2021-09/13/2021 Land Manager Office: CPW - Cherry Creek State Park Land Manager Contact: Jonathan Kingery Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Join your fellow Origami Risk coworkers for a day of habitat restoration at Cherry Creek State Park. 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 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.VOC will not be providing meals at this time. 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. 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. 116 and we can help you find an open project, if available. Where You'll Be: Located just fifteen miles from downtown Denver and very close to the Origami Risk office, Cherry Creek State Park offers a natural prairie environment nestled around an 880 acre-reservoir. The park is a popular destination for outdoor recreationists, nature lovers and those wanting to quickly get away from the hustle of the city. The park offers complete outdoor recreation facilities including camping, picnicking and facilities for group events. What You'll Do: Volunteers will spend the day helping remove Russian Olive, an invasive species, with hand tools. Why It Matters: Russian Olive is an extremely invasive species known to choke out native plants and prevent them from re-establishing. With more than 80 acres of Russian Olive in the park, your help is needed to remove these plants and further prevent their spread and competition with native species. 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: 39.627697, -104.847298 Additional Information: 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 meals or campsites at this time. 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 Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 30 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 10 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 10 Total Unique Volunteers: 10 Total Volunteer Hours: 30 Staff Hours: 6 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Ten folks from Origami Risk arrived to the site around 9 in the morning. They were given an introduction to VOC as well as the project. Land manager, Jon Kingery, explained the objective which was to trim all the "leafy material" off the Russian Olive trees so he could later come through, stump cut them, and spray them in order to make sure they wouldn't grow again. Volunteers approached the project with much gusto and removed over 100 trees by 11 in the morning and kept on going! Somewhere around 120-150 trees were cut up and piled by the time they ended their three hour project which Jon found impressive! Beth from Origami said she would like to partner Origami Risk with VOC in the future again. Successes and Challenges: Successes: The whole intended area was cut plus a little extra thanks to the efforts of the group High spirits were to be had despite many, MANY scratches from the Russian Olives Everyone brought what they needed for the day Challenges: A few folks wore short sleeves (it was highly recommended to wear long sleeves, but not required) and they got quite scratched up. Literal blood was spilled on this project, but no one complained. Lessons Learned: Not necessarily a lesson for the staff since I think we all know, but Beth did pose for a picture showing her scratched up arms which she said we could use to show folks why wearing long sleeves during Russian Olive projects is a very good idea. Special Notes: Origami Risk is a super pleasant group to work with. From coordinating the whole project beforehand to actually showing up and getting to it, they were positive and easy to work with. Stewardship Education: Jon talked a little on the history of Russian Olive trees, where they came from and why they were used, and went on to explain why we wanted to get rid of them. He also said we could eat the olives if we wanted and talked a little bit about the fruit as well as why he thought it wasn't worth eating. Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Everyone who wore short sleeves got very scratched up. None of them complained or wanted anything to cover them. To be honest, I think they were quite proud of their war wounds. Description of Work Completed: