2022-Delta Dental SWAT @ Chatfield State Park

Start Date-End Date: 07/12/2022-07/12/2022 Land Manager Office: CPW - Chatfield State Park Land Manager Contact: Jason Anderson Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Join Delta Dental and VOC at Chatfield State Park for restoration on the equestrian trail. Description: Where You'll Be: Chatfield State Park is located southwest of Denver and is a popular destination for those hoping to make a quick getaway from the city. The park is open to nearly every type of recreationist including cyclists, hikers, horseback riders, boaters, and fishermen. It is also home to an abundance of wildlife, including over 300 species of birds, which is why the Audubon Society of Greater Denver operates an Audubon Center at the park's historic Atchison Ranch. What You'll Do: Volunteers of all experience levels are welcome on this project.The High Line Canal has countless social trails out of the area, partly because it was never built as a trail to begin with. These unsanctioned and illegal trails create big erosion issues in the park. Volunteers will be split into 3-4 groups tackling a variety of tasks. Some of the group will be de-compacting the soil so that moisture can penetrate and seeds can grow. Others will ensure the new trail line is clear to visitors by creating a 6 ft. wide trail and small water bars to ensure water runs off the trail quickly. Lastly, the volunteers will place branches and woody debris on the trail to disguise the old trails and to discourage use. Why it Matters: More than 1.5 million people visit Chatfield State Park each year. Through this project, volunteers will make sure that people begin using sustainable and planned trails the park provides that do not trample fragile vegetation, do not cause further erosion, and do not disturb wildlife. Latitude/Longitude: 39.543065, -105.0670127 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 12 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 12 Total Unique Volunteers: 12 Total Volunteer Hours: 36 Staff Hours: 9 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Delta Dental joined VOC at Chatfield State Park for a short trail restoration project where volunteers closed down a few social trails and increased the width of the new trail path. One Chatfield State Park seasonal was there in the morning, however, did not have trail experience so the entire group relied on Project Manager's knowledge of trail work and the site visit to assign tasks. Overall, the project went well, volunteers mentioned they loved the workout, and despite the large scope of work for the short time frame, we were able to mostly accomplish the task. We broke into 3 groups: 2 people focused on finding tree limbs on the ground to place on top of the newly closed social trails 4 people worked on the upper entrance to the trail from the High Line Canal. This involved cutting out a fairly steep hillside in order to widen it enough for horses. 6 people worked on the lower section of trail - removing brush/vegetation and expanded the trail to be 6' wide. They then dispersed the vegetation and dirt on top of the social trails to close them down When Project Manager arrived onsite in the morning, it was a little daunting the amount of work ahead of the group for the short time frame. However, we were able to most finish the project! Jason/Chatfield staff will need to add drainage routes for water and clean up the new trail a bit, but otherwise the bulk of the work was completed. The Chatfield seasonal onsite was great to work with, did a great job directing the volunteers when the Project Manager was with the rest of the group. Successes and Challenges: Successes We were able to mostly finish the project! A few neighbors stopped by to learn what we were doing Successful group photo during the morning break the group went to have a picnic nearby, areas suggested by our partner at Chatfield Challenges Volunteers were new to trail work and tired themselves out quickly. We ended early, all volunteers where gone by 10:30am (so roughly 2 hours of trail work, with a 20 min. break around 9:40am) Chatfield staff on site were also new to trail work, and so were unhelpful in knowing what the trail should look like and what to do Lessons Learned: If doing trail work with a corporate team, no matter how small, it's useful to have at least 1 crew leader as another source of information for volunteers Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: