2022-Forest Health @ Buffalo Creek #1

Start Date-End Date: 06/18/2022-06/19/2022 Land Manager Office: USFS - South Platte Ranger District Land Manager Contact: Chris Kuennen Funding Partner: National Forest Foundation Programmatic Partner: Summary: Registration opens March 1. Help forests thrive on this chainsaw project! Description: Project photo by Sue Daniels Photography 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 include this in the Comments of your registration and send your certificate to Kate Barrett at kate@voc.org. ALL SAWYERS MUST HOLD A CURRENT FIRST AID AND CPR CERTIFICATION IN ORDER TO OPERATE A SAW. Want to get certified? Visit our Training Calendar for upcoming training opportunities. 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 128,000 people in more than 1,000 volunteer projects for a donated labor value of $26 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. Camping is available on both Friday and Saturday night. Please note that VOC does not provide 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: 15 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 31 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 31 Total Unique Volunteers: 17 Total Volunteer Hours: 287 Staff Hours: 34 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Project was scheduled for Saturday and Sunday. Volunteers were encouraged to arrive Friday night to set camp and have an early start. Most volunteers did not camp the first night and decided to arrive Saturday morning. There were no problems with the gate. All volunteers were able to use the combination to open the lock and followed the instruction of closing the gate behind them. Saturday morning was a little challenging since the land manager was not able to attend to the project. One of the volunteers, also a former VOC staff and chainsaw b-certified, led the safety talk and explained the importance of the type of work we were performing. Volunteers carpooled from the camping are to the project site (approx. 1 mile distance). The tool staging area was flat and open enough to park all the volunteer cars there. We had no problems with carpooling or parking at the staging area. We were able to pair each sawyer with a sawmper. We had 5 sawyers in total (2 B-certified and 3 A-certified). Each sawyer had assigned a section and followed the order: A - B - A - B - A (certifications). This with the purpose of having a more experienced sawyer closed by to ask any questions the less experienced sawyers had. This worked out great. All volunteers met for lunch time and hang out together in section 3 since this was in the middle. We had 2 trauma kits: one stayed in section 3 and the other one in section 5. First day of work went a little slower than the second day. A-certified sawyers asked a lot of questions and moved slow at first. The second day was a little more fast paced. All volunteers knew their sections and the instructions. Sawyers also struggle a little with VOC saws. We had a cleaning/maintenance session for the saws at the end of both days. Sawyers were responsible to clean the chainsaw they used. This was done at section 1 while all the volunteers were together. We avoided doing this at the staging area since volunteers had their personal vehicles there and we didn't want them to leave early. Successes and Challenges: Successes: No injuries!!!!!!! A-certified sawyer gain a lot of experience by felling about 15-20 trees during the weekend. Volunteers loved the camping area and the views. Sawyers cleaned and did maintenance to the saws Challenges: Communication with land manager prior and during project was very limited and difficult. Land manager was not present for the project. The VOC truck had to stay at the camping area since it was holding the water buffalo. Which made difficult transportation for VOC staff and evacuation in case of emergency Lessons Learned: The fuel for the chainsaws should be transported in the VOC truck's bed. We didn't do this on the way to the project and the Tool Manager said he had a headache from driving the fuel inside of the rental van. Radios should be carried by the swamper since it would be easier for them to hear it than the sawyers. If the water buffalo is being filled at the USFS fire station, it would take at least an hour. Setting a time to meet for lunch worked out pretty well since volunteers don't get to hang out or talk much while the chainsaws are being used. Flagging the trail from the staging area to the work site. We took the wrong trail on the way back to the cars both days. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Transporting fuel Evacuation plan if the VOC truck stays in the campsite Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: