2022-Habitat Restoration @ Moon Pass

Start Date-End Date: 07/30/2022-07/31/2022 Land Manager Office: USFS - Rio Grande National Forest Land Manager Contact: David Tronquet Funding Partner: National Forest Foundation Programmatic Partner: Summary: Registration opens June 1. Spend a weekend pulling oxeye daisy at Moon Pass. Description: Project photo courtesy of Ryan Watters; daisy photo by Julie Majors. Where You'll Be: Consisting of seven peaks in the quiet and scenic San Luis Valley, the La Garita Mountains are part of the San Juan Mountains and the Rio Grande National Forest. We'll be camped among creeks, spruce, and aspen near Moon Pass, a high mountain pass located at 10,571 feet above sea level. What You'll Do: Spend the weekend in the starry-skied San Luis Valley, where we will hike through forested slopes to remove oxeye daisy. While the area has been treated for this invasive weed since 2012, mostly with herbicide, volunteers will hand-pull the oxeye daisy to mitigate the growth and spread of the plant without chemicals. While this project is open to volunteers ages 16+, volunteers should be prepared for physically demanding work at high-altitude: some pulling and hiking will be along the roadside while some will be off-trail and require walking over downed trees and past some brush. 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. Why It Matters: Oxeye daisy is a List B invasive noxious weed in Colorado, meaning we need to actively stop the spread of this species. Oxeye daisy out-competes native species that are nutritious for elk and other wildlife, while the daisy offers no nutrients. By removing oxeye daisy from the area, you will improve the health of native plant communities and wildlife. 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: 37.907985, -106.427466 Additional Information: 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. To organize carpooling please visithttps://www.groupcarpool.com/t/65dh92 Please determine the following amongst yourselves: 1. Pick up location 2. When you leave 3. Vaccination status 4. Mask usage VOC suggests coordinating carpooling in the safest way possible and encouraging a mask friendly policy in your cars. If you have any issues finding a rider or a ride, please feel free to reach out to myself. Happy volunteering! Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Difficult High Altitude Project: Yes Desired Number of Volunteers: 35 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 39 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 0 Total Volunteer Days: 39 Total Unique Volunteers: 23 Total Volunteer Hours: 444 Staff Hours: 40 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: CAMPING INFORMATION:POSO CAMPGROND COORDIANTES: Latitude:37.90800199Longitude:-106.4273694Elevation:9,000 The campground will be reserved for the VOC project. There are 8 sites but plenty of room, please expect to share campsites with other volunteers when you arrive. Car and tent camping available, if you are planning on driving a larger vehicle such as a camper, please coordinate with me directly to see if we can accommodate. There is no water at the campground, but I will have a 200-gallon water tank on site with plenty of water to refill bottles. Vault toilets are available at the campground but not at the work site. WORK LOCATION: 38.00644, -106.51833 upper and lower logging road split point. We worked both those roads. Successes and Challenges: Successes: - Appeals to a unique type of volunteer, have many new VOC volunteers (or returning who have only attended this project) -Land manager, Dave T, very engaged with volunteers and great to work with Challenges: -Recruitment, we could use more people. Sending early registration to past Moon Pass volunteers was successful -Would be nice to camp closer to the work but its very expensive to find someone willing to drop a porto up there Lessons Learned: The work is straight forward so I didn't assign CLs to groups. Would be helpful in the future. Logging roads can be confusing so having them all mapped and providing maps to volunteers would help. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Invasive weed reference books Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: n/a Description of Work Completed: