2022-SWAT: BOK @ Bergen Park

Start Date-End Date: 05/27/2022-05/27/2022 Land Manager Office: City and County of Denver - Parks and Recreation Land Manager Contact: Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Help forests thrive! Join your colleagues to take part in simple, but important, tasks designed to improve the health of native Ponderosa pines and reduce the severity of wildfires Description: Where You'll Be: Bergen Park, closest to Evergreen and just a short drive down I-70 from the Denver Metro area, is one of the area's most accessible parks. Open grasslands, mature ponderosa pine trees, and a mix of wooded and open areas make for a perfect place to spend a day in nature. The park, established in 1859 when Thomas Bergen built his cabin there and named the parcel, is on the National Register of Historic Places. There is a large parking area and access to restrooms from the RTD Park n' Ride lot. It's also very near Evergreen Parkway, with many amenities available there. What You'll Do: Help forests thrive! Join your colleagues to take part in simple, but important, tasks designed to improve the health of native Ponderosa pines and reduce the severity of wildfires. The work will involve using handsaws to cut smaller trees at ground level, which will then be collected and chipped. We may also chip material that has already been cut be previous groups.Families and children 10+ are welcome! 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 Bergen Park's Ponderosa pines, you will reduce the impact of wildfires and help the trees grow stronger and ensure a more resilient forest. Latitude/Longitude: 39.8465412, 105.2030258 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Easy High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 11 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 5 Total Volunteer Days: 16 Total Unique Volunteers: 16 Total Volunteer Hours: 6 Staff Hours: 13 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: The project was planned for 20 volunteers (BOK staff and their families). Since volunteers did not use the system to registered it wasn't clear how many volunteers we were expecting for the project. The morning of the project, 11 volunteers and 5 youth participants arrived to Bergen Park to transplant Ponderosa trees. The project difficulty seemed to be good for all participants of different ages. Participants asked great questions to the Denver Parks and Recreation staff about forest health, especially why we were moving trees from that area. Bergen Park offered plenty of shade areas to rest and shaded picnic tables for lunch time. Successes and Challenges: Successes: -Families had a great time transplanting trees. -Some volunteers stayed at Bergen Park after the project was over to explore the area. -Bathrooms and shaded areas were available to us to use. -Difficulty level of this project was great for the diverse group. Volunteers who were looking for something a little more challenging transplanted bigger trees. Challenges: -Communication pre-project was almost non-existent -We didn't have a final count of volunteers when loading tools so we had to load extra tools. Lessons Learned: The small red buckets at Ops are not big enough for transplanting Ponderosas saplings. Ask the land manager for dimensions needed for the buckets. In this case, the land manager provided the buckets. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: