2023-CoralTree Team Stewardship Day @ Cherry Creek State Park

Start Date-End Date: 08/17/2023-08/17/2023 Land Manager Office: Land Manager Contact: Jonathan Kingery Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: For the 2nd year in a row, CoralTree Hospitality will be volunteering with us at Cherry Creek State Park to remove invasive Russian Olive trees! Description: Volunteers will use loppers to cut off branches from Russian Olive trees that will then be cut up via wood chipper. This will leave the bare trunks of the trees so that it is much easier for park staff to cut them down via chainsaw and spray with pesticide so they won't grow back. Latitude/Longitude: 39.620611, -104.840785 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 20 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: Total Youth Volunteers Attended: Total Volunteer Days: Total Unique Volunteers: Total Volunteer Hours: 0 Staff Hours: 15 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Parking for the initial Welcome Talk portion was to be in the Family Shooting Center but they have their own gate that doesn't open until 10am so volunteers just parked on the side of the road leading up to the Center. The Welcome Talk was quick enough that we could move all the cars down the worksite on South Jordan Rd with ease without blocking too many other cars in that area at 9am. I gave the Welcome Talk at the Family Shooting Center just to introduce VOC and then give directions for how we'd caravan down the road together so that all of the Safety Talk could happen at the actual worksite and they could see the Russian Olives they are working with. Volunteers parked on the side of South Jordan Rd and joined Jon from Cherry Creek SP for the Safety Talk and intro into Russian Olive. A couple volunteers helped me set up the pop-up tent and I staged all the safety supplies I had. Folks dropped off all their stuff at our tents and used bug spray, any additional sunscreen, and made sure to give them the leather gloves and advised against the rubber gardening gloves as the Russian Olive would poke through them. They began putting already downed Russian Olive branches into the chipper from that starting point near the tents and worked their way down the road. Since most people had done this with the same group last year, they were immediately assuming the assembly line of taking down branches, collecting the branches and taking them to the chipper, and designated one or 2 people sweeping up the debris afterwards. One of the volunteers that was there last year joined Jon and park staff at staying by the wood chipper to help feed the branches through from folks who were gathering. We took a few designated breaks from work so everyone could walk back to the tents, get shade and water. This also allowed the wood chipper to take a break to prevent over-heating and/or park staff could run a full truckload of chips to their debris pile. Most people didn't seem to use the ear protection we had to offer. Not sure if it was due to it being uncomfortable or they assumed that they were far enough away from the chipper for most of them time that they didn't need it. Everyone seemed to follow directions for having long pants and sleeves which was essential to being safe on this project due to the thorns on the Russian Olives. Jon had mentioned that he was maybe going to have park staff chainsaw the tree trunks down and spray herbicide for the project day but none of the park staff ended up doing which eliminated the safety concerns for that. When it came to lunch, one of their co-workers came to drop off the catering and the group decided to eat lunch on the worksite instead of having it in the park. I would advise that they carpool to a section of the park with picnic tables as they didn't have many chairs for folks to sit on and relax and shade was fairly limited as well. Because they decided to eat on the worksite, I wasn't prepared with the amount of trash we had so we had to gather a lot of small bags we had to make up for the lack of a big garbage bag. When we continued work for the last hour or so, we did have one park visitor go down the road of our worksite since the gate was open and angrily interacted with a couple of the volunteers and then left. Jon was preoccupied with wood chipper so didn't see the interaction take place I think. It's tough because we want the front gate to remain open for volunteers that want to carpool to the bathrooms when necessary but it does leave room for some park visitors to sometimes wander though the walk/bike only road with their cars. All in all, the volunteers wood chipped 4 truckloads of Russian Olive debris! Once they were done, the group went back to the tents and immediately started drinking some beers they had for after work. Again, I thought they would do this either in another part of the park or somewhere outside of the park due to the lack of seating they brought and also not sure if it's actually allowed? But Jon and I gave a big thank you for them while they relaxed and had some folks leaving. But since a good group of them stayed to relax, it prevented me from taking down the tent and packing up all of my supplies immediately. Successes and Challenges: Successes: Bringing a pop-up tent for shade was absolutely necessary and appreciated! Becky, the volunteer group leader also brought her own for more shade. Volunteers were generally good sports for how hot it was and in good spirits! Everyone seemed to be very safe and stopped if they needed to remove a thorn from a shoe or wash off any thorn pricks. Since the group had done this same project last year, I think they appreciated the continuity and familiarity of the project work. I made parking passes for their cars which had Jon's call number and project details on it and they could use to enjoy the park afterwards if they wanted. Challenges: Ithink Jon could have gone into more detail about why they are removing Russian Olive and what impact it meant for them to be there. The group didn't bring a lot of chairs for their volunteers to use when it came to lunch and after work since they wanted to hang out at the worksite for both. I didn't hear anyone complain about it but I figure it might have been more enjoyable if they did. Hot weather! Lessons Learned: Bring disposable masks or highly recommend volunteers to bring a buff to cover their mouth due to the debris from the wood chipper Advise the volunteer group to have lunch and enjoy the park afterwards away from the worksite so that they can take advantage of their time there and also have a more comfortable experience! Or advise them to bring more chairs for their group as part of the packing list. Possibly have the project later in the Fall when weather is a little cooler. Highlight the need to bring sturdy closed toed shoes, some folks had softer running shoes and had some thorns that they stepped on that almost came through the whole shoe. Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: 4 truckloads of Russian Olive debris chipped, 1.13 acres of area covered for invasive species removal!