Spruce Gulch Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Continuing work WRV began last year, volunteers pulled the highly invasive Colorado A-listed Myrtle Spurge on over 50 acres at three different sites, Eldorado Canyon State Park, Mesa Trailhead for Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, and Spruce Gulch on national forest land.

Coot Pond Wetland Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

WRV restored 1800 feet of shoreline habitat along the banks of Coot Pond. We installed numerous wetland plants, willow poles, ball-and-burlap shrubs, and 718 feet of erosion control matting to stabilize the shoreline and re-establish a native plant community.

Dragonfly Pond Wetland Restoration

CANCELLED
Unfortunately, this project had to be cancelled due to unanticipated hydrological issues affecting the water level of the pond. The project cannot proceed until these issues are resolved, which probably means 2008.

We recommend the Coot Pond Wetland Restoration as an excellent alternative.

Date(s):

WRV will return for the eighth time to the site of Wildlands Restoration Volunteers' first project! Back in 1999, and 112 projects ago, 20 volunteers restored shoreline habitat at Heron Pond, in this Boulder County open space park west of Longmont. The willows planted are now over 8 feet tall and thriving! In 2006, we restored 600 feet of shoreline on Webster Pond and 300 feet of shoreline on an island in Heron Pond. This work was very successful with our extensive willow plantings growing several feet by mid-summer. In 2007, we will return to continue restoration at Dragon Fly Pond. The eastern shoreline is unstable and eroding. Volunteers will stabilize the bank with a variety of willow and wetland plantings. This project will improve water quality, enhance habitat for birds, fish and other wildlife.

Eldorado Canyon / Mesa Trail Myrtle Spurge Project

COMPLETED

Sponsors

Date(s):

Continuing work WRV began two years ago, volunteers pulled the highly invasive Colorado A-listed Myrtle Spurge. We have now reduced the Myrtle Spurge population in the Eldorado/Mesa Trailhead area by over 95%.

Boulder Prairie Restoration IV

COMPLETED

Sponsors

Date(s):

Building on three years of successful progress, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers continued the urgent quest to remove Mediterranean Sage from Boulder County. Left unchecked, this Colorado A-listed top priority weed aggressively invades grasslands, reduces native plant populations, and degrades wildlife habitat and the overall health of prairie ecosystems. Working closely with OSMP, BCPOS and NOAA, WRV targeted its removal efforts at four high priority sites north of Boulder. Volunteers walked across beautiful open space, popping thousands of plants out of the ground. Agency partners complimented volunteers on the incredible thoroughness of the work. With sustained action, state wide eradication is possible, which would protect prairie ecosystems and wildlife habitat.

Arapaho NWR River Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

In 2007, WRV completed the third phase of a river restoration research project we began 2004, in collaboration with USGS researchers, and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Volunteers built elk exclosures to protect plantings from herbivory, then planted close to 1,000 willow cuttings, using four planting methods. The purpose of the study is to identify the most effective willow planting techniques that can be applied in the coming years to restore many miles of the Illinois River.

Castle Rock Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Castle Rock (the namesake butte after which the town is named) is an important and historic landmark, and popular hiking area with scenic vistas set in a Gambel Oak/Ponderosa shrubland. Severe erosion is threatening the northern slopes of this dramatic geological feature. Gullies have formed over three feet deep and the area is becoming denuded of vegetation. To stop the erosion, volunteers planted native seed, and installed erosion control fabric, check dams and straw wattles. Over 300 feet of fencing (with signs) were installed to keep people off this erosion prone area.

Mediterranean Sage Last Stand

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Building on three years of successful progress, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers continued the urgent quest to remove Mediterranean Sage from Boulder County. Left unchecked, this Colorado A-listed top priority weed aggressively invades grasslands, reduces native plant populations, and degrades wildlife habitat and the overall health of prairie ecosystems. Working closely with OSMP, BCPOS and NOAA, WRV targeted its removal efforts at four high priority sites north of Boulder. Volunteers walked across beautiful open space, popping thousands of plants out of the ground. Agency partners complimented volunteers on the incredible thoroughness of the work. With sustained action, state wide eradication is possible, which would protect prairie ecosystems and wildlife habitat.

St. Vrain Creek Tamarisk Project

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Tamarisk (aka Salt Cedar) has devastated watersheds throughout the west, costing billions in lost water, habitat, and electricity. It has invaded many Colorado Front Range watersheds, including the St. Vrain Creek and Boulder Creek watersheds. Volunteers surveyed and removed Tamarisk along a two-mile stretch of St. Vrain Creek, plus Russian Olive and Siberian Elm.

Phantom Canyon Habitat Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Volunteers enjoyed a rare opportunity to visit the spectacular and remote Phantom Canyon Preserve, located 25 miles northwest of Fort Collins. Volunteers removed Canada Thistle, Mullein and Dalmation toadflax along the Cache le Poudre River corridor, preventing their spread.

Boulder Creek Restoration 1

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) is new to Colorado and has been found in Boulder Creek and a few other places in Colorado. This aggressive aquatic weed has choked rivers and lakes in the mid-west and New England, with devastating impacts to fishing, swimming and boating. In New England, EWM tangles the legs of swimmers and strangles boat motors. EWM displaces native species and drastically reduces biodiversity. Working closely with City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, volunteers traversed a half mile of Boulder Creek, removing EWM as they went. Volunteers learned about aquatic ecology and how to identify and remove EWM, while enjoying the cool water of Boulder Creek on hot summer days.

Seed Collection II

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Many restoration projects depend on precious hand collected native seed because purchased seeds are unavailable, too expensive or not an acceptable match to the local native species genotypes. Volunteers gathered native grass and wildflower seeds four times during the summer at different open space locations. These seeds will be used directly in futures restoration projects or "increased" or grown out agriculturally, dramatically increasing the amount of locally adapted grass seed available for revegetation projects on local public lands.

Waldrop Niwot Trail Projects

COMPLETED

Date(s):

The Brainard Lake area is extremely popular, offering spectacular hiking, x-c skiing, mountainbiking and other recreational opportunities. WRV has adopted this area, having completed over a dozen projects since 2000. In 2007, we worked on two different trails. On the Waldrop Trail, volunteers rerouted a trail away from a fragile subalpine wetland. This, in part, required the construction of a 200+ foot boardwalk. On the Niwot Cut-Off Trail, volunteers rerouted or performed maintenance on hundreds of feet of trail approaching spectacular Long Lake. Volunteers stayed at the historic Brainard CMC cabin.

Cultiva Youth Project

COMPLETED

Date(s):

WRV strives to include a diverse spectrum of volunteers in its project activities. Youth are the next generation of land stewards. Involving them in our work is essential to the long term cultivation of a caring community of land stewards. WRV continued a seven year tradition, partnering with the Cultiva summer program to involve youth in continuing work on the Niwot Cutoff and Waldrop trails near Brainard Lake. The goal of this project is to provide team building, leadership development and conservation education opportunities to these youth while accomplishing tangible trail maintenance and subalpine restoration. The group enjoyed an overnight stay at the historic Brainard CMC Cabin.

Fan Lake Wetland Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

A high country earthen dam at Rocky Mountain National Park's Lawn Lake breeched in 1982, sending a torrential flood down the canyon. The flood created a massive alluvial fan across the valley floor, which artificially dammed Fall River, destroying 12 acres of riparian habitat. Significant hydrological changes and continuous elk grazing have limited the re-establishment of willows within the disturbed area. Successful restoration of willow/riparian habitat is dependent upon restoring the hydrology, developing a revegetation design, and finally replanting willows and other wetland plant species with appropriate elk enclosures. A multi-phase approach is in progress to successfully accomplish these goals over the next two years. Wildlands Restoration Volunteers planted over 17,000 wetland carex and juncus, along with 900 willows to recreate native wetland habitat that was destroyed by the flood.

Lake Isabelle Trail and Alpine Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

The trails into the Indian Peaks Wilderness near Brainard Lake are among the most heavily used wilderness trails in the country. Lake Isabelle receives a lot of traffic-and, for good reason, since it is truly spectacular, situated in a classic glacial valley. WRV continued with our fourth year of work around Lake Isabelle to improve the trail system, close redundant social trails, and restore alpine habitat. We had special permission from the Forest Service to camp near the lake. The entire watershed is normally closed to camping.

Boulder Creek Restoration 2

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) is new to Colorado and has been found in Boulder Creek and a few other places in Colorado. This aggressive aquatic weed has choked rivers and lakes in the mid-west and New England, with devastating impacts to fishing, swimming and boating. In New England, EWM tangles the legs of swimmers and strangles boat motors. EWM displaces native species and drastically reduces biodiversity. Working closely with City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, volunteers traversed a half mile of Boulder Creek, removing EWM as they went. Volunteers learned about aquatic ecology and how to identify and remove EWM, while enjoying the cool water of Boulder Creek on hot summer days.

RESCHEDULED Seed Collection III

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Many restoration projects depend on precious hand collected native seed because purchased seeds are unavailable, too expensive or not an acceptable match to the local native species genotypes. Volunteers gathered native grass and wildflower seeds four times during the summer at different open space locations. These seeds will be used directly in futures restoration projects or "increased" or grown out agriculturally, dramatically increasing the amount of locally adapted grass seed available for revegetation projects on local public lands.

Crater Lakes Trail Project

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Crater Lakes are among the highest and most scenic lakes along the Front Range. With the relatively new James Peak Wilderness designation, trail use will only increase in the years to come. A new trail route has been badly needed to replace the severely eroded maze of unofficial social trails that now lead to Crater lakes. Building on our success on the nearby Forest Lakes and South Boulder Creek trails over the past four years, WRV constructed 1400 feet of trail and closed/restored social trails to help complete the new route to Crater Lakes. Volunteers camped at a beautiful subalpine site near Crater Lakes. The food and gear was hauled in by llamas 2.5 miles to the base camp.

Seed Collection III

RESCHEDULED, THEN COMPLETED

Date(s):

Seed collection is a great family activity! Many land restoration projects depend on precious hand collected native seed because purchased seeds are unavailable, too expensive or not an acceptable match to the local native species ecotypes. Volunteers will hand collect a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. These seeds will be grown out to multiply (100 or 1000 fold) the amount of locally adapted grass seed that is available for revegetation projects on local public lands.

Boulder Creek Restoration 3

CANCELLED
Good news. City of Boulder Open Space, with the help of WRV, has made excellent progress this summer removing Eurasian Watermilfoil from Boulder Creek, so they will not need our help for this third EWM project of the season. We'll be back out there next year continuing the quest.

Date(s):

Come celebrate labor day weekend, learn more about the fascinating ecology of streams and wetlands, and help stop a very serious threat to all Colorado waterways?

THE PROBLEM
Eurasian Watermilfoil (EWM) is new to Colorado and has been found in Boulder Creek and a few other places in Colorado. This aggressive aquatic weed has choked rivers and lakes in the mid-west and New England, with devastating impacts to fishing, swimming and boating. In New England, EWM tangles the legs of swimmers and strangles boat motors. EWM displaces native species and drastically reduces biodiversity. Do we want this future for our beloved Colorado streams?

THE SOLUTION
Working closely with City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, volunteers will traverse a stretch of Boulder Creek, mapping and removing EWM as they go. You'll learn about aquatic ecology and how to identify and remove EWM, while enjoying the cool water of Boulder Creek on a summer day.

Arapaho NWR Willow Monitoring & Planting

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Volunteers helped monitor willow canopy dimensions, shoot lengths, and stem diameters. We had experienced monitors, researchers, and botanists on the project and everyone enjoyed the WRV community during and after the work days.

Arapaho NWR Boardwalk Construction

COMPLETED

Date(s):

WRV Volunteers worked for up to five days on two separate projects at the Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge. One group constructed 520 feet of boardwalk, adding to the 400 feet of boardwalk and a 50 foot span bridge we constructed the past two years. Our work re-establishes ecologically friendly public access, especially for persons with disabilities, to this area of prime river/moose habitat along the Illinois River. The second group completed a critical phase of scientific monitoring to document the results of our joint research with the FWS and USGS to identify the most effective willow planting techniques to be used in future riparian restoration along the Illinois River.

Seed Collection IV

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Many restoration projects depend on precious hand collected native seed because purchased seeds are unavailable, too expensive or not an acceptable match to the local native species genotypes. Volunteers gathered native grass and wildflower seeds four times during the summer at different open space locations. These seeds will be used directly in futures restoration projects or "increased" or grown out agriculturally, dramatically increasing the amount of locally adapted grass seed available for revegetation projects on local public lands.

Left Hand Canyon Protection Barrier

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Forest habitat along Forest Road 286, in Left Hand Canyon, has been severely impacted by years of motorized recreation. The Forest Service and many members of the motorized community agree that this area needs help. Over the past three years, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers collaborated with the Forest Service, Trail Ridge Runners, and others, to complete the first three phases of an award-winning restoration project. In 2007, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers continued the multi-year effort by installing post and cable fencing the week before the restoration project.

Left Hand Canyon Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Forest habitat along Forest Road 286, in Left Hand Canyon, has been severely impacted by years of motorized recreation. The Forest Service and many members of the motorized community agree that this area needs help. Over the past three years, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers collaborated with the Forest Service, Trail Ridge Runners, and others, to complete the first three phases of an award-winning restoration project. In 2007, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers continued the multi-year effort to restore the area. This year, we concentrated our efforts to close and restore eighteen spur roads off the FR286 corridor. This work benefited the larger watershed by reducing the extreme erosion of the site, thus improving downstream stream habitat and water quality in Left Hand Creek. Volunteers seeded multiple areas and applied straw mulch and erosion fabric. The restoration area was protected by post and cable fencing installed the week before the restoration project.

Marshall Mesa Grassland Restoration

COMPLETED

Date(s):

Marshall Mesa, south of Boulder, offers popular open space trails with majestic views of the Flatirons. Much of Marshall Mesa was historically grassland. With the suppression of fires, Ponderosa pines have encroached upon the area. The tree cover has changed the grassland ecosystem by shading out the native understory and adding fuel that could create more intense wildfires. The density of trees approached 500 per acre before WRV began work. Volunteers thinned tens of thousands of small diameter Ponderosa seedlings on 35 acres of the mesa, using loppers and hand saws with some chainsaw support. The results were immediate and dramatic.

Tool Fest

COMPLETED

Date(s):

WRV has acquired an extensive collection of tools over the past years. These tools are housed in two large storage units provided free of charge by U Store It Self-Storage in Gunbarrel. These tools require regular maintenance. Volunteers gathered to clean, sharpen, sand, oil, paint, organize, and inventory our tools. We celebrated afterward as this is the final outdoor event of the WRV season!