No experience
is required. Meals are served in most cases.
Spread the word! Tell your friends about these exciting projects!
Brainard Winter Trail Clearing
COMPLETED
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 18 (more info)
Date(s):
Tuesday Jan 26, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Trails around Brainard Lake Recreation Area are built to meet many uses, including snowshoeing and skiing. In 2015 WRV built a new trail connecting Brainard Lake to the Mitchell Lake Trailhead, but without snowpack to stand on, we couldn't limb the trail corridor high enough for skiers.
This invite-only project will bring a small team of trail lovers to Brainard mid-winter to snowshoe along and clear a high corridor for skiers. Clearing may also take place on side trails if time permits.
Volunteers will be given a (free of charge) warm place to sleep in the communal CMC cabin, which is fully outfitted with cooking gear, games, firewood, and random other guests who are out enjoying the winter wonder land. Don't worry, no camping required!
Volunteers must be fit enough to ski or snowshoe 4 miles along the unplowed road to reach the trail head and cabin. Volunteers will be expected to provide their own winter gear including snowshoes for the clearing project. Details will be updated as the project date approaches.
The Seed Program is getting ready for the 2016 seed collection season and we need the help of our community that know how to sew! The City of Longmont, City of Boulder Open Space Mountain Parks, and WRV are in need of new seed bags and we need volunteers interested in helping sew these bags together. If you own a sewing machine and enjoying sewing please join us on Tuesday Feb. 9th from 1:00pm to 4:00pm at the WRV conference room. We will have lots of fun sewing, chatting, and drinking tea or coffee!
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Date(s):
Wednesday Feb 24, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Are you just dying to get out and shake off the winter blues?
Join Luke and Kiva Wed. February 24th in Drake, CO to harvest a large batch of willows near the Big Thompson River.
With your help, these willows are destined for greatness as rooted stock in our WRV willow nursery as well as immediate use in restoring large areas of the St. Vrain affected by the 2013 floods.
Volunteers will be cutting, prepping and loading willow poles alongside staff. The more volunteers we get, the faster we will wrap up, and get down the hill to the brewery for refreshments.
Volunteers will harvest local willows and pot cuttings and various other species of bare root plants into containers to be grown out at our very own nursery! Plants grown out in this nursery will be used by WRV volunteers later in the year on restoration projects in the Big Thompson Canyon.
The Seed Program is getting ready for the 2016 seed collection season and we need the help of our community that know how to sew! The City of Longmont, City of Boulder Open Space Mountain Parks, and WRV are in need of new seed bags and we need volunteers interested in helping sew these bags together. If you own a sewing machine and enjoying sewing please join us on Wednesday March 16th from 9:00am to 12:00pm at the WRV conference room. We will have lots of fun sewing, chatting, and drinking tea or coffee!
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
Volunteers will spread native seed across bare floodplains and mountain valley meadows a stone's throw from Rocky Mountain National Park. Containerized plants will also be planted, however this early in the season our priority is seed! This project will primarily spread native seed and mulch and will be on the easier side of "intermediate."
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Our objective is to restore and enhance geomorphic and ecosystem function in the canyon, including the ongoing re-grading of stream banks and the stabilization of banks by installing erosion control products and planting native trees, grasses and shrubs whose roots naturally armor stream banks and provide habitat for fish & wildlife.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Sunday Mar 27, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
SUNDAY PROJECT!
Come help complete the final touches on this amazing trails through Barr Lake State Park. The terrain is flat to gently rolling, and the work is very youth friendly.
The gorgeous Barr Lake State Park in Adams County near Brighton is an ecological oasis on the Colorado plains. The lake draws so many birds that it is home to the Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory headquarters. Part of the park acquired in 2000, as part of the Conservation Vision Plan for Barr Lake, has been designated for a small trail system that will provide a rich visitor experience while guiding visitation away from more sensitive areas.
WRV has been constructing the Bergman Trail, which provides unique access to an area that is rich in environmental education opportunities. It has great bird watching opportunities, views of prairie/wetland habitat and known nesting sites for Red-tailed and Swainson's hawks.
Tuesday Mar 29, 2016 - Tuesday Mar 29, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Cooks are some of the most important volunteers on a restoration project!
Have fun using your culinary skills with a great group of folks new and experienced to WRV! Together, we will cook some meals for future projects, while learning the basics of meal planning, budgeting, safe food prep and much more!
This training will involve effective hands-on learning! We will be meeting at 5 PM, cooking large batches of both a veggie and meat chili, baking pumpkin and banana bread, discussing the role of a Cook Team Member, then sitting down to enjoy great food and great company! With time for clean-up, we will wrap up by 8 PM.
Directions will be provided once you have registered.
We appreciate your interest in volunteering in this important and tasty way!
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Apr 01, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 8
Seedlings needing more space to grow will be transplanted into larger digs at the Denver Mountain Parks greenhouse. More than 4000 plants will ultimately be grown out and then used on WRV projects at Summit Lake. These precious seedlings are locally adapted to alpine ecosystems, making them hardier and more likely to succeed.
Join WRV on native seed collections, seed cleanings, and seed grow out this season!
For more information on the seed collection program, watch the WRV website Project Schedule page.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Apr 02, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 20
Come enjoy a day on the majestic prairie while restoring native trees to Little Owl Creek the Pawnee National Grasslands.
On this project volunteers will be returning to a site on the Pawnee National Grasslands with a rare stretch of perennial water where we began restoration work in 2009. Volunteers will be harvesting and planting native cottonwood and willows inside a cattle exclosure on Little Owl Creek to help this historically overgrazed stream regain the unique habitat value it once offered to native wildlife.
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
Volunteers will spread native seed across bare floodplains and mountain valley meadows a stone's throw from Rocky Mountain National Park. Containerized plants will also be planted, however this early in the season our priority is seed! This project will primarily spread native seed and mulch and will be on the easier side of "intermediate."
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Our objective is to restore and enhance geomorphic and ecosystem function in the canyon, including the ongoing re-grading of stream banks and the stabilization of banks by installing erosion control products and planting native trees, grasses and shrubs whose roots naturally armor stream banks and provide habitat for fish & wildlife.
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 10 (more info)
Date(s):
Friday Apr 08, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 5
Come harvest willows at the Denver Botanic Gardens Chatfield location!
Join MacKenzie in Littleton, CO to harvest a large batch of willows along Deer Creek.
Volunteers will be cutting, prepping and loading willow poles alongside staff. Willows harvested will be painted and planted by youth the following Monday along three sites of Deer Creek. The more volunteers we get, the faster we will wrap up.
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Apr 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
9am-4pm approx
Working with Boulder County Parks & Open Space we'll be organizing volunteers for our fist Myrtle Spurge project of the year. The plan is a coordinated assault on Myrtle Spurge in the foothills between Pine Brook Hills and Boulder Heights.
Myrtle Spurge is an A-listed, aggressive and toxic invasive plant in Colorado. Our task is to prevent further spread and eradicate it at the source wherever found! WRV has established a dynamic regional partnership which will tackle this weed at multiple sites across the front range. That's where you come in! Join us on one or more of these dates to dig up this weed before it takes over our beloved state.
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 Accompanied by Adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Monday Apr 11, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 6
Join us to help pot up native plants in the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Nursery. Some of these plants will be transplanted by WRV this October at a restoration site on Boulder Creek near the beautiful White Rocks.
Myrtle Spurge Spurge II - City of Golden (Evening)
CANCELLED
Intermediate
●
Evening
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday Apr 13, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 18
Spend an evening (approx 5-8), with your Spurge Purgin friends in a lovely little spot in Golden, CO. We'll be working around a small reservoir to pull this pest in an area where it cannot be sprayed ... which just happens to be situated on the creek in view of the foothills and frequented by many a Canada goose. Join us for our 2nd Spurge Purge of the year.
Myrtle Spurge is an A-listed, aggressive and toxic invasive plant in Colorado. Our task is to prevent further spread and eradicate it at the source wherever found! WRV has established a dynamic regional partnership which will tackle this weed at multiple sites across the front range.
That's where you come in! Join us on one or more of these dates to dig up this weed before it takes over our beloved state.
The Seed Program is getting ready for the 2016 seed collection season and we need the help of our community that know how to sew! The City of Longmont, City of Boulder Open Space Mountain Parks, and WRV are in need of new seed bags and we need volunteers interested in helping sew these bags together. If you own a sewing machine and enjoying sewing please join us on Wednesday March 16th from 9:00am to 12:00pm at the WRV conference room. We will have lots of fun sewing, chatting, and drinking tea or coffee!
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Apr 15, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 5
Seedlings needing more space to grow will be transplanted into larger digs at the Denver Mountain Parks greenhouse. More than 4000 plants will ultimately be grown out and then used on WRV projects at Summit Lake. These precious seedlings are locally adapted to alpine ecosystems, making them hardier and more likely to succeed.
Join WRV on native seed collections, seed cleanings, and seed grow out this season!
For more information on the seed collection program, watch the WRV website Project Schedule page.
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Apr 22, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 8
Seedlings needing more space to grow will be transplanted into larger digs at the Denver Mountain Parks greenhouse. More than 4000 plants will ultimately be grown out and then used on WRV projects at Summit Lake. These precious seedlings are locally adapted to alpine ecosystems, making them hardier and more likely to succeed.
Join WRV on native seed collections, seed cleanings, and seed grow out this season!
For more information on the seed collection program, watch the WRV website Project Schedule page.
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Apr 23, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
9am-4pm approx
Working with Boulder County Parks & Open Space again for this one: Myrtle Spurge project # 3 of the year. Another full day coordinated assault on Myrtle Spurge in the foothills between Pine Brook Hills and Boulder Heights.
Myrtle Spurge is an A-listed, aggressive and toxic invasive plant in Colorado. Our task is to prevent further spread and eradicate it at the source wherever found! WRV has established a dynamic regional partnership which will tackle this weed at multiple sites across the front range. That's where you come in! Join us on one or more of these dates to dig up this weed before it takes over our beloved state.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 7 (see below) (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Apr 23, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
The High Park Fire ravaged over 85,000 acres of Northern Colorado lands, leaving hundreds of residents displaced and over 41,000 acres of land burned at a moderate to high severity! As a result, the Cache La Poudre River ran black after heavy rains last summer, and landslides and flooding closed roads and threatened homes last fall. WRV and the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed (CPRW) are so happy to announce that this last Skin Gulch project will finish the work we began at Skin Gulch once and for all!
Willow planting, seeding and mulching approximately will address the last plot of land to be treated along Stove Prairie Creek right at the confluence of the Poudre River. Bring your fishing rod to finish out the day on the river after the project!
Whether you live downstream of the fire or in the actual burn area, please lend a hand in restoring Fort Collins own backyard watershed.
Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at:lukas@wlrv.org for more info or with questions.
Intermediate
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday Apr 27, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
Come help complete spread the seed! We will spend 1-2 hours putting the final touches on this two year by spreading about 1 acre of seed at Barr Lake State Park!
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Date(s):
Thursday Apr 28, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Are you just dying to get out and enjoy the spring weather?
Join Luke and Kiva Thurs. April 28 to harvest a large batch of willows along the scenic peak to peak highway!
With your help, these willows are destined for greatness as rooted stock in our WRV willow nursery as well as immediate use in restoring large areas of the St. Vrain and Big Thompson, affected by the 2013 floods.
Volunteers will be cutting, prepping and loading willow poles alongside staff. The more volunteers we get, the faster we will wrap up, and get down the hill to the brewery for refreshments.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 Accompanied by Adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Apr 30, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
Join us in this beautiful mountain location to continue to help restore the effects of the flood of September of 2013, which devastated communities all along the Colorado Front Range. The flood scoured away all stream side vegetation and trees, making these areas more prone to soil erosion and invasion by weeds, and poor habitat for fish and wildlife.
We'll gather on this spring day to revegetate a 600 foot section of the South St Vrain Creek, about nine miles up the canyon from Lyons. Volunteers will plant hundreds of willows and other native shrubs and trees, plant native seed, and stabilize a slope eroded by the flood.
Special thanks to Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for funding this project.
Myrtle Spurge Spurge IV - Boulder County (Evening)
COMPLETED
Intermediate
●
Evening
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday May 04, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
5-8pm approx
Spend another fine evening with your Spurge Purgin friends back in Boulder County. Our 4th Spurge Purge of the year, we'll be heading back up into the hills for this search and destroy mission.
Myrtle Spurge is an A-listed, aggressive and toxic invasive plant in Colorado. Our task is to prevent further spread and eradicate it at the source wherever found! WRV has established a dynamic regional partnership which will tackle this weed at multiple sites across the front range.
That's where you come in! Join us on one or more of these dates to dig up this weed before it takes over our beloved state.
Canyon Lakes Unauthorized Road Obliteration I Staging Day
COMPLETED
Difficult
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday May 04, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 2
More than 380,000 miles of dirt roads riddle our National Forests. However, not all of them were created equally, or legally. Besides the watershed impacts of roads, the USFS has estimated an $8.4 Billion dollar backlog of maintenance and reconstruction costs for these roads.
This is part of a project intended to close and restore the highest priority degraded roads in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District in Larimer County.
We just need 2-3 volunteers for a partial day trip Red Feather Lakes to set materials up along the road. It will involve loading and unloading a truck and trailer with bales of wood mulch, and then bouncing along FWD roads and dropping them off at regular intervals along the treatment area. We'll depart our Fort Collins facility at Noon and be back by 5ish
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
Volunteers will spread native seed, as well as plant wetland plugs that provide food for wildlife as well as shrubs that shade river habitat for trout. Spend the day in this iconic mountain river valley on state and private lands currently not open to the public!
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075
Our objective is to restore and enhance ecosystem function in flood affected canyons!
Tamarisk (aka Salt Cedar) has devastated watersheds throughout the west, costing billions of dollars in lost water and habitat. It grows aggressively, choking out native vegetation. In the aftermath of the Sep 13 flood, over 70,000 young tamarisk have germinated from County Line Road to the confluence of St Vrain and Boulder Creeks. These tamarisk seedlings are intermixed with a lot of cottonwoods, willows and other native seedlings that are naturally growing in response to the flood.
Good news: these young tamarisk are virtually all small enough (6 to 18" tall) to hand pull. However, they will grow fast, so we want to get in there this year to remove them, before they become a major and costly problem on St Vrain Creek.
This is the first of a series of events that will continue into 2017.
Thanks to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists and Terra Foundation for funding this project.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 10 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday May 14, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
Building on more than a decade of profoundly successful progress, WRV continues the urgent quest to remove Mediterranean Sage from Boulder County. Volunteers will dig up plants on City of Boulder and Boulder County Open Space Lands north of Boulder and west of Longmont.
Left unchecked, this Colorado A-listed weed aggressively invades grasslands, reduces native plant populations, and degrades wildlife habitat and the overall health of prairie ecosystems. With sustained action, state wide eradication is possible, which would protect prairie ecosystems and wildlife habitat. Indirectly, this work will help protect thousands of acres of Colorado grassland habitats.
Intermediate
●
Multi Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday May 14, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 20
Sunday May 15, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 20
More than 380,000 miles of dirt roads riddle our National Forests. However, not all of them were created equally, or legally. Besides the watershed impacts of roads, the USFS has estimated an $8.4 Billion dollar backlog of maintenance and reconstruction costs for these roads.
This project is intended to close and restore the highest priority degraded roads in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District in Larimer County.
By decompacting, recontouring, stabilizing, and revegetating 12 miles of roads in three years, this ongoing project is intended to improve the quality of the watershed, improve habitat, and enhance water quality within Colorado's only National Wild and Scenic River; the Cache La Poudre!
South Saint Vrain Creek Flood Restoration - TAKE 2
COMPLETED
This event is the rescheduled date from the previously postponed project on April 30.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 Accompanied by Adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Sunday May 15, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 60
Join us in this beautiful mountain location to continue to help restore the effects of the flood of September of 2013, which devastated communities all along the Colorado Front Range. The flood scoured away all stream side vegetation and trees, making these areas more prone to soil erosion and invasion by weeds, and poor habitat for fish and wildlife.
We'll gather on this spring day to revegetate a 600 foot section of the South St Vrain Creek, about nine miles up the canyon from Lyons. Volunteers will plant hundreds of willows and other native shrubs and trees, plant native seed, and stabilize a slope eroded by the flood.
Special thanks to Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for funding this project.
Join us during the week as we offer a riparian restoration project for people interested in being involved on a weekday. In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Join us as we finish this project by replanting the riparian corridor!
Volunteers will spread native seed, as well as plant wetland plugs, trees and shrubs that provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife.
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075
Our objective is to restore and enhance the ecosystem in flood affected watersheds.
South Saint Vrain Creek Flood Restoration - FINALE
COMPLETED
Intermediate
●
Evening
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 Accompanied by Adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday May 18, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 8
Join us in this beautiful mountain location to continue to help restore the effects of the flood of September of 2013, which devastated communities all along the Colorado Front Range. The flood scoured away all stream side vegetation and trees, making these areas more prone to soil erosion and invasion by weeds, and poor habitat for fish and wildlife.
We'll gather this evening to finish work begun the previous Sunday. We'll plant some remaining trees and spread the last remaining mulch.
Special thanks to Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for funding this project.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday May 20, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 6
Registration Information
You can expect a full day long outing helping to release stem boring weevils to control the spread of Dalmatian Toadflax.
PROJECT DETAILS
We'll send all the info you'll need about the project (including directions, a list of what to bring, and specific times) by email about 7-10 days before the project date. In the meantime, mark your calendar and we'll look forward to seeing you there.
SPREAD THE WORD
We find most of our volunteers by referral and word of mouth, so please spread the word and invite a friend. No experience necessary!
IMPORTANT NOTE
Some email servers mark WRV emails as "spam." To ensure that you receive project information, add info@wlrv.org or the domain wlrv.org to your "safe sender" list.
Looking for more information? Call 970-493-2075 , email amyg@wlrv.org or check out our website www.wlrv.org.
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday May 21, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
The Young Gulch trail was a very popular mountain biking and hiking destination in the Poudre River Watershed. It was closed after the High Park Fire burned through large sections of the valley, and remained closed due to flood damage that fall and again in the 2013 floods. Much of the original trail with all its creek crossings is gone. Now we have the opportunity to build a new trail that will not be as susceptible to flooding and will have much less impact to the creek. WRV is very pleased to have a chance to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Overland Mountain Bike Club, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Larimer County Conservation Corps, and CATS on this exciting multi year effort.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Jun 04, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
Located just outside Evergreen, Dedisse Park protects the watershed and forest above Evergreen Lake. Despite the great natural beauty of this Denver Mountain Park the area is being heavily damaged by off trail use and erosion. The mess of unsanctioned trails that braids across the landscape is the root cause of this damage. In a huge multi-project effort volunteers will reverse this trend by closing damaged areas and helping create a single sustainable trail for people through the park. Once finished, the Park and everyone who enjoys it will be much better off. Volunteers will transplant, seed, install erosion control structures and build new sections of trail. There is a short hike in to the work areas from the trail head.
This will be the first of two WRV projects at Dedisse Park in 2016. Sign up for one or both. No experience with restoration or trail building is needed; we will have trained crew leaders to make sure you have a great project. See you out there!
This project has been filled by corporate group Vivax Pros, but we still need leadership! Leaders, please email luke or info@wlrv.org if interested in lending a hand on this project.
Having completed the seeding and mulching portion of the project, join us for the icing on the cake as we finish planting the riparian shrubs and wetland plugs that will make this habitat not only green but diverse! And speaking of cake, join us for pie while your at it as we celebrate spring at the end of the project day.
Volunteers will plant wetland plugs that provide food for wildlife as well as shrubs that shade river habitat for trout.
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Although we will do our best to have meaningful work to do on this day, spring runoff water levels may make this date subject to change. Please register and stay tuned for updates.
Join WRV, Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, Save the Poudre, Rocky Mountain Sustainable Living Association, City of Fort Collins, and many others for the 3rd Annual Poudre RiverFest!
WRV is partnering with the City of Fort Collins to offer a one hour bike tour showcasing past and future improvement projects along the Cache La Poudre River. Bike your way into the festival while learning about several important projects that have increased the resiliency of the Poudre River.
Space on the guided tour is limited to 30 participants, but festival participants are encouraged to swing by the self-guided bike tour booth at 700 Wood and pick up a free pamphlet to take the tour on their own starting at noon.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
This event it private and restricted to McKinstry.
Please - unless you are with this group do not sign up for this project.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Jun 10, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
Located just outside Evergreen, Dedisse Park protects the watershed and forest above Evergreen Lake. Despite the great natural beauty of this Denver Mountain Park the area is being heavily damaged by off trail use and erosion. The mess of unsanctioned trails that braids across the landscape is the root cause of this damage. In a huge multi-project effort volunteers will reverse this trend by closing damaged areas and helping create a single sustainable trail for people through the park. Once finished, the Park and everyone who enjoys it will be much better off. Volunteers will transplant, seed, install erosion control structures and build new sections of trail. There is a short hike in to the work areas from the trail head.
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Jun 11, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
The Young Gulch trail was a very popular mountain biking and hiking destination in the Poudre River Watershed. It was closed after the High Park Fire burned through large sections of the valley, and remained closed due to flood damage that fall and again in the 2013 floods. Much of the original trail with all its creek crossings is gone. Now we have the opportunity to build a new trail that will not be as susceptible to flooding and will have much less impact to the creek. WRV is very pleased to have a chance to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Overland Mountain Bike Club, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Larimer County Conservation Corps, and CATS on this exciting multi year effort.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Easy
●
Evening
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 10 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday Jun 15, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Building on more than a decade of profoundly successful progress, WRV continues the urgent quest to remove Mediterranean Sage from Boulder County. On a beautiful summer evening, volunteers will dig up plants on the NOAA Table Mountain property north of Boulder and west of Longmont.
Left unchecked, this Colorado A-listed weed aggressively invades grasslands, reduces native plant populations, and degrades wildlife habitat and the overall health of prairie ecosystems. With sustained action, state wide eradication is possible, which would protect prairie ecosystems and wildlife habitat. Indirectly, this work will help protect thousands of acres of Colorado grassland habitats.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Jun 18, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
The O'Fallon, Corwina, and Pence Parks are among the most popular and heavily used of the Denver Mountain Park system, established in the early 1900s.
This trail system takes hikes through some amazingly beautiful areas but many of the original routes were unsustainable, creating a muddy rutted trail. Last year WRV began the process of rerouting and moving the trails to areas with better drainage. This year we will finish constructing and rerouting the last sections of trail and restore the old trail alignments with planting and seeding. The project includes basic trail construction, restoration and rock work, so it is suitable for beginners and experienced volunteers alike.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Difficult
●
Weekend
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Jun 25, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
Sunday Jun 26, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
The Young Gulch trail was a very popular mountain biking and hiking destination in the Poudre River Watershed. It was closed after the High Park Fire burned through large sections of the valley, and remained closed due to flood damage that fall and again in the 2013 floods. Much of the original trail with all its creek crossings is gone, now we have the opportunity to build a new trail that will not be as susceptible to flooding and will have much less impact to the creek. WRV is very pleased to have a chance to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Overland Mountain Bike Club, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Larimer County Conservation Corps, and CATS on this exciting multi year effort.
Emergency Sweed Collection At Table Mountain (NOAA)
COMPLETED
Easy
●
Evening
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 10 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Tuesday Jun 28, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
Come One, Come All: We're collecting SWEEDS!!! (Seeds & Weeds)
This is an Emergency situation - we've got Needle and Thread Grass on track to be ripe for the pickin up on Table Mountain AND After a Med Sage Pull on June 15th... we've got bag and bags left of Med Sage in need of collecting (and trashing)! All this presents us with the first ever (highly anticipated by us) opportunity to have our first ever SWEED collection project!
Co-WSLed by Amy and Morgan and working with the notoriously nice Mark George of NOAA we're looking for every hand we can gather in a weeks time that can jump on board and make this not only happen, but exSEED expectations ;)
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Yay- Seed collecting! THIS IS AN EVENING EVENT -Tuesday July 5- 5:30pm-8:30pm -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
Register, and we'll let you know where we're headed for this project. It will be in the Gunbarrel/S. Longmont area. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Jul 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 45
The historic and very popular Beaver Brook Trail, originally constructed by CMC in 1917, begins just north of Genesee and winds northeast to Windy Saddle on Lookout Mountain, near Golden. While it's location is conveniently located near the Denver-metro area, the trail offers hikers a remote back-country feel.
The trail has five stream crossings, which were damaged during the September 2013 flood. WRV will begin a two year process to conduct maintenance on the trail and repair the five bridges. This year, volunteers will focus on reconstructing one or two of the bridges. We'll hike in about a mile, help move log stringers into place, and then attach decking to the logs. Join us for a fun day working near a beautiful creek!
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Jul 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A SATURDAY EVENT-- 9AM TO 12PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
WRV is partnering with the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, The Nature Conservancy, Larimer County Conservation Corps and the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch to reduce the risk of severe wildfire in the Elkhorn Creek area. Not only is this area important wildlife habitat, it's also special because of it's proximity to surrounding National Forest and crucial to the health of the Cache La Poudre River watershed.
By thinning dense stands of trees and piling and removing debris, sawyers will help protect water supply and improve forest health in this valuable and beautiful area.
To sign up for this project, please contact the WRV office at 303-543-1411 or by email at info@wlrv.org.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
This is an 3 EVENING event -- 5:30PM TO 8:30PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Jul 16, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
8am-4pm approx
Just 20 miles north of Fort Collins exists one of the most important mountains-to-plains ecological transition zones in the Front Range-The Laramie Foothills Conservation Area. However, in the early 1900's, Campbell Creek was used to transport irrigation water while the North Poudre Irrigation Canal was being completed. The elevation of the creek bottom was down cut by approximately 40 feet, causing the elevation of the valley's tributaries to drop commensurately.
This massive change in the watershed caused significant head-cutting and down-cutting of every tributary in the valley, resulting in a loss of an estimated 120,000,000 (that's right, 120Million!) cubic feet of sediment. Now, erosion gullies range from 5 to 30 feet deep and run up to 1,000 feet across the land and ever increasing leakage from the canal continues to threaten the valley's stability.
Brainard - Long Lake Trail Connection and Restoration I
COMPLETED
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Jul 16, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
Sunday Jul 17, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
The Brainard Lake Recreation area is one of the most treasured recreation areas on the front-range. Towering wilderness peaks surround, lakes, trails, and glaciers in this outdoor playground. All this beauty and adventure have led to so many people visiting the area that the USFS developed a new Brainard Gateway Trailhead. The new Gateway moves hikers, bikers, and skiers out away from the Wilderness areas while still providing exceptional recreational experiences. The Gateway has been very successful but it is not fully connected to the trail system causing ecological damage as people try to find their way without a sustainable trail and safety risks for those that choose to hike along the road.
Join us this summer to alleviate these problems while spending time surrounded by stunning natural beauty. Volunteers will have the chance to help construct a sustainable trail between the Gateway and Long Lake to prevent the development of damaging social trails and move hikers off the road. We will work on sections of rock work, boardwalk, and have plenty of basic trail construction for beginners new to trail construction.
This will be the first of a two part project to get all the work done. Come for one or both projects to help us get this exciting work done.
Volunteers will be working at an elevation of about 10,000 feet and camping nearby at a beautiful forested site normally closed to the public. We urge you to arrive on Friday night in order to acclimate and set up your tent.
We are once again happy to be partnering with the US Forest Service, Indian Peaks Wilderness Alliance, and the Colorado Mountain Club on this project and are grateful for funding from Aspen Meadows Veterinary Specialists and Colorado State Trails Program.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Having completed the seeding and mulching portion of the project, join us for the finishing touch as we plant the riparian shrubs and wetland plugs that will make this habitat not only green but diverse!
Volunteers will plant the wetland plugs and riparian shrubs that provide food for wildlife as well as shrubs that shade river habitat for trout. Know what a bio-log "sushi roll" looks like? find out on this project
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Intermediate
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Date(s):
Sunday Jul 24, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
This special event will bring a group from All Souls to work on the restoration and transplanting portion of a trail at Brainard Lake.
WRV Crew Leaders Needed! Email taylor@wlrv.org for details.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great activity for all ages!
THIS IS AN EVENING EVENT-- 5:30 - 7:30 PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. WE WILL BE AT PECK GARDEN!
We will be working at the Boulder County Parks and Open Space's Peck Garden. This garden was created to grow out native seed species in a controlled environment for use in restoration work around the county. Several species are grown out under the watchful eyes of County employees and volunteers and we are able to increase the seed 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting wildflowers that are currently ripe and ready. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will go straight back into restoration projects repairing lands affected by floods, fire or erosion. Putting this native seed, and therefore plants, back into the land ensures that invasive species can not take hold. Native plants mean food for native insects and animals and ensures the whole eco-system can survive and thrive.
Difficult
●
Multi Day
● Minimum Age: 14 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Jul 29, 2016 - Sunday Jul 31, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
Colorado's magnificent 14ers attract heavy use. Mt Columbia has some of the worst conditions with an estimated 1.5 million cubic feet of sediment already lost due to erosion. The current trail passes through habitat for local and globally sensitive species, as noted by the USFS. Because usage well exceeds the capacity of the current trail, the primary summit route has been degraded to the point where visitors walk off trail and destroy the sensitive alpine. This project will restore and maintain the ecological and recreational value of the extremely high use route leading up. Aside from stunning views and great company you can expect to have some fun building/closing social trails, creating rock check dams, constructing plank retaining walls, adding soil fill, transplanting local vegetation, and maybe even doing a little alpine seeding.
�Note: These alpine small group projects are some of WRV's most amazing projects but are also very strenuous, often requiring a hike in to the work site and sometimes carrying materials and personal gear. We will be camping above 9,000 ft.
Previous backpacking experience is recommended and registrants will be required to speak with the trip leader prior to being confirmed for the expedition.
Due to the group size limit we are only able to bring 13 volunteers. Please be considerate and only sign up if you are willing and able to commit to the full project. Last minute cancellations are extremely detrimental to getting all the work done and our ability to hold projects like this in the future.
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Jul 30, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 35
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A SATURDAY EVENT-- 9AM TO 1PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Difficult
●
Weekend
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Jul 30, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
Sunday Jul 31, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
The Young Gulch trail was a very popular mountain biking and hiking destination in the Poudre River Watershed. It was closed after the High Park Fire burned through large sections of the valley, and remained closed due to flood damage that fall and again in the 2013 floods. Much of the original trail with all its creek crossings is gone. Now we have the opportunity to build a new trail that will not be as susceptible to flooding and will have much less impact to the creek. WRV is very pleased to have a chance to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Overland Mountain Bike Club, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Larimer County Conservation Corps, and CATS on this exciting multi year effort.
Difficult
●
Weekend
● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Aug 06, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 45
Sunday Aug 07, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 45
Along the Continental Divide, Georgia Pass and Glacier Peak reside just above tree line at nearly 12,000 ft. These areas truly are iconic Colorado landscapes with spectacular views in all directions. Because of this the area sees use from off-road vehicles and outdoor enthusiasts experiencing the Continental Divide Trail. Much of the recreation is on sustainable trails and roads allowing for visitation with manageable impact. There are however some places where users, often unknowingly, are causing immense degradation to extremely fragile ecosystems.
Adjacent to a highly successful project site restored in 2012, this project will focus on the closure and restoration of a spur road that is heavily eroding, braiding, and unraveling the native alpine flora. This socially-created road is not part of the Dillon Ranger District's newly approved Travel Management Plan and parallels a much more sustainable road which will remain as part of the trail system. Thus a huge ecological gain will be made without cutting off access to large areas.
Volunteers will work on the steepest and most degraded sections which will be completely seeded, mulched over and have erosion structures put in. We are excited to have the help and partnership of the Friends of Dillon Ranger District and the US Forest Service to accomplish this project.
This project is a great chance to experience the alpine environment in a very easy way. Volunteers will car camp Friday and Saturday night at a site a couple thousand feet lower than the actual work site. Then we will spend Saturday and Sunday spreading see, planting and restoring the steep eroded slope. While we can drive right to the base of the pass, the road spans nearly a mile, so hiking up to half a mile may be required. The first 2,000ft are steep but then it is moderately level. After work each day we will retire to camp for great meals and fun times sitting around the campfire.
Easy
●
Evening
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 10 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Date(s):
Tuesday Aug 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
We've got a big 'ol party coming up in August out at the beautiful Lone Hawk Farm (Near Hygeine) and in exchange for hosting us on that evening, we've offered to take care of a few pesky weeds in exchange! Down near the rather scenic horse pastures there's a patch of Teasel in need of beheading and we're looking for a few good weed warriors. We'll arm you with hand clippers and bags, you bring your enthusiastic selves!
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Aug 13, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A SATURDAY EVENT-- 9AM TO 1PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
This will be one of the more adventurous projects of the season but also one of the most rewarding. We will set up a small basecamp just over 3 miles in the wilderness and from there we will work to restore areas around Diamond Lake. Work includes restoration using transplanting and building wood/rock raised trails. Basecamp will have epic views across the lake and of the surrounding peaks that form the continental divide. We will wake each morning to warm breakfast already prepared and hike short distances to reach the work sites.
Easy
●
Evening
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 10 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Date(s):
Tuesday Aug 16, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 20
We went out August 9th and much teasel was clipped, but the thunder and lightning cut our weeding time tragically short! Help us finish the job and free the milkweed and Monarchs from the oppression of the evil Teasel!
We've got a big 'ol party coming up in August out at the beautiful Lone Hawk Farm (Near Hygeine) and in exchange for hosting us on that evening, we've offered to take care of a few pesky weeds in exchange! Down near the rather scenic horse pastures there's a patch of Teasel in need of beheading and we're looking for a few good weed warriors. We'll arm you with hand clippers and bags, you bring your enthusiastic selves!
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Aug 20, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
The Brainard Lake Recreation area is one of the most treasured recreation areas on the front-range. Towering wilderness peaks surround, lakes, trails, and glaciers in this outdoor playground. All this beauty and adventure have led to so many people visiting the area that the USFS developed a new Brainard Gateway Trailhead. The new Gateway moves hikers, bikers, and skiers out away from the Wilderness areas while still providing exceptional recreational experiences. The Gateway has been very successful but it is not fully connected to the trail system causing ecological damage as people try to find their way without a sustainable trail and safety risks for those that choose to hike along the road.
Come join us to help finish prep work on a 200 foot section of the trail, which is critical so that we can haul materials in to the rest of the trail. Otherwise, the project will come to a bottleneck/standstill.
No experience necessary. However, if you like rock work, we'll gladly hook you up.
As a thank you, each volunteer will receive a FREE day pass to federal lands, which you can use on another day to enjoy this paradise.
Difficult
●
Weekend
● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Aug 20, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 45
Sunday Aug 21, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 45
The finale! This is the second and capstone project to complete restoration work along the Continental Divide at Georgia Pass and Glacier Peak. Come help restore highly degraded alpine areas just above tree line at nearly 12,000 ft. Because of this the area sees use from off-road vehicles and outdoor enthusiasts experiencing the Continental Divide Trail. Much of the recreation is on sustainable trails and roads allowing for visitation with manageable impact. There are, however, some places where users are causing immense degradation to extremely fragile ecosystems.
Adjacent to a highly successful project site restored in 2012, this project will focus on the closure and restoration of a spur road that is heavily eroding, braiding, and unraveling the native alpine flora. This socially-created road is not part of the Dillon Ranger District's newly approved Travel Management Plan and parallels a much more sustainable road which will remain as part of the trail system. Thus a huge ecological gain will be made without cutting off access to large areas.
Volunteers will work on the steepest and most degraded sections which will be completely seeded, mulched over and have erosion structures put in. We are excited to have the help and partnership of the Friends of Dillon Ranger District and the US Forest Service to accomplish this project.
This project is a great chance to experience the alpine environment in a very easy way. Volunteers will car camp Friday and Saturday night at a site a couple thousand feet lower than the actual work site. Then we will spend Saturday and Sunday spreading seed, planting and restoring the steep eroded slope. While we can drive right to the base of the pass, the road spans nearly a mile, so hiking up to half a mile may be required. The first 2,000ft are steep but then it is moderately level. After work each day we will retire to camp for great meals and fun times sitting around the campfire.
In the aftermath of the High Park and Hewlett Gulch Fires, increased runoff from denuded uplands dumped massive quantities of sediment into and simultaneously eroded their drainages.
One substantial tributary to the North Fork of the Poudre River was affected: destabilizing the creek bed and depositing tons of sediment in the Seaman Reservoir. In 2012, immediately after the fire, a small adventurous volunteer crew camped for a week and worked to stabilize the headwaters of this unnamed creek. Now we're looking for another small intrepid crew to return for a weekend and help stabilize its confluence with the North Fork.
Volunteers will be hiking in just over a mile along the reservoir to the mouth of the tributary camping and installing a series of in-stream timber and rock structures and planting woody vegetation to reinforce the exposed and unraveling stream corridor.
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS AN EVENING 5:30PM-8:30PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Saturday Aug 27, 2016 - Saturday Aug 27, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
Time: 8:00AM-12:00PM
All volunteers will receive a free park pass for the day!
WRV is excited to announce its first seed collection for the 2016 season in Larimer County! The seed collection will be hosted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife at Lory State Park where we will be spending the morning collecting native seed. This will give you the opportunity to recreate in Lory State Park following the event. The seeds from this project will be used at local schools in native plant gardens to beautify the schools outdoor space and to educate local kids. How great is that? We are very excited about it! Please join us for a day collecting and celebrating. We hope to see you soon!
Join WRV on native seed collections, seed cleanings, and seed grow out this season!
For more information on the seed collection program, watch the WRV website Project Schedule page.
WRV is partnering with the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, The Nature Conservancy, Larimer County Conservation Corps and the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch to reduce the risk of severe wildfire in the Elkhorn Creek area. Not only is this area important wildlife habitat, it's also special because of it's proximity to surrounding National Forest and crucial to the health of the Cache La Poudre River watershed.
By thinning dense stands of trees and piling and removing debris, sawyers will help protect water supply and improve forest health in this valuable and beautiful area.
To sign up for this project, please contact the WRV office at 303-543-1411 or by email at info@wlrv.org.
Echo Lake and Summit Lake Parks are heavily impacted by recreational use. WRV has been working on these popular and majestic areas for several years with amazing results.
This year, volunteers will be repairing and restoring shoreline at Echo Lake and planting small alpine plants to restore native tundra near Summit Lake. Both lakes offer breathtaking views in a stunning alpine environment.
Friday night arrival is recommended - 10,600 feet in elevation - to acclimate yourself prior to working early the next morning.
Daily work schedule: approx 7:30am-4:30pm
Rocky Mountain Seed Collection Friday, September 2
COMPLETED
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Sep 02, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
8:30am-4:30pm Friday
Rocky Mountain National Park is working on restoring the Bear Lake Area and they need help collected Native Seed for this project.
This is a full day project with a special treat! All volunteers have the option of camping out Friday night and enjoying the park on Saturday. We will be organizing a fun pot-luck dinner for our evening at the campsite where folks can show off their favorite campfire creations.
This is our 3rd year collecting seed with our favorite folks at RMNP. We hope you can make it!
Saturday Sep 03, 2016 - Saturday Sep 03, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Time: 9:00AM-1:00PM
Come join us on the WRV Fort Collins office second seed collection of the season at no other than Phantom Canyon! This will be the first time volunteers will be able to collect native seed at this location. Phantom Canyon is a nature preserve managed by The Nature Conservancy, which is generally closed to the public and we will have the opportunity to work on this spectacular property! This collection has a limited number of spots so please sign up early. This will be a half day project working towards gathering seeds to benefit grow outs at local schools. Please join us on this project for a day of fun and celebration!
Join WRV on native seed collections, seed cleanings, and seed grow out this season!
For more information on the seed collection program, watch the WRV website Project Schedule page.
Note: Phantom Canyon image is credited to nature.org and isn't property of WRV
Join us to clean the seed we have collected this season near Boulder!
Cleaning seeds removes chaff and other plant materials, and helps prepare them for storage and planting. Your efforts will help ensure that we receive the maximum benefit from all of our seed collection projects this season.
We will have a relaxed evening, but be ready for some messy fun - we'll be cleaning chokecherry, wild plum, and three-leaf sumac!
THIS IS A 2 HOUR EVENT -- 5:30pm-7:30pm -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
We will be cleaning seed at the WRV office in Boulder.
This project is CLOSED to new registrations. We have already exceeded capacity, thank you for understanding. If you have questions please contact Morgan@wlrv.org or call (303) 543-1411 ext. 3#
Difficult
●
Mid Week Multi Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday Sep 07, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Thursday Sep 08, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Friday Sep 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Saturday Sep 10, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
WED-THURS-FRI-SAT
(SUN Travel day)
Description: This will be our third year of working in the Upper Gunnison Basin to restore native wet meadows - critical habitat for Gunnison Sage Grouse.
Wet meadows and riparian areas in sagebrush shrublands provide important brood-rearing habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse, listed as threatened by US Fish and Wildlife Service. These habitats are also important for numerous other species, including neo-tropical migratory birds, elk and mule deer, as well as to ranchers for livestock grazing. A number of wet meadows and riparian areas, already compromised by erosion and lower water tables, are likely to be further altered from drought and high intensity rainstorms associated with a changing climate. These habitats are among the most at risk in the Gunnison Basin.
To address these challenges, we will be working with Bureau of Land Management, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, US Forest Service and others to restore riparian and wet meadow habitats in sagebrush shrublands in the Upper Gunnison Basin. We will use innovative, yet simple, restoration methods-small rock structures-to raise the water table to support plants and insects needed by wildlife. We will apply the approach of restoration expert Bill Zeedyk, author of Let the Water do the Work: Induced Meandering, An Evolving Method for Restoring Incised Channels (2012).
CREW LEADER TRAINING AVAILABLE
Crew Leaders play an important role in large organized volunteer events by explaining tool use, overseeing construction methods, and maintaining a safe and fun working environment. Volunteer projects in the Upper Gunnison Basin will continue year after year. Well trained, experienced leaders will be a vital part of the overall success of these projects. We hope to recruit and train many new leaders in the Gunnison Basin to continue this important habitat work into the future.
Anyone interested in participating in our Crew Leader Training to Crew Lead for this project please contact Morgan Crowley at morgan@wlrv.org, or call 303-543-1411 Ext. 3# for more information. Crew Leader Training will be Tuesday, September 6th in Gunnison
* Anticipated Schedule*
Tuesday, September 6 - Crew Leader Training (Must register separately)
Wednesday, September 7 - Begin restoration work (Tuesday night arrival strongly recommended)
Thursday, September 8 - Restoration work begins
Friday, September 9 - Continue restoration work
Saturday, September 10 - Finish work for the week
Sunday morning, September 11 - Pack up camp and return home
Sign up for all 4 days or just one or more.
WHEN YOU REGISTER, PLEASE SIGN UP IN ONE OF THE GROUP CHOICES -Gunnison, Front Range, or Other (please specify in notes)
This will help us keep track of our local recruitment goals.
VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES
Volunteers will be constructing multiple rock structures on small streams and drainages in the watershed.
Volunteers will be working at an elevation of above 8,000 feet and camp nearby at the Miller Ranch House.
Food will be provided by talented volunteer cooks!
WRV is happy to be a partner with so many groups including:
Gunnison Climate Working Group Members: Bureau of Land Management-Gunnison Field Office, Colorado Natural Heritage Program; Colorado Parks & Wildlife, Gunnison County, Gunnison Conservation District Gunnison County Stockgrowers Association, Lake Fork Valley Conservancy, National Center for Atmospheric Research, National Park Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Rocky Mountain Biological Lab, The Nature Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District, US Fish & Wildlife Service, US Forest Service, Western State Colorado University, and Western Water Assessment.
PLEASE NOTE: This project has Changed! This project will occur at the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch in Redfeather on Sept. 10th!
In 2015, Wildlands was asked to work on lands literally rebuilt after the floods of 2013. Volunteers will help to harvest plant materials that will be used as part of the recovery process, adding both vegetative cover and stability to damaged streambanks.
On this Project Volunteers will travel to the Red Feather Area to harvest willows from healthy willow stands, which will be used in flood affected areas. These plants will be used to implement revegetation efforts along the Big Thompson river in Glen Haven.
Again to avoid confusion, this project IS NOT IN THE BIG THOMPSON CANYON!
Boulder County Parks and Open Space Russian Olive removal - Gilbert Property
COMPLETED
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 18 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Sep 10, 2016 - Sunday Sep 11, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
Help restore native habitat and remove invasive species at a newly purchased Boulder County Parks and Open Space property!
Our project will follow the removal of non-native Russian Olive trees, which are currently shading and stealing ground water from the nearby native species. WRV sawyers will be removing medium to large Russian Olive trees, then volunteers will be removing small Russian Olive and chipping the cut material on site.
WRV is pleased to collaborate with Boulder County Parks and Open Space at this special site, normally closed to the public, with funding from them and the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
Gilbert Open Space Russian Olive removal - Sawyer Project
COMPLETED
Difficult
●
Multi Day
● Minimum Age: 18 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Sep 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Saturday Sep 10, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Sunday Sep 11, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Calling all certified sawyers!!
Help restore native habitat and remove invasive species at a newly purchased Boulder County Parks and Open Space property!
WRV sawyers will be cutting non-native Russian Olive trees, which are currently shading and stealing ground water from the nearby native species. Volunteer sawyers will be cutting medium to large Russian Olive trees and neatly piling material to be chipped by volunteers on Sunday. In order to be prepared for the larger volunteer event on Sunday, this is a multi-day sawyer event. Join us for a single day, two days or all three!
WRV is pleased to collaborate with Boulder County Parks and Open Space at this special site, normally closed to the public, with funding from them and the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
To register for this event, please contact the WRV office at 303-543-1411 or by email at info@wlrv.org
You must be a certified sawyer to participate. Not certified? WRV is offering multiple trainings this year! For more information on these and other training opportunities, check out the Trainings tab on our website or contact us for more information.
Join us to clean the seed we have collected this season near Boulder!
Cleaning seeds removes chaff and other plant materials, and helps prepare them for storage and planting. Your efforts will help ensure that we receive the maximum benefit from all of our seed collection projects this season.
We will have a relaxed evening, but be ready for some messy fun - we'll be cleaning chokecherry, wild plum, and three-leaf sumac!
THIS IS A 2 HOUR EVENT -- 5:30pm-7:30pm -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
We will be cleaning seed at the WRV office in Boulder.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 18 (more info)
Date(s):
Thursday Sep 15, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
We need seed! Through the hard work of WRV volunteers and other partners, Summit Lake has drastically changed over the past six years. The eroding tundra is beginning to stabilize and most people are now staying off the fragile cushion plant communities and on the sanctioned trails.
These changes are amazing but there are still areas in need of restoration and we are worried about putting too much pressure on the surrounding areas with further transplanting. The solution is to schedule this seed collection to collect native and local ecotype seed that will be grown out by Denver Mountain Parks and then brought back up to Summit Lake and planted on future projects!
Come spend the day with WRV collecting these precious seeds at nearly 12,000 ft and who knows? You may get the chance to plant your grown up seed on future projects!
In fact, this year we have about 2500 plants that were grown out from last years seed collection! We hope to form a crew or two to get these plants in the ground were they belong.
St Vrain - Peschel Flood Restoration and Tamarisk Removal - Kaiser Permanente
COMPLETED
This Kaiser Permanente Project allows for registrations from the City of Longmont and Weld County only
Intermediate
●
Multi Day
● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Sponsors
Connie Holsinger (formerly Terra Foundation)
Date(s):
Friday Sep 16, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 20
Join us at the beautiful Peschel Open Space on the Saint Vrain Creek, east of Longmont for this multi-faceted project, helping to recover from the flood of September 2013, which devastated communities all along the Colorado Front Range.
PESCHEL FLOOD and WETLAND RESTORATION
The flood scoured away vegetation from the stream bank, making these areas more prone to erosion and invasion by weeds, and poor habitat for fish and wildlife. Volunteers will plant hundreds of shrubs and trees along the creek, and over 4,000 wetland plants around a nearby pond.
The shrub and tree planting portion will be implemented as part scientific research study to test a variety of WRV planting techniques. We're excited to be working with Dr. Tim Seastedt from CU, and graduate student, Brian Sechler, on this important study.
TAMARISK REMOVAL
Tamarisk (aka Salt Cedar) has devastated watersheds throughout the west, costing billions of dollars in lost water and habitat. It grows aggressively, choking out native vegetation. In the aftermath of the Sep 13 flood, over 400,000 young tamarisk have germinated from County Line Road to the confluence of St Vrain and Boulder Creeks. These tamarisk seedlings are intermixed with a lot of cottonwoods, willows and other native seedlings that are naturally growing in response to the flood.
Good news: these young tamarisk are virtually all small enough (6 to 18" tall) to hand pull. However, they will grow fast, so we want to get in their this year to remove them, before they become a major and costly problem on St Vrain Creek.
This is the second of a series of events that will continue into 2017.
Special thanks to Terra Foundation, Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists, Audubon, Kaiser Permanente, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for funding both projects listed above.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 with adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Sep 17, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
WRV is partnering with the Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed, The Nature Conservancy, Larimer County Conservation Corps and the Ben Delatour Scout Ranch to reduce the risk of severe wildfire in the Elkhorn Creek area. Not only is this area important wildlife habitat, it's also special because of it's proximity to surrounding National Forest and crucial to the health of the Cache La Poudre River watershed.
Sawyers have been busy this summer thinning dense stands of trees and piling debris. Volunteers will be removing logs, piling slash to be burned and restoring areas where work has occurred to help protect water supply and improve forest health in this valuable and beautiful area.
We have a special guest leading us in a nature walk and plant ID around the property during lunch!
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Sep 17, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 20
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A SATURDAY EVENT-- 9AM TO 12PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
St Vrain Creek - Peschel Flood Restoration and Tamarisk Removal
COMPLETED
This project includes two components at Peschel Open Space: flood restoration and tamarisk removal
The flood restoration portion was originally scheduled for Oct 22, but had to be moved to this weekend. The result is a multi-faceted project with an excellent variety of tasks.
Volunteers can sign up for ONE or BOTH days, with the option to camp on Saturday night.
Intermediate
●
Multi Day
● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Sponsors
Connie Holsinger (formerly Terra Foundation)
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Sep 17, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 60
Sunday Sep 18, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 60
Join us at the beautiful Peschel Open Space on the Saint Vrain Creek, east of Longmont for this multi-faceted project, helping to recover from the flood of September 2013, which devastated communities all along the Colorado Front Range.
We'll be working on both projects below simultaneously on both days.
You can come to one or both days, with the option to camp at a beautiful location nearby.
PESCHEL FLOOD and WETLAND RESTORATION
The flood scoured away vegetation from the stream bank, making these areas more prone to erosion and invasion by weeds, and poor habitat for fish and wildlife. Volunteers will plant hundreds of shrubs and trees along the creek, and over 4,000 wetland plants around a nearby pond.
The shrub and tree planting portion will be implemented as part scientific research study to test a variety of WRV planting techniques. We're excited to be working with Dr. Tim Seastedt from CU, and graduate student, Brian Sechler, on this important study.
TAMARISK REMOVAL
Tamarisk (aka Salt Cedar) has devastated watersheds throughout the west, costing billions of dollars in lost water and habitat. It grows aggressively, choking out native vegetation. In the aftermath of the Sep 13 flood, over 400,000 young tamarisk have germinated from County Line Road to the confluence of St Vrain and Boulder Creeks. These tamarisk seedlings are intermixed with a lot of cottonwoods, willows and other native seedlings that are naturally growing in response to the flood.
Good news: these young tamarisk are virtually all small enough (6 to 18" tall) to hand pull. However, they will grow fast, so we want to get in their this year to remove them, before they become a major and costly problem on St Vrain Creek.
This is the second of a series of events that will continue into 2017.
Special thanks to Terra Foundation, Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists, Audubon, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for funding both projects listed above.
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday Sep 21, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
Thursday Sep 22, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
Friday Sep 23, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
The Young Gulch trail was a very popular mountain biking and hiking destination in the Poudre River Watershed. It was closed after the High Park Fire burned through large sections of the valley, and remained closed due to flood damage that fall and again in the 2013 floods. Much of the original trail with all its creek crossings is gone. Now we have the opportunity to build a new trail that will not be as susceptible to flooding and will have much less impact to the creek. WRV is very pleased to have a chance to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Overland Mountain Bike Club, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Larimer County Conservation Corps, and CATS on this exciting multi year effort.
COMPLETED
This project replaces the event formerly listed on this date for Bergen Peak
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Fund to Restore Colorado Trails, Parks & Waterways
Date(s):
Saturday Sep 24, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
Dedisse Park protects the watershed and forest above Evergreen Lake. This Denver Mountain Park just outside of Evergreen, CO is being heavily damaged by off trail use and erosion. The mess of unsanctioned trails that braids across the landscape is the root cause of this damage. In a huge multi-project effort volunteers will reverse this trend by closing damaged areas and helping create a single sustainable trail for people through the park. Once finished, the Park and everyone who enjoys it will be much better off. Volunteers will transplant, seed, install erosion control structures and build new sections of trail. There is a short hike in to the work areas from the trail head.
This will be the second of three WRV projects at Dedisse Park in 2016 and we will focus a bit more on final sections of trail and restoration. Sign up for one or both. No experience with restoration or trail building is needed; we will have trained crew leaders to make sure you have a great project. See you out there!
Intermediate
●
Multi Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Sep 24, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
Sunday Sep 25, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
More than 380,000 miles of dirt roads riddle our National Forests. However, not all of them were created equally, or legally. Besides the watershed impacts of roads, the USFS has estimated an $8.4 Billion dollar backlog of maintenance and reconstruction costs for these roads.
This multi year project is intended to close and restore the highest priority degraded roads in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District. This fall's targeted roads 2 hours NW of Fort Collins have been causing excessive sedimentation into George and Cornelius Creeks where the USFS is implementing the George Creek Greenback Restoration project. We'll be doing our part to make sure these new native residents come home to a healthy and welcoming environment.
By decompacting, recontouring, stabilizing, and revegetating 12 miles of roads in three years, this ongoing project is intended to improve the quality of the watershed, improve habitat, and enhance water quality.
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Sunday Sep 25, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A SATURDAY EVENT-- 1:00PM TO 4:00PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Sep 30, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 35
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A Friday EVENT-- 9:00AM TO 1:00PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 and up with parent/ guardian (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 01, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
We will be planting native containerized plants on the Middle North Fork this fall on Forest Service land. The section of river is upstream from where we have been working this spring/summer and has been redesigned with tons of neat fish habitat enhancement features. You will definitely want to check it out!
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Our objective is to restore and enhance geomorphic and ecosystem function in the canyon, including the ongoing re-grading of stream banks and the stabilization of banks by installing erosion control products and planting native trees, grasses and shrubs whose roots naturally armor stream banks and provide habitat for fish & wildlife.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 14 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Sunday Oct 02, 2016 - Sunday Oct 02, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 15
Help restore habitat for eagles, red-tailed hawks and the Preble's Meadow jumping mouse, at the City of Boulder Kolb Open Space. Our project will follow the removal of non-native Russian Olive trees, which are currently shading and stealing ground water from the Dry Creek riparian area, preventing native species from growing. Volunteer sawyers will be removing medium to large Russian Olive trees, volunteers will be removing small Russian Olive and chipping the cut material on site.
WRV is pleased to collaborate with City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks at this special site, normally closed to the public, with funding from them and the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday Oct 05, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 13
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A Partial Day Project 9:00AM-2:00PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Young Gulch Trail Construction VI - Kaiser Permanente
COMPLETED
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Oct 07, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
The Young Gulch trail was a very popular mountain biking and hiking destination in the Poudre River Watershed. It was closed after the High Park Fire burned through large sections of the valley, and remained closed due to flood damage that fall and again in the 2013 floods. Much of the original trail with all its creek crossings is gone. Now we have the opportunity to build a new trail that will not be as susceptible to flooding and will have much less impact to the creek. WRV is very pleased to have a chance to collaborate with the US Forest Service, Overland Mountain Bike Club, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Larimer County Conservation Corps, and CATS on this exciting multi year effort.
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 08, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
Help restore habitat for eagles, the endangered northern leopard frog and Ute ladies' tresses orchid, at the City of Boulder Weiser Open Space near the beautiful White Rocks Natural Area. Our project will follow the removal of a large stand of huge non-native crack willow, which are currently shading the riparian area, preventing a natural stand of cottonwoods and native shrub understory so important for native wildlife. Volunteers will plant cottonwoods and a variety of native shrubs.
In addition, volunteers will assist in Russian Olive removal on an adjacent site, which will enhance the restoration of the area by fighting tree encroachment and promoting grassland diversity and development!
WRV is pleased to collaborate with City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks once again at this special site, normally closed to the public, with funding from them and the Colorado Water Conservation Board.
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 08, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 40
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A SATURDAY EVENT-- 9:30AM TO 1:30PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Intermediate
●
Mid Week Multi Day
● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Friday Oct 07, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Saturday Oct 08, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Sunday Oct 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Join us for a second year working with the Tamarisk Coalition and the Dolores River Restoration Partnership to restore a native ecosystem inside the stunning Delores River Canyon Wilderness Study Area. Volunteers will hand remove invasive Tamarisk trees and seed and plant native vegetation in "resource islands" throughout the area. This is a rare opportunity to camp out with your WRV community and work in this truly scenic and historic area - once the stomping grounds of the infamous rimrockers and notable characters such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid!
If all this isn't enough to convince you, we'll have dark skies and an opportunity to see the Draconid Meteor Shower during the project!
Difficult
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Sunday Oct 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 8
More than 380,000 miles of dirt roads riddle our National Forests. However, not all of them were created equally, or legally. Besides the watershed impacts of roads, the USFS has estimated an $8.4 Billion dollar backlog of maintenance and reconstruction costs for these roads.
This multi year project is intended to close and restore the highest priority degraded roads in the Canyon Lakes Ranger District. This fall's targeted roads 2 hours NW of Fort Collins have been causing excessive sedimentation into George and Cornelius Creeks where the USFS is implementing the George Creek Greenback Restoration project. We'll be doing our part to make sure these new native residents come home to a healthy and welcoming environment.
By decompacting, recontouring, stabilizing, and revegetating 12 miles of roads in three years, this ongoing project is intended to improve the quality of the watershed, improve habitat, and enhance water quality.
We'll leave Fort Collins together early Sunday morning (7:00)and return by 7:00 in the evening.
Tamarisk (aka Salt Cedar) grows aggressively, choking out native vegetation. In the aftermath of the Sep 13 flood, many thousands of tamarisk have germinated along St Vrain Creek, east of Longmont. These tamarisk seedlings are intermixed with a lot of cottonwoods, willows and other native seedlings that are naturally growing in response to the flood.
On three prior events this year, volunteers have removed over 100,000 tamarisk! We're down to the last 5% of our 2016 goal. We hope to remove these before an eagle closure goes back into effect, which would prevent us from returning to the site until next summer.
Come be a hero and help us finish the task, while enjoying beautiful views of eagles circling overhead. Volunteers will break into two crews, one hand pulling smaller seedlings and using weed wrenches. The other crew will cut sapling tamarisk and apply small quantities of herbicide on the stumps to limit impact on nearby native vegetation. We'll meet at 9:00am and finish no later than 4:00, possibly earlier.
Thanks to the Colorado Water Conservation Board, Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists and Terra Foundation for funding this project.
BCPOS Seed Collection - Saturday. October 15th 2016
COMPLETED
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 15, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 28
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A Partial Day Project 10:00AM-1:00PM EVENT -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
St Vrain Creek Flood Restoration - Peschel Open Space - DATE CHANGED
CANCELLED
This event has been combined with Tamarisk removal into one grand weekend of flood recovery work on September 17-18, with the option to attend one or both days.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Minimum Age: 12 (more info)
Sponsors
Connie Holsinger (formerly Terra Foundation)
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 22, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 50
Join us at beautiful Peschel Open Space, east of Longmont, to help restore the effects of the flood of September of 2013, which devastated communities all along the Colorado Front Range. The flood scoured away all stream side vegetation and trees, making these areas more prone to erosion and invasion by weeds, and poor habitat for fish and wildlife.
We'll gather on this fall day to plant native seed along portions of the creek, after all soil grading has been finished. This project is one phase a large multi-year effort to restore St Vrain Creek.
Special thanks to Terra Foundation, Aspen Meadow Veterinary Specialists, Audubon, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board for funding this project.
Easy
●
Partial Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 8 (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 22, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 35
Seed collection is a very relaxing activity; some even say it's therapeutic. It's also a great family activity!
THIS IS A SATURDAY EVENT-- 10AM TO 2PM -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate. LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED!
The location of seed collections can only be determined 2-3 days prior to each event, given the varying growth rates of the many species we collect. All of the projects are in Boulder County. Once you register, you'll receive info 2-3 days prior about the location, directions and species you'll be collecting.
Volunteers will help increase the availability of native seed by hand collecting a variety of species, including mostly grasses, sedges, and some wildflowers and other forbs. Local botanists will be working on site and will provide identification of wildflowers and other native plants during the project.
The seeds you collect will be grown out to increase them 100 or 1000 fold, vastly increasing the amount of locally-adapted seed that is available for local restoration projects.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 and up with parent/ guardian (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 22, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
We will be planting native containerized plants on the Middle North Fork this fall on Forest Service land. The section of river is upstream from where we have been working this spring/summer and has been redesigned with tons of neat fish habitat enhancement features. You will definitely want to check it out!
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Our objective is to restore and enhance geomorphic and ecosystem function in the canyon, including the ongoing re-grading of stream banks and the stabilization of banks by installing erosion control products and planting native trees, grasses and shrubs whose roots naturally armor stream banks and provide habitat for fish & wildlife.
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 14 accompanied by an adult (more info)
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 29, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 25
Volunteers will gather to celebrate another great season of accomplishment and put our tools to bed for the winter-cleaning, sharpening, painting, oiling tools, and re-organizing our tool shed. Amazingly, this is a really fun and enjoyable way to end a busy successful project season. Come join the Tool Fest and have a great time!
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 and up with parent/ guardian (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Saturday Oct 29, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 35
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
We will be planting native containerized plants on the Middle North Fork this fall on Forest Service land. The section of river is upstream from where we have been working this spring/summer and has been redesigned with tons of neat fish habitat enhancement features. You will definitely want to check it out!
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Our objective is to restore and enhance geomorphic and ecosystem function in the canyon, including the ongoing re-grading of stream banks and the stabilization of banks by installing erosion control products and planting native trees, grasses and shrubs whose roots naturally armor stream banks and provide habitat for fish & wildlife.
Intermediate
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 16 and up with parent/ guardian (more info)
Sponsors
Date(s):
Wednesday Nov 09, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 30
In 2015, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers began a massive 2 1/2 mile river restoration project along the North Fork of the Big Thompson River. Finally, construction is complete and the dam has been removed!!! Now join us as we finish this project by restoring the riparian corridor!
We will be planting native containerized plants on the Middle North Fork this fall on Forest Service land. The section of river is upstream from where we have been working this spring/summer and has been redesigned with tons of neat fish habitat enhancement features. You will definitely want to check it out!
Have questions about the field day? Contact the Watershed Restoration Coordinator at lukas@wlrv.org or call 970-493-2075.
Our objective is to restore and enhance geomorphic and ecosystem function in the canyon, including the ongoing re-grading of stream banks and the stabilization of banks by installing erosion control products and planting native trees, grasses and shrubs whose roots naturally armor stream banks and provide habitat for fish & wildlife.
COMPLETED
Date actually on 11/12, but changed temporarily to 12/31 for database testing purposes.
Easy
●
Full Day
● Family Friendly ● Minimum Age: 14 (more info)
Date(s):
Saturday Nov 12, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 20
9am-3:30pm approx
Volunteers are invited to celebrate a great season of restoration and put the tools you used to bed for the winter. There is a job for everyone: cleaning, sharpening, painting, applying protective oils, and re-organizing the tool shed to get ready for next years' project season. Word on the street is Tool Fest is a blast!
Tuesday Dec 27, 2016 - Tuesday Dec 27, 2016 - Number of Volunteers: 10
Join us to clean the seed we have collected this season near Boulder!
Cleaning seeds removes chaff and other plant materials, and helps prepare them for storage and planting. Your efforts will help ensure that we receive the maximum benefit from all of our seed collection projects this season.
We will have a relaxed evening, but be ready for some messy fun - we'll be cleaning chokecherry, wild plum, and three-leaf sumac!
THIS IS A 2 HOUR EVENT -- 5:30pm-7:30pm -- Using native seeds in re-vegetation efforts is essential to restoring native plant diversity. Often times, however, native seeds are not available commercially, they are too expensive, or the available seeds are not ecologically appropriate.
We will be cleaning seed at the WRV office in Boulder.