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IMPORTANT NOTICES** 2007 Fall/Winter Hunting Season ** Please refer to the following link for Summit County hunting information:
2007/08 Hunting Season.
This Thursday, September 6th - Continental Divide Land Trust's
Friends of Open Space Honors Awards Party
Please join us at this incredible event acknowledging the land preservation efforts of outstanding citizens and businesses! The Dillon Ranger District's very own Paul Semmer (Lands Staff Officer) will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award!
Come out and celebrate Paul's accolade among FRIENDS as we visit with our fellow land stewards! Click here for more information and to purchase your ticket.
Saturday,
September 29 - FDRD Volunteer Celebration and National Public Lands Day: Please join in on the fun as we celebrate YOU,
our AMAZING volunteers, while continuing to give back to our National Forest lands as we build buck and rail fence and do trail maintenance
at the Windy Point Group Campground on Swan Mountain. The day will begin at 8:00AM with coffee and bagels at the dirt parking lot off of Swan
Mountain Road. At 11:30AM, a BBQ picnic at the Windy Point Pavillion will give FDRD another opportunity to thank all our wonderful volunteers - including our Forest Stewards! Join us for a FUN acknowledgement program complete with
awards and giveaways as we kick-off our "Volunteer Incentive Program" (V.I.P.). This is certain to be another exciting day of stewardship and a CELEBRATION of YOUR hard work this year! Volunteers should dress for a day outdoors - bring water, work gloves, layered clothing including long pants,
long-sleeved shirt, sturdy boots, sunglasses, sun hat, sunscreen, and rain gear. RSVPs are REQUIRED for both the project and the picnic. Please email or call Troy Wineland at 970-485-2961.
In its 3rd year, FDRD has published a community volunteer calendar, featuring
organizations dedicated to natural resource management that provide stewardship opportunities in Summit County. To view the full calendar of Summit’s
volunteer opportunities, including 38 organizations and over 160 events, click here.
Each month in the Summit Daily News, FDRD features 2 organizations and their upcoming projects. In August, Colorado 14ers Initiative and Summit Huts Association
were featured. Click here to learn more about these
organizations.
We hope these resources provide you the information you need to join us on these projects, as we continue to care for and steward our local natural resources!
Wildfire Fuels Reduction Service Project - August 11th –
Fourteen volunteers generated 56 hours of volunteer stewardship for our National Forest lands! They gathered, dragged, carried,
and stacked 22 slash piles in an effort to reduce fire hazard in the wildand urban interface south of Frisco.
‘Thank you’ to to the Forest Service fire crew for their tree-clearing efforts prior to, and during, the project.
Special thanks goes out to our sponsors for this event - City Market, New Belgium Brewery, Rocky Mountain Coffee Roasters and Safeway
– for providing us with food and beverages at the beginning and end of the day!
Forest Stewards Program –
FDRD’s Forest Stewards Program is funded by: The Summit Foundation, National Forest Foundation, Copper Mountain Resort, Town of Frisco, Colorado
State Parks-Trails Program-GOCO Fund, and FDRD members.
Adopt-A-Trail Projects –
The Crew Leaders and Adopt-A-Trail Groups had another amazing month out on the trails! Due praise and appreciation go out to the 92 volunteers and crew leaders for improving the trails
we all love to recreate on - please consider joining these groups on their next trail day (see What’s Happening Section for details).
All told, the 6 Adopt-A-Trail projects (outlined below) combined for 92 total volunteers who produced 532 hours of stewardship valued at more than $9,900!
Their efforts included: trail closure, restoration, and rehabilitation of braided sections of trail; building water structures (including knicks, dips, water bars, check dams, and flagstone and Geo-Tech reinforcement);
transplanting native vegetation; cleaning existing structures; and having a GREAT TIME on our local National Forest lands!
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Summit County Off-Road Riders in partnership with Summit County Open Space & Trails - Golden Horseshoe Trails - August 11th Adopt-A-Trail Project
SCORR Members pose proudly, with their trail maintenance tool of choice, after maintaining one mile of trail in the Golden Horseshoe area. ·
Summit County Seniors - Spruce Creek Trail - August 16th Adopt-A-Trail Project
Summit Seniors Volunteers enjoy their “Apre-Adopt” Celebration after a great day’s effort on the Spruce Creek Trail! ·
Copper Mountain Resort - Wheeler Lakes Trail - August 17th Adopt-A-Trail Project
On their third project this season, Copper Staff rehabilitated a 50-yard segment of trail with water diversions and transplants! ·
Our Future Summit - Buffalo Mountain Trail - August 18th Adopt-A-Trail Project
Our Future Summit Volunteers put their expert landscaping skills to work as they narrow, restore, and revegetate a section of the Buffalo Cabin Trail. ·
Christy Sports - Peaks Trail - August 21st Adopt-A-Trail Project
On the Peaks Trail, Christy Sports Volunteers strike an apres-adopt pose while admiring their work! ·
Town of Frisco - Mt. Royal Trail - August 25th Adopt-A-Trail Project
Weren't no one sitting around (except the person behind the camera) on the Mt. Royal Adopt! Great work everyone!
Tree-Clearing Projects –
Led by FDRD’s fearless SAWYER extraordinaire, Kurt Steuer, 16 volunteers participated in 5 tree clearing projects on the Gore Range Trail (North Willow to Salmon Lake).
They generated 146 hours of volunteer stewardship, valued at $2,740. They cleared approximately 370 trees and, in doing so, have helped re-open this area
to the many users of this popular trail.
Youth Stewards – Mountain Mentors Sapphire Point Restoration
Friends of the Dillon Ranger District would like to thank our Youth Stewards who assisted with restoration work at the Sapphire Point Overlook on Aug. 9.
Youth from the Mountain Mentors program celebrated Smokey Bear's 63rd birthday by polishing-up one of Summit County's "gems”. These 10 volunteers generated 90 hours of stewardship
on our local National Forest lands (valued at nearly $1,700). They repaired and painted 3 picnic tables, 4 benches, 2 signs, and the outhouse; pulled weeds and picked up
litter; removed sediment from the sidewalks and parking lot; and performed light trail maintenance. In doing so, they help provide a safer and more enjoyable experience for
the users of this popular trail!
Sincere appreciation and 'Thank You' to Tom and Madelyn Healey for their generous efforts in making this project a tremendous success! Happy birthday, Smokey!
Mountain Mentors youth gain Youth Stewards status as they spruced up Sapphire Point in celebration of Smokey Bear’s Birthday!
VOC / FDRD Gore Range Trail Project (July 28 - 29) –
FDRD would like to thank the stellar volunteers who joined in on the fun at the Volunteers For Outdoor Colorado (VOC) -FDRD Gore Range Trail (at Mahan Lake) Project.
These volunteers came out in great numbers to ensure that the northern entry of this 55 mile trail remains a safe, sustainable, and enjoyable portal and trail in which to recreate.
All told, over this weekend, 187 volunteers generated over 1,400 hours of volunteer stewardship on our local National Forest lands (valued at over $26,700). They completed 7,000 ft. of
new basic trail, converting an old logging road to a single-track trail. Within the 7,000 ft. of trail, crews: completed a 400 ft. switchback (included a 20 ft. two-tier rock wall and
a 20 ft. long mono wall); completed 300 ft. of closure of the old logging road; installed 40 dips, installed a 40 ft. stepping-stones crossing of the North Fork of Elliott Creek; and
installed 10 ft. of stepping-stones in a stream crossing. In doing so, they helped create a single-track, safe, sustainable, and enjoyable entry point to this popular trail.
HUGE KUDOS go out to the Project Team – the great folks that worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the experience lived up to the high standard that state-wide volunteers
expect on a VOC project! Their wonderful leadership, adaptability, and skills ensure this project will be “one for the books”!
Particularly, we’d like to thank Scott Fussell, FDRD Project Coordinator, for his fantastic leadership on the FDRD end…..just one of his many efforts – spearheaded VOC’s first “zero
waste” project! As you may know, “Zero Waste” is an effort to reuse, compost, and/or recycle all materials brought to or created by a project. Typically, a pick-up truck’s worth of
garbage is created on an average VOC weekend project. Per our VOC sources….”through the efforts of the volunteers, waste was minimized to one lonely bag of landfill-bound refuse!”
WOW!! This effort serves to remind all of us how big a difference our efforts (at home, at work, at projects, and everywhere else in between) make as we continue to “steward” our Mother Earth!
Congratulations go out to FDRD Crew Leaders that mentored on this project – gaining VOC Crew Leader certification – Am Fussell, Paul Stafanacci, and Richard Kish.
A special thanks goes out to the 20 project sponsors, including the National Forest Foundation, The Summit Foundation, Vail Resorts, Friedman Family Foundation, Beaver Run Resort,
and Randall McKinnon. Their support provided food, beverages, entertainment, and the many other “creature comforts” of base camp – all the essentials of a successful volunteer
experience! Remember to support our sponsors on your next food and beverage run!
Last, but certainly not least, due praise and appreciation goes out to VOC for hosting this, and several other trail projects and training sessions this summer in Summit County.
Through their partnerships with FDRD and other local public lands agencies, much needed trail maintenance is accomplished on local trails that otherwise would not be completed.
In addition, these efforts help raise awareness of the many ways that locals can get involved in Summit County’s numerous volunteer efforts. FDRD applauds VOC’s tireless efforts to
motivate and enable citizens to be active stewards of Colorado’s public lands!
A Day in the Life of a Forest Steward –
Each month in the Summit Daily News, FDRD features one volunteer participating in the Program’s 6 initiatives. In August, Scott Fussell’s Crew Leader effort was shared with the
community. Click here
to view the full article. PLEASE, if you have not read this article, take a few minutes to read it, share it with your friends and colleagues, and
thank Scott for so eloquently conveying in words what it is that we ALL are accomplishing for our National Forest lands! THANK YOU Scott!
FDRD Training - Wildflower Stroll
Four Ranger Patrolers joined Nancy Redner, FDRD Board Member and Local Plant Ecologist Consultant, on the second wildflower stroll this summer, this time on Loveland Pass. The volunteers
learned about a plethora of local flora (and fauna – lots of pika and marmot!), in an effort to share their new found knowledge with the recreationists they encounter on the trails throughout the summer.
(mark
your calendars!) FDRD’s
2007 Summer Event Schedule – “Join In On The Fun” ·
Ongoing
– Forest Stewards Program ·
Ongoing
– Volunteer Calendar - click
here to view, click
here to update. ·
Various - Adopt-A-Trail Projects
Monday, October 1st, at 6:00 PM.
Open to our members and other interested parties. To RSVP or to recommend potential agenda items for the Board's future consideration, contact Guff at guffvanvooren@msn.com.
(FDRD Board Members meet on the first Monday of each month at the Dillon Ranger District office at 6PM) |
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The Executive and Advisory Boards will hold a joint meeting (in lieu of the regularly scheduled Executive Board meeting)
on Monday, September 10th in an effort to better define their respective roles after this, our busiest and most successful
summer to date! With over 40 projects, the 2007 season exceeds our first 3 summers...combined!
Needless to say, none of this would have been possible without your generous help and support of the Forest Steward
and Service Project Programs! A huge THANK YOU to everyone for your commitment to the stewardship of National Forest
lands here in Summit County!
Please be sure to RSVP for the Volunteer Celebration and National Public Lands Day project on September 29th. We look forward
to seeing everyone there!
My most sincere appreciation,
Troy Wineland
Volunteer Coordinator
Friends of the Dillon Ranger District |