Youth Corps Project Report BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT COLORADO STATE OFFICE FISCAL YEAR 2013 Colorado Youth Corps Association www.cyca.org 1
Table of Contents Program Summary 3 Individual Project Summaries Colorado River Valley Field Office Red Hill, Gypsum, Bocco Trail Construction 5 Little Snake Field Office Vista Trail Construction 7 Royal Gorge Field Office Midland Hills Trail Construction 10 San Luis Valley Field Office Shriver-Wright Trail Project 12 2
Program Summary In fiscal year 2014 the Bureau of Land Management funded four youth corps projects in Colorado. Two of the projects were conducted as America s Great Outdoors projects, with one involving multiple project partners. In addition, the remaining two projects were funded by individual field offices. WORK COMPLETED 10 weeks of work were conducted on 4 trail projects in FY 2013 YOUTH CORPS CREWS 3 of 10 CYCA accredited youth corps worked on BLM projects in 2013 61 corpsmembers worked on BLM projects in 2013 32 youth were between the ages of 14-25 and worked 80 hours or more 2,364 hours of direct labor were provided by corpsmembers in 2013 340 hours were spent in environmental education as part of the project work CORPSMEMBER DEMOGRAPHICS Ethnicity 56% male 44% female 82% White 18% Non-White or Hispanic 82% Mixed or Other 18% Native American Education 43% currently enrolled in high school 33% graduates of 2 or 4 year colleges 10% some college 8% Other 5% high school graduates 1% achieved or are working toward GED Age 41% between 14-17 43% 18-24 16% 25 and older AMERICORPS EDUCATION AWARDS 19 corpsmembers earned AmeriCorps Education Awards Corpsmembers earned $30,9011 in AmeriCorps Education Awards. The awards can be used for college or trade school. 3
Program Summary, cont. WORK RESULTS SUMMARY 5.37 miles of trail constructed 1.14 miles of trail maintained 4.08 miles of trail closed/re-vegetated.53 miles of corridor cleared 1 acre of weeds removed 78 bushes planted 59 cairns piled 7 signs installed 84 feet of rock wall installed 13 French drains installed 1 bag of trash picked up SPONSOR FEEDBACK Upon project completion, projects sponsors were sent a Sponsor Evaluation Form. Included in the form was a request for satisfaction ratings and feedback on the corps performance. Satisfaction ratings were based on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 = Unsatisfied and 5 = Very Satisfied. Of the 13 completed projects: 100% of sponsors said they would use a youth corps crew in the future 100% of sponsors were either Very Satisfied or Satisfied with the crew s performance The average crew rating for all projects was 5.0 Project sponsors were also asked to judge the lasting effect of their project on the community. 10+ years 4 projects 4
Red Hill, Gypsum, Bocco Trail Maintenance Colorado River Valley Field Office Youth Corps: Rocky Mountain Youth Corps Number of Weeks: 3 Project Dates: 6/9/13 6/15/13 and 9/22/13 10/2/13 PROJECT SUMMARY Trail construction in the midland hills trail system. The final two days of the project were completed after the government shut down per the request of the sponsor. PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS 4 miles of trail constructed 4 miles of trail re-vegetated/closed 2 signs installed 1 bag of trash picked up SPONSOR FEEDBACK Overall Satisfaction Rating: (5 being very satisfied): 5 Benefits of project will last: More Than 10 Years Is it likely you would use the services of the youth corps again if available? Yes. Greg Wolfgang What worked well in your partnership with the youth corps? The youth corps group was very hard working and flexible. The crew was willing to change their work schedule and adapted to challenging weather and coordinating with a 3rd party contractor. Greg Wolfgang How can the youth corps work to improve its performance? I am very happy with how this project turned out, I don't have any areas for improvement. Greg Wolfgang 5
Red Hill, Gypsum, Bocco Trail Maintenance Colorado River Valley Field Office 6
Vista Trail Construction Little Snake Field Office Youth Corps: Steamboat Springs Community Youth Corps Number of Weeks: 4 Project Dates: 6/17/13 6/21/13 and 7/29/13 8/16/13 PROJECT SUMMARY The Vista Trail is part of the America s Great Outdoors Program proposal, a BPS project submittal, and the 65 Million Years in 65 Miles self-guided tour. The approximately 6 mile hiking trail would provide scenic overlooks of the Axial Basin within the Little Yampa Canyon SRMA in a juniper forest environment. The trail would connect to a proposed youth/group campground. The Vista Trail would provide one of many recreational infrastructures that are lacking in an area located only 30 miles from the city of Craig, and 15 minutes from the towns of Maybell and Lay. Trail Construction: Phase 1 Construction of approximately 1 mile of trail from the trailhead parking to the handicapped parking area. Construction would also include installation of one interpretive panel. Trail Construction: Phase 2 Construction of approximately 1/2 mile of ADA accessible trail with gravel. Trail Construction: Phase 3 Construction of approximately 2 miles of trail to BLM Road 1594. Anticipated construction for around 4 miles would be 4 weeks. The 2 miles to group campground would be completed upon development of the campground. PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS.26 miles of trail constructed.88 miles of trail improved/maintained.36 miles of corridor cleared 1 acre of weeds removed 59 piles of cairns constructed 3 signs installed SPONSOR FEEDBACK Overall Satisfaction Rating: (5 being very satisfied): 5 Benefits of project will last: More than 10 years Is it likely you would use the services of the youth corps again if available? Yes. Gina Robison What worked well in your partnership with the youth corps? Good communication between all parties. Gina Robison How can the youth corps work to improve its performance? Better understanding of working in hot conditions and having more knowledge of heat related injuries and how to prevent. Gina Robison What worked well in your partnership with the youth corps? I love working with the Steamboat Springs Community Youth Corp. I find the quality of work and their dedication is just as good as that of the older groups. Gina Robison Continued 7
Vista Trail Construction Little Snake Field Office PROJECT PHOTOS 8
Vista Trail Construction Little Snake Field Office PROJECT PHOTOS 9
Midland Hills Trail Construction Royal Gorge Field Office Youth Corps: Southwest Conservation Corps Los Valles Number of Weeks: 1 Project Dates: 9/23/13 9/27/13 PROJECT SUMMARY Trail construction in the Midland Hills trail system. PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS.37 miles of trail constructed.26 miles of trail improved/maintained 400 feet of trail re-vegetated/closed 929 feet of corridor cleared 30 bushes planted 84 feet of rock wall installed 13 French drains installed 2 signs installed SPONSOR FEEDBACK Overall Satisfaction Rating: (5 being very satisfied): 5 Benefits of project will last: More Than 10 Years Is it likely you would use the services of the youth corps again if available? Yes. Linda Skinner What worked well in your partnership with the youth corps? Flexibility in planning a project is great in this partnership. There wasn't much pre-planning on this project so when the crew arrived, we walked the project areas and prioritized the tasks. The crew was not real experienced at trail building but the crew leaders brought them up to speed quickly. The project areas were somewhat scattered on different trails. They focused on each section to completion and then moved to the next task. They used their time effectively by splitting the group if the task didn't need as many people. The group adapted extremely well to working with volunteers that came up for one day. My priority was to include the local volunteers and create community and the crew was amazing. Everyone enjoyed the day and accomplished a lot of work. Linda Skinner How can the youth corps work to improve its performance? Maintain your standards in hiring ambitious hard-working youth. Linda Skinner General Comments: The group completed a reroute and improved water drainage that will sustain the trails for many years. Linda Skinner Continued 10
Midland Hills Trail Construction Royal Gorge Field Office PROJECT PHOTOS The crew had camera problems so work photos from the project are not available. 11
Shriver-Wright Trail Project San Luis Valley Field Office Youth Corps: Southwest Conservation Corps Los Valles Number of Weeks: 2 Project Dates: 6/23/13 7/6/13 PROJECT SUMMARY The Shriver-Wright trail project is located at the Shriver-Wright State Wildlife Area near Monte Vista, CO. It is the State s newest SWA, dedicated to watchable wildlife and all things related to the Rio Grande River. The project is being conducted as an America s Great Outdoors project with multiple partners, including: Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Monte Vista School District, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, SCC-LV and a few other NGO s. The SCC-LV portion will include leading volunteer students from the local schools to build trail in the SWA for one week. Additionally, an SCC-LV crew will spend one week performing trail maintenance in the Rio Grande National Forest. PROJECT OUTCOMES 70 Monte Vista middle school students participated in a volunteer service/education day at the Shriver- Wright SWA. There were a total of five stations that student groups rotated between: one station focused on trail work; another was an overview of the Shriver-Wright Memorial Wildlife Area; the remaining three stations were ecology focused including birding and bird ID from Flying Wild, fishing and fish ID, and Sweepnet Exploration with macroinvertebrate ID. The stations were led by 2 or 3 SCC crew leaders with CPW, VOC, BLM, RIGHT folks mixed in as needed. One week of trail work in the Rio Grande National Forest will be completed in calendar year 2014. PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS.74 miles of trail constructed 48 bushes planted SPONSOR FEEDBACK Overall Satisfaction Rating: (5 being very satisfied): 5 Benefits of project will last: More than 10 years Is it likely you would use the services of the youth corps again if available? Yes. Sean Noonan What worked well in your partnership with the youth corps? Very solid relationship with SCC. Sean Noonan How can the youth corps work to improve its performance? keep doing what you're doing. Sean Noonan Continued 12
Shriver-Wright Trail Project San Luis Valley Field Office PROJECT PHOTOS 13
Shriver-Wright Trail Project San Luis Valley Field Office PROJECT PHOTOS 14
SUBMITTED BY: Jennifer Freeman Executive Director 303-863-0602 jfreeman@cyca.org 15