The rest of the info you need: FOMP and USFS provide all the necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should wear long pants and sturdy shoes and bring leather gloves, a hat, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area.
We make every effort to accommodate volunteer preferences and abilities at each event. Generally, we perform water bar building or renovation, trail renovation, maintenance, trimming, etc. So, everything from trimming back scrub oak or digging lots of dirt to moving boulders. We assign duties based on interests and capabilities. Kids are welcome to join their parents; however, we do ask that you evaluate whether this is an appropriate activity for your child or not.
Be aware that all participants will need to sign a waiver before beginning any trail work.
The rest of the info you need: FOMP and USFS provide all the necessary tools. Volunteers should wear appropriate clothing for performing outdoor landscaping type of work. Volunteers should wear long pants and sturdy shoes and bring leather gloves, a hat, a personal water supply, eye protection, sunscreen, and bug repellent. We meet rain or shine unless there is lightning active in the area.
We make every effort to accommodate volunteer preferences and abilities at each event. Generally, we perform water bar building or renovation, trail renovation, maintenance, trimming, etc. So, everything from trimming back scrub oak or digging lots of dirt to moving boulders. We assign duties based on interests and capabilities. Kids are welcome to join their parents; however, we do ask that you evaluate whether this is an appropriate activity for your child or not.
Be aware that all participants will need to sign a waiver before beginning any trail work.
USFS Upper Monument Creek – Monument Fuels Treatment
Most of you know that the USFS continues its three-year fire mitigation project in the 1,000 acres of open space surrounding the Monument Fire Center. According to the Fuels Management Office of the Pikes Peak Ranger District, this area was designated as extremely high risk for high-intensity, potentially catastrophic wildfires. Thus, USFS concentrated its money and efforts here to protect the wildland-urban interface and surrounding communities.
Monument Mastication talking points:
Reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires
Maintain healthy and resilient forests for future generations
Actively manage the landscape to increase the resiliency of the forest
Improve the health of the forest, watersheds, and wildlife habitat
Create fuel breaks in strategic locations for firefighter safety, to prevent fire spread, and create holding areas for prescribed fire
Ponderosa pine islands, individual trees, & large old oak trees would be protected
Remove Gambel oak and other woody brush that may serve as ladder fuels and encourage pine regeneration
Leave variation in oak growth forms, sizes, age classes, densities, and spatial distribution
Future treatments to follow during the winter seasons
Hand Thinning – Trees would be hand thinned using chainsaws.
Mastication – Oak shrubs & small trees will be mulched into small chunks by a rubber tire or tracked equipment.
While we appreciate the need for mitigation, FOMP has concerns about the execution of the project compared to the originally planned thinning operations. That is, while we were prepared for a mosaic cutting pattern, leaving islands of pines, firs, and Gambel oak, some areas have been completely leveled.
And while the Forest Service advertised promoting a more complex vegetation structure, the contractor left only the largest pines in many areas, with no medium-sized trees or scrub. Finally, these areas are completely cleared of growth on numerous slopes where FOMP members worked with USFS approval to plant pine seedlings in burn sites and ensure seedling release. FOMP is in contact with the Forest Service to voice these concerns and hopefully impact the next phase.
Many of our trails have been damaged due to equipment use and accumulation of slash. The USFS relies on FOMP to maintain trails and allow for the wide variety of recreational uses we all enjoy. During this project, the USFS informed FOMP that although they were not proactively protecting non-system trails, they did not intend to ruin or close any trails. Thus, once the contract work is completed and areas are opened, FOMP will organize volunteer work days to clear authorized trails and repair damage. In some cases, we will optimize trail alignment to avoid low spots where water pools to increase sustainability.
We will use our monthly trail work nights, the second Tuesday of each month, April – October, at 6:00 p.m., as well as additional work days to address the large amount of work to be done. Please watch for email and social media announcements, and help us recruit volunteers. We all look forward to getting the trails back into shape and enjoying our corner of Pike National Forest.
Please be aware that USFS contractors will conduct thinning operations at the Monument Preserve as a form of fire mitigation or fuel mastication. These operations are a part of the larger Upper Monument Creek Landscape Restoration Project to restore forests in the Rampart Range area. The fuel treatment project will reduce wildfire risk and create a more complex vegetation structure.
The USFS has officially lifted the Area 1 closure (Ref: Termination of Order). Beginning the first week in January, there will be some cleanup work in and around Area 1 to resolve anything missed during the initial work and hand-felling treatment work. They will also be limbing trees along Mt. Herman Road.
Area 2 thinning operations will begin the week of January 2nd and last until March 3rd (Ref: Phase 2 South Order). The Area includes the central portions of the Fire Center area (the hatched section in the map).
For public safety during operations, the USFS has informed us that the areas of Area 2 will be closed to use during the work period, though they’ll be open on the weekends. Various large equipment and hand tools will be used to thin the vegetation, and hazardous conditions may exist in the treatment area. The closure is needed to ensure the safety of the public and the operators.
The USFS has informed FOMP that while there may be damage to some trails due to equipment used in the mitigation process and accumulation of slash, there is no intent to destroy or close trails associated with this project.
Area 1 work in progress – Photo courtesy of Brad Baker
USFS Fire Mitigation in the Monument Preserve
Please be aware that the USFS will be conducting thinning operations at the Monument Preserve as a form of fire mitigation. These operations are a part of the larger Upper Monument Creek Landscape Restoration Project to restore forests in the Rampart Range area. The fuel treatment project will reduce the risk of wildfire and create a more complex vegetation structure in the area.
Area 1 thinning operations began this week and last until the end of the year and include the northern portion of the Fire Center area (the hatched portion in the map).
Area 2 begins in January 2023, lasts through March 2023, and includes the most central portions of the Fire Center.
For public safety during operations, the USFS has informed us that the areas of Areas 1 & 2 will be closed to use during the work period, though they’ll be open on the weekends. A variety of large equipment and hand tools will be used to thin the vegetation, and hazardous conditions may exist in the treatment area. The closure is needed to ensure the safety of the public and the operators.
Area 1 work in progress – Photo courtesy of Brad Baker
The USFS has informed FOMP that while there may be damage to some trails due to equipment used in the mitigation process and accumulation of slash, there is no intent to destroy or close trails associated with this project.
Here are the original maps for Area 1 & 2 closures.
FOMP is proud of this endeavor to honor and celebrate Tim Watkins as he was a huge part of our group and community. He was prolific and extremely instrumental in trail building throughout the Monument and Palmer Lake region, and he constructed many of the existing trails in the work center that a multitude of users now enjoys. I personally knew Tim for over three decades and his smile, laughter, love, friendship, selflessness, sweetness and warmth are greatly missed.
In cooperation with Kids on Bikes, Barnett Bicycle Institute, Trails End Taproom, and the Watkins family we are excited to bring into existence the “Tim Watkins Bicycle Mechanic Scholarship“. We are looking to start the initial fund of this scholarship through this fundraiser. This amount will be for two students.
Tim Watkins was a respected bike mechanic at multiple shops across Colorado Springs and started his own shop several years ago in Monument called Balanced Rock Bike and Ski.
He is credited with helping establish many of the trails west of Palmer Lake and he mentored and taught countless people the fundamentals of riding. Seeing only fit that Tim existed to further mountain biking, this scholarship aims to do the same.
Local COS recipients will be equipped with the expertise and connections from this scholarship. Recipients will be able to affect and change the Colorado Springs bike community. Through hands-on learning, component-by-component study, and formal lecture, scholarship recipients come away with the skills to advance their careers in the bike industry, gain advanced mechanical knowledge and deepen their bike industry network.
The scholarship funding will be maintained by friends of Tim Watkins along with Trails End Taproom. Kids on Bikes will select the recipients of the scholarship with their strong understanding of the community and those that best fit the model. Barnett Bicycle Institute, the leading mechanic school in the country, will train and equip recipients.
As I write this it is 38F and light scattered rain … so we will be postponing our trail work and tree work session until Tuesday May 20 at 6pm.
We will hold out board meeting this evening at 7pm in the Fire Center Classroom. That is the first building on the right when you drive into the fire center. Board meetings are open to the public, please feel free to join us.
Thanks
Chris
Note: our server time appear to be an hour early …. maybe its fixed …
Spring is here and Friends of Monument Preserve is about to get into full swing for the upcoming season. There are quite a few things planned and we will discuss those at the board meeting tomorrow night. The calendar is linked on the right and has all the details.
Here are few important notes:
Board Meeting – tomorrow 4/8 at 7:00PM
Among other agenda items will be the USFS law enforcement officer Tom Healy will drop in to talk about recent vandalism in the Preserve
FRERC – gas drilling discussion. If Chris Amenson is able to make the meeting we’ll ask him to update FOMP on the progress and activities to date. Chris and FRERC are doing a great job coordinating various parties interested in the upcoming oil and gas
Upcoming Events – Lots of volunteer opportunities! Dates and contact info is in the calendar section at the end.
Tree Planting Project – this coming weekend!! Volunteers needed, see the calendar for more information.
Trail Work begins April 19 – see the calendar for more information.
Hot Shot dinner. Volunteers needed, see the calendar for more information.
Memorial Grove Ceremony. Volunteers needed, see the calendar for more information.
