Activities of the 2009 Season-posted December 8, 2009

During the second full season of GARNA’s wilderness chapter, the group continued its efforts to widen the number of volunteers committed to wilderness area trips to inventory campsites. Competition from longer-established (and much-needed) volunteer programs on the Colorado and Continental Divide Trails, trails serving 14ers, and even GARNA’s own Friends of Fourmile chapter make it challenging to recruit for the Arkansas Headwaters Wilderness Partners. However, the main ”champions” of this new chapter, encouraged by the Forest Service’s Leadville District’s wilderness ranger and with support from the District Ranger, remain committed to keeping the fledgling program going and growing.

Quick check on activities of the 2009 season

• In May Chapter leader Bruce Morrow and FS wilderness ranger Steve Sunday attended the FS Region 2 annual Wilderness Ranger Academy in New Mexico. Among other sessions this provided an opportunity to get familiar with a revised, shortened campsite inventory form which should make future inventories more efficient.

• During the winter the chapter was awarded $750 as its share of a regional National Forest Foundation grant in support of several Colorado wilderness volunteer groups. This will be used in the third season for reimbursing volunteer travel expenses.

• The Mt Massive Wilderness Area was designated as the primary target of campsite inventories this season, and although AHWP volunteers were not able to participate, the Leadville wilderness ranger Steve Sunday and his two seasonal assistants made excellent progress, inventorying some 144 sites in six drainages. Hopefully any gaps in the Mt Massive WA inventory can be filled by AHWP volunteers next season before the program shifts to the next priority.

The season’s featured work program combined campsite removal with reducing camper impacts on the habitat of the Boreal Toad around Hartenstein Lake in the Collegiate Peaks Wilderness Area. The Boreal Toad http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/species/amphibians/borealtoad/, although not listed officially as endangered, is nonetheless a species in decline; the Forest Service (and other agencies) is committed to taking actions to foster its recovery such as identifying critical habitat and reducing visitor impacts on these areas.  The photos below illustrate the October 21-23, 2009 AHWP/USFS team’s efforts. Photos by Karen and Alan Robinson.

	Volunteer inspects the Boreal Toad advisory posted at the Denny Creek trailhead serving Hartenstein Lake (as well as Browns Pass and Mt Yale)
	Hartenstein Lake, focus of the three day work program
	Typical habitat of the Boreal Toad east of the lake
	Over the years, campers established informal trails and campsites which FS staff considered were causing unacceptable disturbance to Boreal Toad habitat around the lake - these were removed and rehabilitated.
The following pictures illustrate the rehabilitation, trail closure and campsite cleanup accomplished by the work crew.
	The 2009 Hartenstein Work Crew: three Leadville District wilderness rangers, four Arkansas Headwaters Wilderness Partners volunteers. (Steve Sunday photo)
PARTING SHOTS...
Evening views of Mt Yale across Hartenstein Lake were ample rewards for a weekend’s hard work on behalf of wilderness area management.