Rocky Mountain Field Institute
Garden of the Gods Community Restoration Program
2015 Annual Project Report
December 18th, 2015
Report prepared by: Mark Tatro, Field Instructor
815 South 25th Street, Suite 101
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
www.rmfi.org
Dedicated to the conservation and stewardship of public lands in the Pikes Peak Region
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
SUMMARY
In 2015, the Rocky Mountain Field Institute (RMFI) completed its 13th year of stewardship work
in the Garden of the Gods Park. RMFI staff developed an ambitious work plan for the year that
included addressing new high priority impacts identified by the City of Colorado Springs Parks
and Recreation Department. The work showcased the organization’s diverse technical skill set
and the commitment of the community to care for a treasured natural landscape.
RMFI’s 2015 Garden of the Gods work objectives centered on three main sites in the South
Garden: Valley Reservoir Number One, Valley Reservoir Number Two, and the New Era and
Snake Pit climbing access trails. Objectives in these areas included the closure and restoration of
social trails and erosion gullies, installation of check-dams and other erosion control structures,
and construction of trail stabilizing and enhancement structures. The goal of this work was to
improve and stabilize designated trails, which suffered damage due to weathering and high levels
of user impact, while erasing access to unauthorized social trails that degrade both wildlife
habitat and the park’s scenic qualities.
In May 2015, an historic rainfall event occurred in Colorado Springs. Upwards of 12 inches of
rain fell in some portions of the City, which caused significant damage to area parks, trails, and
open spaces. As a result, RMFI temporarily shifted its efforts in the park toward trail
rehabilitation and gully stabilization at several high priority areas including the Tower of Babel
and Ute Trail. After the new priorities were accomplished and the park had dried out enough to
resume restoration, RMFI shifted back to its original work objectives.
In 2015, a total of 1,299 volunteers representing local and regional community groups and
businesses worked 6,464 hours over the course of 58 workdays for a total work value of
$149,200 (at $23.07 per hour, independentsector.com). In comparison to RMFI’s 2014 work
totals in the park, this year included an additional 15 workdays, 200 additional volunteers, 1,400
additional volunteer hours, and an increase of $31,000 in volunteer value. A list of the groups
that volunteered with RMFI in 2015 can be found at the end of this document. This year’s
important work in the southeast area of the park was made possible with the generous support
from Ms. Lyda Hill, the Friends of the Garden of the Gods (FoGG), the Broadmoor Garden
Club, the City of Colorado Springs Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Services Department (PRCS),
and an allocation through the Lodgers and Automobile Rental Tax (LART).
BACKGROUND
Considered the ‘crown jewel’ of the Colorado Springs parks system, the Garden of the Gods is
the most heavily used park in the City, drawing nearly 2 million visitors per year. Measuring
only 1,300 acres in size, the park’s visitor density is 100 times greater than that of Rocky
Mountain National Park. In 2014, Garden of the Gods was awarded Trip Advisor’s Travelers’
Choice Award as the best park to visit in the United States. Preserving the park and managing the
impacts associated with such extraordinary levels of use have long been an exceptional challenge
for the City of Colorado Springs.
Most of the trails in the Garden were established in the 1930’s and were never designed to
accommodate the current level of use. As a result, mazes of social trails, deep gullies, and large
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
areas void of vegetation caused by park visitors looking for a shortcut or a respite off the beaten
path exist in several areas of the park. In addition, many of the climbing access trails are straight
lines up to the base of climbs, and do not consider the surrounding topography and effects of
water. Over time, these social trails have become a conduit for water and erosion, resulting in
down-cut trails and deep gullies that in some areas are over two feet below the surrounding
terrain. The situation is worsened by the fact that the soils in the park are the most erodible in El
Paso County-up to 5 times that of other soil types.
In 2002, RMFI initiated the Garden of the Gods Community Restoration Program, which was
the result of a two-year study of the ecological state of the park. The study documented an array
of threats affecting the park’s ecological health including severe soil erosion, damage to the
park’s native plant communities, infestations of noxious plants, a deteriorating trail system, and
lack of visitor awareness. Since the program's inception, RMFI has mobilized over 15,400
volunteers who have contributed over 72,000 hours towards the park's restoration initiatives, and
has leveraged roughly $420,000 into $1.65 million worth of on-the-ground restoration.
The primary goals of RMFI’s Garden of the Gods Community Restoration Program are to:
•
•
•
•
Provide stewardship opportunities for a broad spectrum of the community including
individuals, local schools, community organizations, businesses, and religious
institutions;
Foster community awareness about the ecology and natural history of the Garden of the
Gods Park;
Educate the community about the current threats to the park;
Complete critical restoration work in the most severely degraded areas of the park.
WORK NARRATIVE
During the 2015 work season, RMFI returned to the South Garden for the first time since 2013
with work objectives centered on social trail closures at 13 distinct work sites in Valley
Reservoirs Number One and Number Two (Appendix A). In addition to social trail closure, other
objectives at these 13 sites ranged from the installation of subsurface trail stabilization structures
to the enhancement of access trails at the Snake Pit bouldering area. Project objectives at each
site were accomplished through open enrollment volunteer workdays, corporate group volunteer
workdays, youth volunteer workdays, and an educational summer camp, all with RMFI staff
oversight. Open enrollment days, held typically on weekends, were available to anyone in the
community who wanted to give back to the city’s most treasured park with individual attendants
representing all demographics of the local population. RMFI was also able to partner with
specific businesses, such as Wells Fargo and Kirkpatrick Bank, to provide community service
workdays for their employees. Lastly, RMFI partnered with Catamount Institute for a second
consecutive year to provide environmental education and service learning during their weeklong
day camp for 10-12 year olds called “Dirt Camp.” Ten students participated in the day camp and
volunteered for 12 hours each over the course of the week.
A typical volunteer day was 6.5 hours in length. Volunteers were initially given an orientation
including an introduction to the Garden of the Gods and Rock Ledge Ranch, the work site, and
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
project goals. Volunteers were also briefed on environmental and safety hazards as well as
proper use of tools. RMFI supplied all tools, personal protective equipment, and water for use by
the volunteers. RMFI staff assigned volunteers with specific tasks based on project needs and
volunteer interests. Activities included building erosion control structures, moving rock and soil
to fill incised gullies and social trails, installing erosion control matting, and constructing rock
steps on designated trails. The most common volunteer activity was the restoration of social
trails using the restoration prescription outlined in Appendix B. RMFI field instructors, trained in
restoration techniques and volunteer management, supervised all work events.
2015 Work Sites
Valley Reservoir Number One (31.7 acres)
The old reservoir directly to the west of Rock
Ledge Ranch makes up the northern half of the
mountain biking area in the park and played host
to RMFI workdays during the long, hot days of
summer. The Ute Trail to the south and west, the
Chambers Trail to the north, and the Valley
Reservoir Trail to the east border the Valley
Reservoir Number One site. A grove of old
cottonwood trees in the northern quarter of the
valley is popular with recreationists seeking a
shady spot to rest, and is accessed by social trails
traveling to meet them from three directions. The
major social trails, wandering down one side of
the valley and back up the other, trap water and
help funnel it straight to the lowest point of the
reservoir, scouring soil and other sediment along
the way. The erosion and displaced sediment
have disturbed the native vegetation and allowed
for an invasive species including Mexican Locust
to take over a segment of the valley. Figure 1. A group of volunteers from the Latter Day
Saints Church work to restore a social trail in Valley
Reservoir Number One.
To restore this area, RMFI led multiple workdays,
one in particular with 160 volunteers (Figure 1), to decommission a well-established 1,200-foot
long social trail, which measured 13 feet wide in some areas. RMFI volunteers transplanted over
1,000 native plants, mainly grasses, sages, and yucca, to disguise and discourage travel on the
social trail (Figures 2 and 3). Work crews also cleared 2 acres of Mexican Locust infestation to
protect the integrity of the native vegetation, and installed 8 sills along down-cut sections of
social trails, which in time will backfill to better match the surrounding topography and
minimize future erosion.
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
Figure 2. RMFI and Catamount Dirt Camp participants
transplanting native vegetation in Valley Reservoir
Number One.
Figure 3. Lyda Hill at work with students from
Colorado Springs School in Valley Reservoir
Number One.
Valley Reservoir Number Two (17.5 acres)
The reservoir at the southeast end of the park
is home to the southern quarter of the park’s
mountain biking area and is where RMFI
spent a majority of time during the 2015 field
season. The Niobrara Trail wraps around the
south, east, and west ends of the reservoir
while the Ute Trail marks its northern
boundary. This area once served as a refuge
for populations of bighorn sheep, mule deer,
black bear, and other wildlife indigenous to
the park, however, social trail development
has resulted in major degradation of native
vegetation as well as habitat fragmentation.
With assistance from City of Colorado
Springs Park and Recreation staff, RMFI
identified a system of social trails to close,
three long runs of developed trails that needed
improvements, and two drainages in need of
erosion control structures.
Work began in early spring on Valley
Reservoir Number Two with the restoration
of a 960-foot long social trail cutting straight
down the middle of the reservoir (Figure 4).
Figure 4. Before and after photo of the closure and restoration
This social trail, labeled #6 in Appendix A,
of a social trail at its junction with a designated trail. Note use
required a series of timber check-dams to raise of native transplants to disguise the former tread.
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
the incised areas back up to the surrounding topography. To minimize foot traffic on areas
already restored, RMFI field staff and volunteers closed each entrance point to the social trail by
placing downed timber and additional signage informing park users about the closure. In
addition, RMFI staff constructed 8 timber check-dams to stabilize an incredibly steep and incised
section of a spur between social trail #6 and #6a.
Stabilization and Repair Work From Historic May Rains
The month of May was the wettest on record in Colorado Springs since 1894. The historic rains
forced RMFI to temporarily shift priorities away from the Valley Reservoir Number Two site as
the clay soils were simply too saturated to continue restoration work in the area. After the rains,
RMFI staff assessed storm damage and discovered that almost overnight, small social trails had
developed into long narrow gullies and whole sections of trails had been washed away. To
address these critical issues, RMFI staff shifted its efforts to trail maintenance and erosion
control projects. In the weeks following the rain, RMFI volunteers installed 30 small check-dams
to stabilize and back-fill the long, narrow gullies and repaired over 250 feet of tread on a steep
portion of the Niobrara Trail. RMFI also made repairs to a severely down-cut section of the Ute
Trail (Figure 5). During this period of re-prioritization, RMFI also led a series of workdays at a
2014 project site to further stabilize a large gully network running from the Tower of Babel to
the Central Garden main parking lot. During these workdays, volunteers constructed 8 additional
large rock check-dams to stem sediment flows into the parking lot.
Once soils in the Valley Reservoir Number Two area had dried out sufficiently, RMFI resumed
restoration work at the site. Though most of RMFI’s work conducted prior to the storm remained
Figure 5. Before and after photos of repairs to a severely down-cut section of the Ute Trail. The trail section
was treated with subsurface timber structures to raise the trail tread and prevent further erosion. Sections of
eroded trail were up to 60 inches across and 40 inches deep.
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
unharmed, a series of check-dams failed, exposing the need for more massive structures than had
originally been constructed. Twenty medium to large rock check-dams were subsequently
installed and an additional 1,900 feet of social trails and 1,740 square feet of area were restored.
The Fontanero Trail connector, which was damaged during the rains, required maintenance on 3
dips/grade reversals and the installation of 3 additional dips/grade reversals. The work was
designed to shed water off at multiple points along the trails’ long, straight descent.
New Era/Snake Pit Complex
In the fall of 2015, RMFI began a new project to improve climbing and bouldering access trails.
With assistance from the Pikes Peak Climbers Alliance, 60 rock steps were built to direct climber
access from Juniper Way Loop to the New Era climbing route on Gray Rock (Figure 6). Directly
across Juniper Way Loop, 7 additional rock steps were built to stabilize the nearby access trail
down to the Snake Pit bouldering area. Nearly 1,000 feet of social trail was also closed and
restored in the area surrounding the Snake Pit. As weather permits, RMFI staff will continue
working at this site in early 2016 with the installation of additional rock steps to refine the access
trail to the New Era climbing route.
2015 WORK ACCOMPLISHMENTS
RMFI accomplished a tremendous amount of
work in the Garden of the Gods in 2015.
Highlights include the closure and restoration
of 7,156 linear feet of social trails (1.4 miles),
construction of 72 rock check-dams, and the
construction of 67 rock steps helping to
improve climbing/bouldering access trails to
New Era and the Snake Pit. All work was
done in coordination with City of Colorado
Springs parks staff who provided trail and
restoration materials, and were always
available for clarification on the park’s master
plan as well as park priorities and
management goals.
Valley Reservoir Number 1:
• 2,286 linear feet of social trails closed
and restored (measuring 13 feet across
in places). • 2 rock check-dams built.
• 3 grade reversals/dips installed.
• 1,023 native vegetation transplants.
Figure 6. Newly built rock steps leading up from the
Snake Pit bouldering area to Juniper Way Loop.
Valley Reservoir Number 2:
• 3,690 linear feet of social trails restored.
• 9 timber subsurface structures and 3 dips/grade reversals improving 65 linear feet of
severely eroded trail tread and raising it by 14 inches.
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
•
•
•
•
30 small rock check-dams and 27 large rock check-dams built.
500 linear feet of trail improved with the maintenance of 3 dips/grade reversals and
installation of 7 new dips/grade reversals.
943 native vegetation transplants.
1740 square feet of area restored.
New Era/Snake Pits Complex Site:
• 1,180 linear feet of social trails restored.
• 67 rock steps constructed.
• 13 rock check-dams built.
2015 VOLUNTEER STATISTICS
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Volunteer workdays: 58
Number of volunteers engaged: 1,299
Total volunteer hours: 6,467.3
Value of volunteer time: $149,199.46 ($23.07/hour via independentsector.com)
Volunteer Organizations:
1. American Jewish Society for Service
2. Aspen Valley High School
3. Atlas Prep School
4. Catamount Institute
5. Challenger Middle School
6. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Crew
7. Colorado College – Biodiversity and Conservation Class
8. Colorado College – Break Out
9. Colorado College – Global Climate Change Class
10. Colorado College – Outdoors Education Special Interest Community
11. Colorado Springs Early Colleges
12. Colorado Springs School – 8th Grade
13. Colorado Springs School – Upper Class
14. Colorado Springs Utilities
15. DeLaSalle High School
16. Denver University – Environmental Sustainability Living and Learning Community
17. Denver University – Service and Change Club
18. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
19. Ft. Carson – Cavalry Troop
20. Fountain Valley School
21. Great Western Bank
22. Griffith Centers for Children
23. James Irwin Charter High School
24. Kirkpatrick Bank
25. Kiwanis Club
26. Latter Day Saints Church
27. Liberty High School
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
Manitou Trail CATS
Morter Board
Shriever AFB – 3rd Space Ops Squadron
Shriever AFB – 2nd Space Ops Squadron
State Farm Insurance
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs – Alpha Sigma Phi Fraternity
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs – Geography of Trails Class
University of Colorado at Colorado Springs – Restoration Geographies Class
United States Air Force Academy
Wells Fargo
Youth Leadership and Advisory Council
Zebulon Pike Youth Services Center FUTURE WORK
In early December 2015, RMFI and City park staff met to discuss general RMFI work objectives
in the park for the 2016 work season. Specific areas noted during this discussion included
additional repairs to the Ute Trail, repairs to storm-damaged portions of the Palmer Trail, heavily
eroded areas east of Sleeping Giant, and continued North Gateway gully restoration by Tower of
Babel. RMFI will develop a spring 2016 set of work objectives based on this discussion.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Joe Lavorini
RMFI Program Director
[email protected]
719-471-7736
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
APPENDIX A. Maps of 2015 Work Areas Map Reference
Work Location Number
2
4, 4b, 4c, 4d
4a
6
6a
8
9
11
12
13, 14
17
Description
Social trail requiring full decompact/seed/rake/mulch/disguise treatment.
Social trail network requiring full decompact/seed/rake/mulch/ disguise
treatment. 4b requires sill installation.
Mexican Locust patch, invasive species requiring removal.
Long, 1000-foot social trail requiring full decompct/seed/rake/mulch/
disguise treatment.
Long, 1200-foot social trail requiring full decompact/seed/rake/mulch/
disguise treatment.
Fontanero Trail requiring water management structures.
Gulley system requiring stabilization and fill
Social trail requiring full decompact/seed/rake/mulch/disguise treatment.
Social trail and gulley system requiring full decompact/seed/rake/
mulch/disguise treatment, stabilization, and fill.
Down cut sections of Ute Trail; subsurface structures construction to raise
trail tread.
Snake Pit access trail. Construction of rock steps and minor social trail
closure and restoration.
18
New Era access trail. Construction of rock steps.
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APPENDIX B. Restoration Technique
RMFI’s restoration prescription for restoring social trails and erosion gullies:
• Decompact and aerate hardened surfaces (soil tilled between 4 and 6 inches in depth).
•
If the area is gullied, use native soil to bring the gully back up to grade with the
surrounding area.
•
Install subsurface check-dams if gullies allow water to gain significant velocity. Subsurface check-dams are below ground rock structures that stabilize the slope and keep
soils in place.
•
Prep the soil seedbed by removing large rocks and smoothing the soil’s surface.
•
Spread and rake in native seed mix (Appendix C).
•
On steep slopes, aspen-fiber (or excelsior) erosion control matting is installed and
secured with 4-inch biodegradable stakes. Each side of the matting is “trenched” and
stakes are pounded in angled toward the outside edge of the matting. The trenches are
then covered with dirt to create a seamless transition between surrounding soil and the
matting, preventing water flow under the matting.
•
In areas where there is little to no slope, mulch can be used as an alternative to matting.
The purpose of the mulch or matting is to provide cover for newly spread soil and seed
on restored areas.
•
Dead and downed branches or slash are placed on the matting for additional stabilization
and to provide a microclimate for the seed. Leaf litter is also scattered to help lessen the
visual disturbance of the bright yellow matting.
•
Split-rail fencing and educational signs are installed.
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
APPENDIX C. Composition of Native Seed Mix
Garden of the Gods native seed mix was provided by PRCS staff and consisted of the following
plants:
Genus/Species
Common Name
Bouteloua curtipendula
Sideoats grama
Pascopyrum smithii
Western wheatgrass
Bouteloua gracilis
Blue grama
Schizachyrium scoparium
Little bluestem
Festuca ovina
Sheep fescue
Nassella viridula
Green needlegrass
Panicum virgatum
Switchgrass
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2015 Garden of the Gods Annual Restoration Report
References
Rocky Mountain Field Institute, 2000. Garden of the Gods Restoration Report: Current
Conditions and Recommendations.
https://www.rmfi.org/sites/default/files/resources/publications/gog_restoration_report_we
b.pdf.
Rocky Mountain Field Institute, 2000. Garden of the Gods Restoration Report: Implementation
Guide.
https://www.rmfi.org/sites/default/files/resources/publications/gog_implementation_guid
e_web.pdf.