Wood River Land Trust

VOLUNTEER WITH THE LAND TRUST

We don't currently have any volunteer opportunities, but we'll be back at work this fall! If you have any questions about volunteering, please contact Hannah at or 208-788-3947

SEE WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED SO FAR THIS YEAR

July 9th | YMCA Field Trip at Colorado Gulch

We are hosting a field trip for the Power Scholar Program through the YMCA at Colorado Gulch. The program to help engage rising 2nd and 3rd graders during the summer break. This year’s theme is pollinators, which perfectly matches our pollinator initiative in the Colorado Gulch meadow!

We have different stations throughout the preserve the kids will rotate through, and we will need volunteers the day of to help with having fun and keeps the station running along with other duties. This will be an all-day event with volunteering from Friday, 9:30 am-2:30 pm.

July 13th | Simons Bauer Trail Work Day with The Wood River Trails Coalition

5:30-7:30 pm Lions Park Parking lot

We are so excited to be breaking trail at the Simon Bauer Preserve!

We are partnering with the Wood River Trails Coalition to build the beginning trails to our Simon Bauer Trail system. We invite everyone from beginner, experienced, and in between to help make the trails with us! Afterward, we will have beverages and food for everyone to enjoy. Please celebrate with us. We would love to have you!

July 1st | Float Decoration for the 4th of July Parade

We are so excited to be a part of the 4th of July parade this year! We hold an essential job as the last float in the parade that leads everyone to Riverfest, but we need some extra hands to help us decorate! We will be decorating on Thursday 10:00 am-12:00 pm. We are thinking of going with a pollinator theme this year and can’t wait to reveal it at the parade!If you love to decorate, do arts and crafts, and just be creative, we would LOVE your help!

JUNE 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th | Pollinator Meadow at Colorado Gulch- Kid Friendly!

We will be hosting a kid’s friendly volunteer workday at the Pollinator Meadow in the Colorado Gulch Preserve every Thursday, 4:00-6:00pm throughout the month of June. We will meet at the Redfeather Parking lot and will walk to the meadow as a group. We will be planting native seedlings that have been growing in the greenhouse this spring and creating and maintaining new pollinator islands in the meadow. We are asking volunteers to please leave their dogs at home during the event.

JUNE 8th | 4:00-6:00pm | BCRD Native Plant Arboretum Day, Again!

We are so excited to host another volunteer day at the BCRD Native Plant Arboretum! Come learn about native Idaho plants, including the state tree and state flower. We will be doing some light pruning, raking, weeding, and plant wildflowers and shrub seedlings. We may also do some trail cleanup.

JUNE 5th | 10:00am-12:00pm | Howard Preserve Restoration and Weed Pull Day with the ERC

We have partnered with the Environmental Resource Center (ERC) to host a Restoration and Weed Pull Event one Saturday a month, May-July. We will have a guest speaker at each event to discuss topics about Biodiversity, Pollinators, etc. At the Howard Preserve we will need help with biocontrol counting, preserve maintenance repairs, and high priority noxious weed mitigation. If we're lucky, maybe spot some wildlife while we're there!

JUNE 2 | 10:00-4:00 PM | Sharp's Fire BDA Repair

We need volunteers who are ready to get a little wet and muddy to help us repair the Beaver Dam Analog (BDA). If you would like to learn what a BDA is and how they help restore habitat, join us in improving and repairing our BDA at Cold Springs Creek! We will be cutting willows to construct and repair stream restoration structures after the Sharps Fire. Volunteers need to wear work boots, long pants and be prepared to get muddy and dirty! We have a limited supply of extra waders and boots for volunteers, so we encourage you to bring yours or borrow a pair from a friend.

MAY 8 | 10:00 AM-12:00 PM | Restoration and Weed Pull Event with the ERC at Simons/Bauer Preserve

We are partnering with the Environmental Resource Center (ERC) to host a Restoration and Weed Pull Event one Saturday a month, May-July. We will have a short guest speaker at each event to discuss topics about Biodiversity, Pollinators, etc. We will do some wildflower identification and invasive species management, and other restoration needs.

MAY 4 | 4:00-6:00 PM | BCRD Native Plant Arboretum

Come volunteer at the BCRD Native Plant Arboretum! Learn about native Idaho plants, including the state tree and state flower. We will be doing some light pruning, raking, weeding, and plant wildflowers and shrub seedlings. We may also do some trail cleanup.

The Arboretum is located north of Fox Acres Road and the Wood River (“bike trail”) trailhead in Hailey.

APRIL 14 | 4:00-6:00PM | Greenhouse Seedling Transplant

Our Pollinator Initiative project needs help transplanting, repotting, and thinning seedlings at the Sage School greenhouse. In June at the pollinator meadow, we will be planting these seedlings at the Howard Preserve and various restoration projects throughout the season.

APRIL 22 | 1:00-5:00 PM | Colorado Gulch Fence Project

We need help taking down a fence in the Colorado Gulch Preserve. The project will involve metal clippers and walking on uneven surfaces, in and out of the woods, and carrying heavy material. Please bring gloves and problem-solving skills.

APRIL 27 | 1:00-6:00PM | Beaver Pond Project at Rock Creek

Our beavers have been super active lately Rock Creek tributary out on the Rinker Rock Creek Ranch!, We will need to install a pipe below a beaver dam. The pipe will help keep the water flowing and prevent flooding on Rock Creek Road. We will need volunteers to wear waders, be willing to carry heavy materials, and climb in and out of the stream. If you are eager to get dirty, this is the project for you!

CHECK OUT WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED IN 2020:

September 22 | 4-6PM | Native Plant Arboretum at WR Trailhead at Fox Acres Road

At this fun and lovely evening we pruned dead limbs, weeded, and prepared areas for planting wildflowers.

September 12 - Valley Wide!

We had 9 people contribute between 1-3 hours at the Howard Preserve for a total of 20 hours; We had 9 people contribute 3 hours each along the Draper Preserve in Hailey for a total of 27 hours; We had 16 people contribute 3 hours each along the river in Ketchum for a total of 48 hours.

This brings us to a grand total of 95 hours contributed on Saturday! That's amazing!

Plus we pulled 1,100 pounds of trash out of the river and its floodplain!

May 12,19, 26, June 2, 9,16, 23, & June 30
Colorado Gulch Pollinator Meadow

This Spring the Wood River Land Trust embarked on a pollinator initiative project at our Colorado Gulch Preserve. The goal of this project is to bring first-hand awareness to the blight of our native pollinators (like Monarch Butterflies that have declined by 90% in the West) by planting native wildflowers and creating habitat in our approximately 10-acre meadow at the Preserve.

Pollinators are central to the health of any productive ecosystem, and their populations are currently declining across the globe. They allow for plants to reproduce, and help create genetic diversity amongst our plant populations. They are critical to our food system, as many crops also rely on pollination. With that being said, their populations are being threatened. Habitat destruction, the misuse of pesticides, and climate change are all contributing to the declining numbers of these important pollinators.

The Wood River Land Trust has identified the health of local pollinators as a priority, and we have taken action by creating pollinator habitat at our Pollinator Meadow Project, at Colorado Gulch Preserve.

Throughout the meadow, we have created a variety of different pollinator habitats. Structures made out of wood and brush have been scattered throughout the meadow. While we generally think of pollinator habitat as flower fields, these brush piles and logs also provide critical nesting space.

The pollinator islands are the main attractions in our meadow. These “islands” are made of a variety of native and pollinator-friendly annuals and perennials. They include everything from Black-Eyed Susans to Showy Milkweed.

We couldn’t have embarked on this project without the support of our volunteers. They have donated over 70 hours this spring and have done amazing work planting starts, creating woody structures, and building fencing out on our meadow. We truly wouldn’t have done this project without the support of our community!

We would like to thank the Mountain Express for their awesome write up about this project - check it out by clicking here!

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

2015 Ed and Carmen Northen Ed and Carmen Northern moved to the Wood River Valley in June, 2003. Since they had lived near the ocean for so many years, they thought they would visit the Valley and experience the mountain winter before taking the plunge. They moved here for two years and fell in love with the un-crowded spaces, the nearness of the Big Wood River and Silver Creek, and easily accessible mountain ranges for hiking, fishing, mountain biking and camping.

The two of them are committed to being good stewards of the Land Trust’s Boxcar Bend and Draper Wood River Preserve, and they have spent countless hours maintaining trails, pulling weeds, and performing other land management duties.

Of their association with the Land Trust, Carmen notes that they liked the idea of being involved with a local conservation group

"It seemed a natural choice to team up on projects since we have the same goals in wanting to protect the river and the wild areas of the valley."

— Ed and Carmen Northern Preserve Stewards

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