The hills and gulches hovering above and surrounding the town of Gunnison, CO are key habitat and brood rearing grounds for the threatened Gunnison Sage Grouse.

Over Labor Day Weekend 2021, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers and High Country Conservation Advocates joined forces with the Gunnison Forest Service, the Bureau for Land Management, the Upper Gunnison Basin Meadow and Riparian Restoration Project and Colorado Parks & Wildlife as part of improving habitat lands for loved and elusive bird.

The weekend focused on two locations: Cottonwood Gulch & Monson Gulch…with each having their their own unique flavor of restoration approaches.

Work along Cottonwood Gulch kicked off with a “How To” demonstration of Building a Second Layer onto an One Rock Dam (ORD) by Shawn Conner (owner of Biologic and a Zeedyk protege).

Over 60+ volunteers proceeded to add second layers (as well as rock mulch rundowns) throughout a long section of the gulch.

Second layers further raise the bed of the channel by capturing more sediment and continue to slow and spread water across a wider area while the filled-in original One Rock Dam acts as a splash apron for the new layer.  You’ll notice the layer One Rock Dams have blended into the landscape having captured sediment and encouraged vegetation growth while the just added Second Layers stand out more.

The weekend topped off with a get your feet and hands wet day at Monson Gulch on Labor Day…details of that to be in a separate post.

Drone Photography courtesy of Philip Crosley.