Hi Everyone – We hope all of you and your families are doing well. Attached is a letter from our Forest Supervisor, Allen Nicholas, about the resumption of volunteer activities across the National Forests in NC. Following his direction I had a call with our Acting District Ranger, Chris Stewart and District Fire Management Officer, Kelly Cagle to discuss how we were going to resume bringing back volunteers. This is how we’ll proceed in the near term.
1. The Uwharrie Volunteer Hosts will be resuming volunteer duties starting June 15th. All of the campgrounds should be reopening on Tuesday, June 16th. The only campground that will not be reopening then is the Badin Lake Group Camp. We will be waiting until later in August to reopen the Badin Lake Group Camp. We will be providing the hosts with the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) they will need to do the incidental bathroom cleaning in between the contract cleaning, to pick-up trash and to interact with the public. We will also have a training session with the hosts before the campgrounds are reopened. King’s Mt Point Day Use Area will be reopening after our new hosts have completed their 14 day quarantine, which should be around June 19th.
2. Other volunteer clubs and organizations will be responsible to provide the appropriate PPE following the CDC guidelines for their members in order to do volunteer projects on the Uwharrie NF. In a couple of weeks we will send out an updated Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) and Risk Assessment (RA) for trail maintenance & trash pick-up, which is what the majority of tasks the recreation volunteers do on the Uwharrie NF. In the JHA and the RA the expected trail maintenance tasks (motorized and non-motorized trails) and trash pick-up tasks will be outlined and the mitigation measures and PPE needed to be used will be outlined to help the volunteer groups plan their needs. We can work with the volunteer organizations to develop more specific direction or steps to follow if necessary. Group organizers will be responsible to have the JHA & RA reviewed by their members and will need to send back a signed copy of them to me so I have it only on file. You will keep your hard copy and review it on the days you are volunteering at a tail gate safety session to make sure everyone is reminded of the safety measures to take.
3. Volunteers that volunteer individually or are not a member of a club will be responsible to provide the appropriate PPE following the CDC guidelines for the projects they are volunteering to do on the Uwharrie NF (i.e. trash pick-up along roads/trails, trails maintenance, etc.). Individuals will be responsible to have the JHA & RA reviewed and will need to send back a signed copy of them to me so I have it on file. You will keep your hard copy and review it on the days you are volunteering at a tail gate safety session to make sure you’re reminded of the safety measures to take.
4. The Uwharrie NF will provide the JHA’s, RA’s and a Tailgate Safety form that all volunteers can use to document their safety reviews, procedures, and to keep on file and to send to me quarterly. For some of the volunteer activities that require hard hats the Uwharrie NF will provide them and will make sure they are sanitized before use and sanitized after use when volunteers return tools back to FS employees at the end of the volunteer work day.
5. Use of tools for volunteering – depending on the volunteer project some tools will be provided by the Uwharrie NF (hand tools, carsonite signs, etc.) and the JHA’s and RA’s will outline how the tools will be handled by employees and volunteers.
The Badin Lake OHV Trail System will be opened on Monday, June 1st and the Flintlock Valley Shooting Range will be reopened on June 2nd.
Thank you for your patience as we work through this process to make sure everyone can remain safe and enjoy their National Forest. We are learning as we go and trying to get the janitorial contracts modified to address the CDC guidelines and to add more sites to the contract. We are also trying to get the supplies we need in order to get back to the office and field and to be able to work with our great volunteers. If you have any questions please send me an email. Thank you very much. Again, thank you everyone for your continued help and support during this challenging time.
Bye - Terry
1. The Uwharrie Volunteer Hosts will be resuming volunteer duties starting June 15th. All of the campgrounds should be reopening on Tuesday, June 16th. The only campground that will not be reopening then is the Badin Lake Group Camp. We will be waiting until later in August to reopen the Badin Lake Group Camp. We will be providing the hosts with the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) they will need to do the incidental bathroom cleaning in between the contract cleaning, to pick-up trash and to interact with the public. We will also have a training session with the hosts before the campgrounds are reopened. King’s Mt Point Day Use Area will be reopening after our new hosts have completed their 14 day quarantine, which should be around June 19th.
2. Other volunteer clubs and organizations will be responsible to provide the appropriate PPE following the CDC guidelines for their members in order to do volunteer projects on the Uwharrie NF. In a couple of weeks we will send out an updated Job Hazard Analysis (JHA) and Risk Assessment (RA) for trail maintenance & trash pick-up, which is what the majority of tasks the recreation volunteers do on the Uwharrie NF. In the JHA and the RA the expected trail maintenance tasks (motorized and non-motorized trails) and trash pick-up tasks will be outlined and the mitigation measures and PPE needed to be used will be outlined to help the volunteer groups plan their needs. We can work with the volunteer organizations to develop more specific direction or steps to follow if necessary. Group organizers will be responsible to have the JHA & RA reviewed by their members and will need to send back a signed copy of them to me so I have it only on file. You will keep your hard copy and review it on the days you are volunteering at a tail gate safety session to make sure everyone is reminded of the safety measures to take.
3. Volunteers that volunteer individually or are not a member of a club will be responsible to provide the appropriate PPE following the CDC guidelines for the projects they are volunteering to do on the Uwharrie NF (i.e. trash pick-up along roads/trails, trails maintenance, etc.). Individuals will be responsible to have the JHA & RA reviewed and will need to send back a signed copy of them to me so I have it on file. You will keep your hard copy and review it on the days you are volunteering at a tail gate safety session to make sure you’re reminded of the safety measures to take.
4. The Uwharrie NF will provide the JHA’s, RA’s and a Tailgate Safety form that all volunteers can use to document their safety reviews, procedures, and to keep on file and to send to me quarterly. For some of the volunteer activities that require hard hats the Uwharrie NF will provide them and will make sure they are sanitized before use and sanitized after use when volunteers return tools back to FS employees at the end of the volunteer work day.
5. Use of tools for volunteering – depending on the volunteer project some tools will be provided by the Uwharrie NF (hand tools, carsonite signs, etc.) and the JHA’s and RA’s will outline how the tools will be handled by employees and volunteers.
The Badin Lake OHV Trail System will be opened on Monday, June 1st and the Flintlock Valley Shooting Range will be reopened on June 2nd.
Thank you for your patience as we work through this process to make sure everyone can remain safe and enjoy their National Forest. We are learning as we go and trying to get the janitorial contracts modified to address the CDC guidelines and to add more sites to the contract. We are also trying to get the supplies we need in order to get back to the office and field and to be able to work with our great volunteers. If you have any questions please send me an email. Thank you very much. Again, thank you everyone for your continued help and support during this challenging time.
Bye - Terry
