Tag Archive for: Wildlands Restoration

Socially Conscious About Our Planet

As New Planet began to grow in its early stages, company founders Pedro and Seneca Gonzalez searched for ways to make great tasting gluten-free beer, but to also make an impact on our planet. The company is named New Planet for a reason. With the objective in being socially conscious and environmentally responsible, we partnered with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WLRV) to make our goal a reality.

This year New Planet partnered with WLRV for the second time to tackle restoring social trails around Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, CO. Heavy pressure from the rugged infrastructure of the red rocks had led to over 400 ft of gullies and nearly 2,000 ft of disturbed foothills to repair. It was a sunny day when the volunteers split into a few groups to manage different areas of restoration. Land overhaul, decreasing erosion via trail repair and producing revegetation were all tasks at hand.

In restoring these lands, WLRV was able to contribute to the aesthetics of a Denver Mountain Park formerly known as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, all while making the areas surrounding Red Rocks safer for those who decide to explore outside of the entertainment facility itself. After two days work, the social trails were in full repair and could be utilized by music fans, hikers, and adventurers alike.

“The vibes were great; everyone was excited to make sure the lands were repaired to full quality,” said New Planet employee and representative Ryan Gaterman, “WRLV definitely has great intentions and that is why New Planet chose to sponsor such a great event.”

At the end of the first day’s work, WRLV celebrated a hard day’s work by taking a breather and enjoying some cold New Planet Beer at the historic Civilian Conservation Corps bunkhouse. By the time everyone arrived back at the campsite, dinner was served, and a drum circle had developed around the fire.

“It was great at the end of the day to see folks who had spent all day hauling trees, seeds, and rocks up steep slopes together, sit back, share smiles and compare sore muscles,” said Jarret Roberts, the WLRV Community Programs Director.

For more information on Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, check out http://www.wlrv.org/.  New Planet Beer would also like to thank Linard Cimmermanis for the great pictures. Want to know more about what we are doing? Join New Planet’s endeavors by checking us out on Facebook, Twitter, or sign up for our newsletter. Saving planet earth never tasted so good!

 

A Day on the Trails with Wildlands Restoration Volunteers

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I am still sore and tired. It’s been several days since the New Planet Beer team restored about 700 feet of open space trail in the Bettasso Preserve in western Boulder County. The one day event was orchestrated by the Wildlands Restoration Volunteers with the help of Boulder County Open Space. The New Planet Beer team was one of four teams restoring social trails which had been overused and eroded by mountain bikers. Our goal was to reclaim and to set it back into wild lands. A new more sustainable mountain bike trail was built last summer with the help of the Bikers Alliance to replace the restored trails. Everybody wins on these partnerships including the animals that got displaced from the adjacent lands burned by the Four Mile Creek fire. Bringing restoration helps the ecosystem blossom and participating in this effort was very rewarding.

The team hiked in about 30 minutes to the beginning restoration point and we worked back towards the trailhead. Restoring trails is a four-step process: 1) tilling the land 2) seeding 3) mulching and branching, and 4) creating water retention and diversion. We had a team of six folks with two tilling, one seeding, two mulching and branching, and one developing water rock dams. Every so often we had to team up to tackle a bigger project like placing erosion protection carpets in steep areas. But overall each person picked the tasks they enjoyed most. We were joined by Boulder County Open Space rangers who worked side-by-side with us. We took a couple of breaks throughout the day but for the most part we were restoring. Hiking out was very rewarding and celebrating at dinner with all the volunteers was very rewarding. Everyone enjoyed cold New Planet Beers. I am looking forward to next year’s project. Stay tuned as we select a project near you.

Pedro Gonzalez, New Planet Beer CEO

Volunteer with New Planet Beer

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Join the New Planet Beer team on October 2nd for a full day of work restoring a trail in the foothills of Boulder County. Afterward celebrate with free food and New Planet’s Gluten-free Beer.

Part of New Planet Beer’s mission is to “do good things for the planet”. Each of our beer labels has a name that invokes an action we can take to help our planet. The 2010 recipient of Tread Lightly Ale’s proceeds is Wildlands Restoration Volunteers (WRV). New Planet Beer, as a Corporate Sponsor, has specified the funds go to support the restoration of the popular Betasso Preserve west of Boulder.

The New Planet Beer team will be joining 80 other WRV volunteers to revegetate a mile of unsustainable social trails on Boulder County Parks and Open Space’s recently purchased Benjamin property. This 391 acre parcel is adjacent to the extremely popular Betasso Preserve Open Space, and jointly they protect 1175 acres of important wildlife habitat in the lower montane life zone.

In 2009, WRV volunteers revegetated over a mile of social trails on the property. Working in partnership again this year with the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance, another mile of the most eroded, unsustainable, and hazardous of the social trails will be revegetated. In conjunction with restoration efforts, the construction of a new multi-use trail will move users away from the sensitive wildlife areas within the preserve. The new trail combined with existing trails will provide hikers, mountain bikers, trail runners and equestrians with opportunities to access approx. 8.7 miles of secluded, varied and rugged forest terrain within a 20 minute drive of Boulder while leaving much of the preserve untouched.

You can expect a full day restoring habitat, reducing soil erosion, and sharing in the stewardship community while having fun in the mountains just west of Boulder. As a member of our team, we’ll give you a New Planet Beer t-shirt. This area is close to but not affected by the 4 Mile Canyon Wildfire area.

To sign up select the link below and select the New Planet “group”.  The New Planet Beer group is limited to 10 people so register now!

Sign Up >

Wildlands Restoration Volunteers engages volunteers in very high-quality ecological restoration projects in areas of great ecological significance. In its ten-year history, Wildlands Restoration Volunteers has completed 200 restoration projects including road closures, wetland revegetation and invasive species control while involving more than 30,000 volunteer hours. Not only does Wildlands Restoration Volunteers do spectacularly effective ecological restoration. It also designs and conducts projects so that the volunteers fall in love with restoration and have a life-changing experience.