🎄🌲🎄SJMA Tree Harvest Day Instruction and Job Descriptions🌲🎄🌲

Thank you so much for volunteering! Even a grinch can’t resist the holiday joy that we help to spread. You’re supporting our biggest fundraiser of the year.  We literally couldn’t do this without our volunteers!  

We’ve added a couple of changes for 2025, so please read through this document to ensure that you feel prepared and confident prior to volunteering. As usual, if you come up with any questions you can reach out to  volunteer@sjma.org or call or text 970-403-5422.

General info:

1. Safety is paramount! Communicate with fellow workers. Wear boots, long pants and sleeves, gloves, and eye protection. Don’t wear yourself out! Stay hydrated, eat snacks, and take breaks. SJMA will provide some refreshments, but most volunteers will be working away from the main area at the gravel pit, so please bring some of your own.
2. Come dressed for the weather. No matter the job, you’ll want gloves that can get sap on them. If the weather is wet, you will want a few pairs of gloves and perhaps a change of clothing and boots. Try to dress in bright colors so it’s easier to be seen in the woods.
3. A vanpool is available from Durango. Details here. (Scroll to bottom).
4. The main meeting area will be at the gravel pit. There is ample parking here. This is 7.3 miles up FR 135, Beaver Meadows Rd. It is about ½ an hour from Hwy 160.

• Gravel pit coordinates: 37.32412, -107.44673, Google maps link here.

5. The Harvesting zones are along FR 719: 37.32413, -107.45072 Please do not park here. We will offer shuttles from the gravel pit or it’s a short walk.
6. Shift staring times vary. See job descriptions below. When you arrive, check in at the SJMA tent/table and we will have further instructions for you.
7. There are no “bathroom facilities” except for what nature provides. Practice proper Leave-No-Trace ethics.
8. If you have a GPS app, please download coordinates and this GPS file ahead of time.

Job Descriptions and shift times:

1. Tree Scouter, 8am to ~2pm, 2 per zone: 

1. Meet for 8am meeting. You will be assigned to Zone A, B, C, or D and will be part of a crew of scouters, sawyer, and movers.
2. You should carpool with your zone’s sawyer or take the SJMA van shuttle to your zone so that you can get started as soon as possible.
3. Leapfrog with your other scouter to find trees that need to be cut. Stay within sight of your sawyer. Wearing bright colors will be helpful!
4. As the day goes on, your role may change. You may encounter trees that have been cut down but have not been moved to the road.
5. Work with you Movers to get these trees moved up to the road to be shuttled.
6. You will probably want to carry a backpack w/ personal supplies. 
7. See also: “flagging tape color index” at the bottom of this document.

2. Sawyers, 8am to ~2pm, 1 per zone: 

1. Meet for 8am meeting. You will be assigned to Zone A, B, C, or D. and will be part of a crew of scouters, sawyer, and movers.
2. Sawyers are allowed to drive down along FR 719 so that they can access necessary sawyer supplies. You might want to transport your scouters too so you can get started ASAP. The SJMA vanpool can also transport you. In that case, you’ll need to be on the first shuttle.
3. You might  want to carry a backpack w/ personal supplies.
4. Cut all trees as close to the base as possible.

1. Then, cut them at the blue paint mark.
2. If no blue paint, see green flagging for desired height.
3. If no green flagging, use your best judgment.
4. Yes, we have permission to leave the discarded butts in the woods.

5.  See also: “flagging tape color index” at the bottom of this document.

3. Tree mover, 8am to ~2pm, 8-10 per zone:

1. Meet for 8am meeting. You will be assigned to Zone A, B, C, or D. and will be part of a crew of scouters, sawyer, and movers.
2. Utilize the SJMA van shuttles or walk down to your zone. Bring your muscles. You will be carrying trees across uneven terrain to Rd 719. There, trucks will drive along to shuttle them back to the trailers at the gravel pit.
3. It will be best to work in pairs or 3s. For big trees, ask for help. We don’t want to damage any trees.
4. We promise that the trees that have to be carried uphill are no more than 250’ from the road. Trees that need to be carried downhill are no more than 350’ from the road.
5. NOTE: In Zone B, there will be some cases where it will make more sense to haul a tree up to FR 135 than it will be to carry it down to FR 719. Use your best judgment.
6. With large trees, please help the truck drivers load them into trucks. You will probably want to carry a backpack w/ personal supplies.
7. See also: “flagging tape color index” at the bottom of this document.

4. Pick-up truck driver / tree shuttler - local, 9am to ~2pm:

1. Please check in at the SJMA tent at the gravel pit before starting work. They may have more info for you.
2. Zones do not apply to you. Take your amazing pick-up truck along FR 719 and look for cut trees lying along the road. There may also be a handful or trees on FR 135 between FR 719 and the gravel pit.
3. Toss trees in your truck until it’s full and then drive back up to the gravel pit. For big trees, ask for help. We don’t want to damage any trees. 
4. There are a few good turnaround points along FR 719. We have marked 2 main ones that also coincide with boundaries of zones. They are marked with multiple colors of flagging tape.

5. Tree Netter, 10am to ~2 pm:

1. You will be working in teams of 3-4 to put netting on the trees. This reduces their size for transport and helps protect the branches.
2. There will be a sawyer present to assist with any last minute cuts and trimming.
3. Note: Some trees are just TOO BIG for the netting machine. Netting these trees can result in damaging a beautiful tree. Use discretion. We have enough large trailers that these giant trees can be placed carefully on the top of a load by our loading team. You will be at the gravel pit for your entire shift.

6. Tree Loader, 10am to ~2pm:

1. After trees are netted, you will assist the trailer drivers in loading trailers and securing the loads.
2. Please be careful, communicate, and always defer to the trailer hauler.
3. You will be at the gravel pit for your entire shift.

7. Trailer drivers to Durango, varying start times until 2-4pm:

1. You will help facilitate the loading of your trailer and securing of your load.
2. Then, drive it down to the lot in Durango. (This is at the NW corner of the train parking lot, just west of the downtown McDonalds, 37.27039, -107.88401. Google maps link.)
3. There will be a team of folks there to help you unload. Once you’ve unloaded in Durango, you can go home for the day! If you would like to help earlier in the day with tree moving, let us know and we will put your trailer farther back in the queue.

8. Meet trees in Durango, 1-4pm: 

1. An SJMA staff member  and volunteer will already be on the lot getting things organized.
2. You will help unload trees, re-measure their lengths, and organize them by size.
3. If it is a sunny day, it will be warm  when you start and cold by the end. But the adjacent Mc Donald’s is heated and has indoor plumbing. The lot is here:  37.27039, -107.88401. Google maps link.

Flagging colors index:

• Pink or orange flagging on white fir branches = Cut it down
• Pink or orange flagging on white fir trunks = Indicated tree height. There should be a number written on this so please leave this in tact
• Blue paint = suggested cut point for desired height
• Fluorescent green flagging on white firs = cut point is higher than we could reach. Cut the tree down at the base and then cut the tree again to the estimated height written on the green flagging. Keep the green flagging with the tree
• Pink flagged tree w/ no paint or number = Cut it down. Height is sawyer’s choice.
• Green or yellow flagging off the road and not on a fir tree = zone boundary. You shouldn’t need to wander any further away from the road.
• Multiple colors of flagging along the Rd 719 = Zone boundaries and good truck turnarounds.