Although the most ardent naturalists might find it unpalatable, electronic technology is playing an increasingly important role in outdoor recreation. One of the most recent manifestations of this development is geocaching, an activity resembling a treasure hunt conducted by handheld GPS unit. Geocachers stash watertight containers of prizes, or “caches,” at hidden locations, note the coordinates of the cache, and post them to an official website. Others log on, download the coordinates to their GPS units, and seek the hidden treasure. Those lucky enough to find the hidden cache often take something from the container and leave another item in return. Usually, the prize is a small, personal item of little monetary value, but some caches contain geocoins or stamps to serve as proof of your find. Of course, the goal is to find the cache, but the best hiding spots will lead to scenic vistas, seldom-visited sites, and unlikely destinations, making even failed attempts worthwhile.

Geocaching is a relatively new hobby, made possible on May 2, 2000, when the White House announced that high-quality GPS signals, once reserved for military operations and protected for reasons of national security, would henceforth be made available to civilians, drastically increasing the accuracy of handheld GPS units. The next day, a computer consultant named Dave Ulmer, had already placed a bucket in the woods, listed the coordinates online, and started the sport of geocaching, then referred to as the “Great American GPS Stash Hunt.”

As GPS devices have become less expensive and widely accepted, geocaching has grown in popularity. There are currently 13,471 active caches within 100 miles of the D&L offices in Easton, maintained and sought out by devoted enthusiasts. Businesses and organizations have adapted the sport to fit their needs.  PP&L uses geocaching as a means of introducing its conservation efforts and business history to the public.  In 2007, the Oil Region Alliance launched the Allegheny Geo Trail in western Pennsylvania. The Trail consists of 10-20 caches hidden in 10 counties, and geocachers can earn unique geocoins for finding them. In the process, they experience the natural beauty of the region and visit local businesses.

There is a lifetime of activities to keep you busy across the D&L Corridor, but, if you are looking for a new twist on hiking, biking, or walking, grab your GPS unit and give geocaching a try.

On Tuesday, Lehigh County Executive Don Cunningham released a new five-year capital plan that calls for $75.4 million in spending from 2009-2013. Of special note to friends of the D&L, the county has allotted $245,000 for the development of the D&L Trail and $50,000 for the construction of a boat launch at Lehigh Gap Nature Center.  The boat launch is part of an ongoing construction project, intended to improve the trailhead at the Center and ease river and trail access to the Lehigh Gap. Cunningham’s plan also includes millions of dollars for agricultural conservation easements and park improvements.

We tend to think of nature and industry as polar opposites. One of the primary narratives of American history is the shift from fear of nature during colonization and expansion west, to its pragmatic and often aggressive consumption, and finally to a paternal respect and appreciation of nature that seeks to limit the excesses of industrialism. Within this narrative, nature is seen as either a hindrance or potential raw material of industry, and industry represents the state of nature conquered. Theoretically, there is little room for a peaceful coexistence.

[View of Bethlehem Steel from the D&L Trail.  Photo Courtesy of Will Minehart]

Our greatest proto-environmentalists approached nature from this perspective. Benton MacKaye envisioned the Appalachian Trail as a therapeutic relief valve for Eastern urbanites that would serve to reinforce industrial capitalist society by rejuvenating its adherents. Frederick Law Olmsted planned Central Park as a respite from “the confinement, bustle and monotonous street-division of the city” not a repudiation of it. Although Central Park and the Appalachian Trail provided nature experiences for millions, both projects also reinforced the belief that nature, by definition, was a space free from the infrastructure and ideology of industry.

Lately, however, a variety of projects have embraced industrial sites for their recreational potential and-paradoxically-for their natural beauty. Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord in Germany is a 570-acre park constructed on the site of a Thyssen steel plant that operated until 1985. Visitors to the park climb the old brick and cement walls, promenade on the elevated rail, and relax in large clusters of trees, all in the shadows of dormant smokestacks and pipelines. In Seattle, Gas Works Park was built on the site of a coal and crude oil conversion works. The city turned the boiler house into a picnic shelter and the exhauster-compressor building into a children’s play barn. Closer to home, the South Bethlehem Greenway will be built on an old Norfolk Southern right-of-way and connect the Bethlehem Steel industrial area with Lehigh University and regional greenways.

[Saylor Cement Kilns in Coplay]

Of course, the D&L Trail is our own example of nature and industry in symbiotic coexistence. The Trail follows the old rail beds and towpaths that once fueled the industrialization of America, and the protection and maintenance of the Trail highlights and ensures the permanency of those remnants of industry. Users of the Trail will recognize that watered canals, remnants of locks, rail ballast, and scattered industrial artifacts add to the natural beauty of the Trail rather than detract from it.

[Inactive lock in Freeemansburg]

In this sense, maybe twenty-first century Americans have crafted an enlightened environmental ethic that allows for nature and industry to exist in the same place. Hopefully, in the future we can look at post-industrial sites for their latent potential rather than as a nostalgic reminder of what has been lost.