The extremely popular Eastern Pennsylvania Birding & Wildlife Guide, which flew off shelves last year, is now available for download from the D&L’s website.  Before you head out this summer, arm yourself with this guide to your favorite natural places–and some you’ve never heard of.  At 27.38 MB, it is a big download, but we promise the well-written text and high-quality photos are worth every kilobyte.  Click here to download the guide.

The guide was produced by a partnership that includes the D&L, DCNR, Schuylkill River National Heritage Area, and the Lehigh Gap Nature Center.

Lehigh Valley Greenways (LVG) is currently accepting applications for its most recent round of block grants.  With the support of the PA Department of Conservation & Natural Resources, LVG is able to provide funding to support smaller projects ($20,000 max.) that support the overall goals of LVG.  Priority will be given to projects that advance strategic approaches to conservation and connections to the most valued natural resource sub-landscapes in the Lehigh Valley, with the end goal of advancing land conservation, trail and greenway connections, revitalizing communities and urban areas, and providing sound land use practices. Deadline: December 23, 2010.

There will be a pre-application meeting on Thursday, November 18, 2010 9:00-11:30 AM, in the 1st floor education room, Emrick Technology Center, Easton. This is your opportunity to discuss your potential project. Please respond your attendance to Sherry Acevedo, Resource Conservation Specialist at sherry@delawareandlehigh.org or 610-923-3548 ext.226.

Please refer to the following documents for details and to apply:

Grant Application

Grant Instructions and Guidelines

LVG Fact Sheet

Please direct all questions to Sherry Acevedo at 610-923-3548 (x226) or Sherry@delawareandlehigh.org.

Written By Silas Chamberlin

On September 30 and October 1, the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor and the Wildlands Conservancy held the first Lehigh Valley Trails Summit at DeSales University in Center Valley. In past years, the Pennsylvania Recreation & Parks Society has collaborated with the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to hold a statewide conference. This is the first year that a series of regional conferences replaced the statewide conference, and, by all accounts, our regional conference was a success. We cast an intentionally broad net when inviting panel participants and promoting the conference. As a result, we had a variety of groups represented: government officials, trail engineers, industry folks, volunteers, trail advocates, people interested in economic development and planning, and, of course, trail users.

Over 115 participants attended the 2010 LV Trails Conference.

The first day of the conference featured a keynote address from Dan Rice, President and CEO of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, a national heritage area that works on the development of a 101-mile towpath trail. Dan spoke to the group about creating regional partnerships to forward the related goals of environmental protection, historic resource preservation, economic development, and trail building. After the keynote address, a plenary session provided an overview of the Lehigh Valley trail network and ongoing issues affecting its development and connections. Mike Kaiser, executive director of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, spoke about efforts to use planning and zoning to foster trail development, including innovative zoning requirements that protect the Appalachian Trail. Other panelists spoke about the D&L Trail, Trexler Nature Preserve’s trails, and the proposed PA Highlands Trail.

A plenary session provided an overview of Lehigh Valley trail projects.

After this session, participants broke into smaller groups for panels on more specific topics. A conference room was devoted to each of three themes: health and recreation; planning and design; and building and maintaining. An impressive variety of topics were covered. David Kahley of the Progress Fund spoke about using trails to drive economic development. Marilyn and Buddy Kaul of the Walnutport Canal Association and Donna Boone of the D&L’s Landmark Towns spoke about using community events and marketing to get people off the trail or towpath and into town. Meanwhile, for the more technically inclined, there were panels on environmental permitting, using GPS and GIS for trail building, ADA requirements, and building sustainable trails. A personal favorite of mine was Greg Weitzel’s (City of Allentown Parks & Recreation Director) succinct presentation, which came at the end of a lengthy panel session already running a bit over its allotted time. Greg gave a humorous but passionate commentary on the childhood obesity epidemic, the importance of trail and biking networks for urban commuters, and the need for reliable funding for recreation, open space, and infrastructure.

Silas Chamberlin of the D&L gives a presentation about trail signage systems.

An added benefit of the conference was the presence of the ExplorePATrails.com team. DeSales provided a dedicated smart-room for a digital mapping workshop. Kent Taylor and Shane Hoover—the DCNR staff members behind the effort—sat down with anyone interested and helped them enter their trail’s information into the online database. For some of us, GIS, GPS, digital mapping, and the prospect of handling them all yourself can seem a bit daunting. This resource is intended to make the process a little easier. The website also provides a new way for trails organizations to promote their trail online with photos, maps, and trail descriptions—a capacity that some smaller organizations may not otherwise have. I was already familiar with the site, but I sat down with Shane who walked me through its new layout and helped brainstorm some ways the D&L could improve our online mapping. There were very few moments when the mapping room was empty, and it is great to see people taking advantage of this new resource.

Kent Taylor of DCNR navigates the ExplorePATrails website.

After a full day of sessions, the Lehigh Valley’s trails community went home pooped and tried to rest up for day two. Unfortunately, that night we experienced record rainfalls (8” in Allentown!), which made getting back to DeSales a real problem. Those of us who braved the flooded roadways enjoyed a morning slate full of more interesting presentations. Diane Kripas and Lorne Possinger of DCNR talked about the state’s newest outdoor recreation plan, Pennsylvania Outdoors: The Keystone for Healthy Living, and the research behind its recommendations. Andy Strauss gave an introduction to establishing land ownership and key terms. Unfortunately, I only caught the end of this presentation, so I still don’t know what a “quit claim” is…

DeSales University provided a great venue for our first summit.

The only problem with this panel line up was agonizing over which panel to attend and which to regretfully skip. The afternoon of the second day was devoted to field workshops, so we could see some of these ideas about trail development put to practice. Unfortunately, one of the sites—the D&L Trail Tenders’ native plant garden on Sand Island—was underwater due to the rain, so participants chose between a trip to Trexler Nature Preserve or Lehigh Gap Nature Center. Once again, not an easy choice! Both sites provide models for cultivating partnerships between the state, the county, a local non-profit, and a volunteer base to make real progress on conservation and restoration projects and the development of trail networks. The rain held off for the tours, and they went very well.

Returning to DeSales after two long days of talking trails, we could sense a renewed sense of enthusiasm that always emerges after venting about your problems and brainstorming solutions with like-minded people. These are tough times for anyone relying on government funding, municipal support, or private donations. Trail organizations are especially susceptible because funding for recreation and open space are some of the first areas to experience cuts during times of budgetary belt tightening. This conference made clear, however, that there remains good work to be done, regardless of funding. Indeed, by pooling our ideas and resources and seeking out collaborative projects and opportunities, the trail community may emerge from this dubious economic period much stronger than ever before. The Lehigh Valley Trails Summit was a first step in that direction.

Many of the presentations from the 2010 Lehigh Valley Trails Summit are available for download from the D&L’s website.

Written By Silas Chamberlin

The D&L is involved with so many types of projects, over such a wide expanse of eastern Pennsylvania, that it is sometimes difficult to keep them all straight.  We do heritage tourism, economic development, historic preservation, educational outreach, trail building, environment restoration, interpretation, and the list goes on. We are doing so many different things, in fact, that some of the projects totally escape my radar or I only know them as a project name on an annual report.  Sometimes the only way to get a handle on a project and learn about what the D&L is  really accomplishing is to get out in the field.  What you find is often remarkable.

Last Friday, I spent the morning with D&L Resource Conservation Specialist Sherry Acevedo and Borough Administrator Louise Firestone at the Wind Gap Riparian Buffer Restoration Site. The site, located on Route 512, the main street through town, has undergone a dramatic transformation during the last year or so. Before work began, you would have seen an old building sitting astride a stormwater culvert that carried water from a park and some small fields underneath the road and into a marsh that serves as the headwaters for Bushkill Creek. During periods of heavy rain, the culvert and condemned building narrowed the flow of water and forced it back onto the road, often causing severe flooding issues that led to road closures.

With the help of Sherry and Lehigh Valley Greenways (a DCNR initiative managed by the D&L), the Borough of Wind Gap demolished the building, improved the culvert, and planted a native plant riparian buffer to slow and absorb water flow. Removing the building allows stormwater to more easily pass under the road.  Slowing it with well-chosen plants prevents the water from depositing sediment and other nasty stuff in the nearby marsh. A plus for budget-conscious policymakers, the native plants require minimal maintenance—just some selective weed whacking, like we did this morning—and provide much-needed habitat for birds, butterflies, and even little minnows. Periodic rain does the rest.

The site after grading and seeding but prior to any growth.

In fact, even during this relatively dry summer, the plants are thriving. I had briefly visited this site once before, when the plants had only recently been planted and were growing low to the ground. A clearly visible stream passed through the center. This time around, the site resembles a well-cultivated jungle of native bushes and grasses and, instead of a stream, the water slowly passes beneath a dense layer of plants—just as it should, when the goal is to manage stormwater. Sherry pointed out which plants were natives and which were invasives. On the upper portion of the banks, Louise and I weed whacked the native grasses, giving them a healthy periodic cutting from which they’ll soon spring back. I carefully cut around the native bushes, which tended to blend in with everything else and made me paranoid that I was on the cusp of destroying something I shouldn’t.

Today the native bushes and plants are flourishing.

Down in the wetter sections, Sherry spot sprayed plants with a water-safe herbicide that can permanently remove invasives in a way that simple cutting can never do. After the spraying and whacking was complete, we spent time pulling weeds from the flower beds and fishing litter out of the water. The amount of cigarette butts, paper, plastic bottles, and wrappers tangled up in the plants reminded me that without them the water would have carried the pollutants directly into the marsh. Because the majority of Bushkill Creek is classified as a High Quality Cold Water Fishery, it is especially important to keep the headwaters free from pollution.

Native monarda blooms, adding flourishes of color to the green backdrop.

Unfortunately, I had to get back to the office, so I left before all of the work was complete. Sherry and the other volunteers continued with the weeding and then were supposed to plant another truckload of plants that arrived just as I was leaving.  As I drove south on Main Street and away from the site, I thought about the positive environmental and fiscal impact municipalities across the state could make by adopting low-maintenance, low-cost native grasses as a natural form of stormwater management, as Wind Gap had decided to do.  Perhaps one silver lining in this time of economic recession is that more local governments will adopt creative solutions that ease the burden of constant, expensive landscape maintenance, without sacrificing a healthy environment.

See the Bushkill Stream Conservancy’s Establishing Streamside Buffer Areas in Your Park or Community for more information on creating “No-Mow” riparian buffers.

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit some Lehigh Valley Greenways Initiative (LVGI) projects that are nearing completion. My “tour guide” was D&L Resource Conservation Specialist and LVGI grant administrator Sherry Acevedo. As noted in previous entries, thanks to Sherry, LVGI commits funds for nearly a dozen Lehigh Valley conservation and restoration projects every year. A testament to the program’s productivity, we passed numerous completed, current, and future projects, as we drove across Lehigh and Northampton counties. I’d like to highlight just two of the projects here.

First, we stopped in Wind Gap to check out a riparian restoration project. A small stream passes under Rt. 512 and into a wetlands area that forms the headwaters of the Bushkill Creek. At one time, the stream was channeled beneath a garage that stood between the road and the wetlands. Due to regular flooding of the narrow culvert, the foundation of the building was compromised. The Borough of Wind Gap demolished the garage for the bargain price of $10,000 and planned a small park for the site.

The foundation of the building was removed, revealing the suprisingly clean stream. The lot was regraded to restore a natural stream channel, and the soil was carefully replanted with native shrubs and grasses that would stabilize the banks. Thanks to a summer of mild weather and rain, the plants are flourishing. What was once the site of a garage is now a green pocket park!

On the day Sherry and I visited, small trout darted in the water, and borough workers worked on a small path to link the road with the back portion of the park. A beautification committee is now forming to take care of regular weeding and other maintenance, but the native plantings should require minimum work. This is a great example of what towns and cities can do with former building sites, especially on a minimum budget.

The second site we visited was on the northern end of Jacobsburg State Park, where the PPL Trail will eventually follow an electrical transmission corridor and former trolley bed towards Wind Gap. When we visited, township workers had recently completed a bridge across Sobers Run, a small creek that floods regularly and had actually put an upstream road bridge out of commission.

The bridge will provide access to the new section of trail, which should be constructed next year. As in the case of Wind Gap, Bushkill Township saved money by using recycled steel beams and standard lumber to construct this bridge for much less than even prefabricated spans. Despite the low price tag, you can tell from the photos that this small bridge could carry a tank and will withstand even the worst floods. While this will have to be a “bridge to nowhere” until the northern section of trail is complete, it might be worth stopping by to see the new bridge.

We probably could have spent a week traveling the region and checking in on all of LVGI’s past and future work, but I was more than impressed with the sample I saw. At a time when diminished state funding puts pressure on conservation efforts and partner municipalities alike, we need reminders of what we have gained from these initiatives — and what we stand to lose, if they should disappear.