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Remember: February 2010

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Sunday Reading

Lights in the Parkway (NSFW)

A video taken back in December on a journey through Lights in The Parkway featuring an interesting commentary track. (Beware of some foul language.)


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Saturday, February 27, 2010

Saturday Guest Blog (sort of): Barack Obama

I am tired, and midterms are approaching. I'll let the President take this one:

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Friday, February 26, 2010

A New Beauty: Snowfall across the Parks

East side Reservoir:





Canal Park







Trout Creek Parkway



Lehigh Parkway




Union Terrace:




Between plants,
in the wilderness
of deep summer,
thick noise in
leaves and branches

Cricket violins,
locust hum,
prancing frantic
mantis dances
on the ground.

Listen,
know the sound.

Today
globe snow and
silence.
cake trees,
iced creeks,
white mutes.

Nature
stranger
under accumulation.

(I stood, cold,
I watched the snow fall.

The world seemed wearied.
I am wearied by this world. )


Snow melt,
freeze,
melt, snow again.

Soon,
a birth of familiar sound-
nature to spring
beginnings


For today,
a new beauty.

For more snow posts:

The Snopocalypse of 2010

Snowfall, Canal Park, Lehigh Parkway and Wallace Stevens

Solstice: Second Snowfall

First Snowfall: Lehigh Parkway

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Thursday, February 25, 2010

On Location: Cedar Beach Parkway (Video Post)

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Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Climate.gov Launches

I have to make a confession today. I am and have been for as long as I can remember, completely in love with the weather. My fascination began as a child scared to death of thunderstorms. I use to watch the weather channel as if it were Saturday morning cartoons. The best thing about the weather channel is that not only is the local forecast on every eight minutes, with constantly updating radar and satellite images but unlike Saturday morning cartoons, the weather channel is on everyday, every hour, every second.

I considered becoming a meteorologist for a long time but my life has taken me in other directions. Strangely enough, where I’ve ended up, is pretty darn weather related. The environment is in many ways a symphony, each organism an instrument, each cycle a movement and the composer that puts all the noise together into one sound is in fact, the weather.

Weather is also one of the major players in the hottest environmental issue of our time. That issue is naturally the political quagmire that is climate change. The issue has become an argument of belief against non belief and as I said this past Saturday, an argument devoid of reliable scientific information.

Yesterday, a good friend of mine who identifies himself as a Libertarian but votes with the Republican Party engaged me in one of our frequent political arguments. We began discussing climate change and he told me that he knew it wasn’t a real thing because every year the Jersey Shore looks the same when he visits. The sea levels were obviously not rising.

What my friend fails to realize and I do not believe the general American public realizes on a whole, is that the sea levels are indeed rising. The amount in feet isn’t epic (yet). It hasn’t affected the shores of developed countries. Rising sea levels have however had an impact in countries like Tuvalu, whose representatives walked out of talks in Copenhagen this past December because they sought a firm resolution on climate change. Their country is headed underwater, and it is already being noticed.

My friend also fails to realize that whatever beach he is visiting maintains its appearance against natural erosion of wind and water by constant maintenance at the expense of taxpayers. As seas levels rise incrementally such maintenance will become more and more costly, and eventually there won’t be anything to maintain.

President Obama is trying to change the way Americans think about climate change and it is a sad thing that we had to wait until 2010 for a president to do so. His administration has established a branch of the Commerce Department to deal solely with the issue of climate change. The first major result of this new branch of government is the new www.climate.gov.

This website shows years, in some cases from as far back as the late 1800’s, of climate data. The data is presented in an easy to read format that makes the science easy to understand for people that are unfamiliar with it. What www.climate.gov really does though is provide a resource to anyone interested in the changing processes of the planet. It gives all of us the opportunity to take a step back and see the bigger picture. It also shows us the microscopic picture of the particular climate in which we live.

Simply looking at sand dunes on a beach and making a decision about the entirety of our planet is silly.

The kid inside me that watched the weather channel for hours got very excited this afternoon upon discovering the new website. It is still in beta and is expected to go full service sometime in 2011. Check it out, take a spin. Take it in.

www.climate.gov

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Meeting Madness: March 4th@ Pines Dinner Theater- Trails presentation

On March 4th, Greg Weitzel the Director of Parks and Recreation will be giving a presentation regarding the trail network draft to The West End Alliance.

At the meeting, the final draft of the urban planning document for the West End will also be revealed.

The meeting starts at 7PM and is expected to run until 8:30PM.

On March 3rd, the trail network plan goes before city council for a final vote.

So, these two meetings and the Keck Park meeting on Thursday offer a lot of chances to get involved.

Hope to see you there.

This Thursday: 7:00PM @ Keck Park

A meeting will be held to discuss the renovation and potential redesigns of Keck Park this Thursday at the Mosser Village Family Center at 614 S Carlisle St.

The meeting is expected to run from 7:00PM-8:00PM.

The community around Keck Park has been very involved and active in the process thus far and I am posting about this next meeting to alert anyone who cares about changes to our park system, to get out there and be part of the dialogue.

Keck Park is not in good shape and certainly could use the help.

I will be attending and posting a meeting summary and analysis the next day.

Any further questions, ask away.

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Monday, February 22, 2010

Yellow Signs of Spring

Amy sent me a text message from the Farmers Market which is roughly a block from where I live. She had come to Allentown to visit her husband's mom. John(her husband) has been my best friend since high school and Amy is as near to me as he is. I was glad to hear from her, glad she was visiting, and glad she asked to go for a walk.

It was close to forty degrees, which after the winter we have had felt nearly tropical. Arriving at Trexler Park, it became quite apparent I was not alone in my quest to feel the warm afternoon. Trexler Park was full of dogs, people, strollers etc.

Amy had never been to Trexler Park before. She grew up in Connecticut before moving here. She said Trexler Park was beautiful. Even here, in late winter, it was.


The height of the snow alongside the paths and across the fields was lower but still deep. The slightly warm wind blew across the snowpack and felt as frigid as always walking through the park.

We walked up to see General Trexler. He looked as ready for spring as we were. It would seem too early to find any signs of it yet. The birds in the park hadn’t returned. They never left. A cardinal posed for me by the bridge.

When I got home from Trexler Park, my father was returning as well. He had just taken a journey through the Parkway and he brought news with him. He held a yellow flower in his hand, having discovered the first real signs of life any of us had seen growing outside in months. I would go to the Park way the next day and seem them for myself.
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Winter has a way of forcing a reflective spirit onto a traveler. The world seems monochromatic with warmth and life itself at an untouchable, unfeeling distance.



The Parkway was as it had been, cold blanketed in snow. The tinge of warmth in the wind from the previous day had gone.

Dad led the way down the familiar path with a completely unfamiliar surface.

I suppose what happened next shouldn’t have surprised me as much as it did. I first noticed summer turning fall in this exact spot. I heard my Dad call out and point towards the hillside. Sure enough, there by the receding snow, were little yellow flowers. Their petals were pulled tightly closed. The early Sorrell was cold, I was too.


I knew I wouldn’t be for long looking at these yellow flowers.

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Sunday, February 21, 2010

Sunday reading

Yesterday I mentioned the Texas Board of Education in my post. Their latest mind numbing activities were documented in a great article by the New York Times this week.

How Christian were the Founders?

Literally hugging trees for science:

Climate Change's impact on forests being measured via expanding tree trunks.

Always great to hear how volunteers are helping maintain parks and this story is especially unique.

Retirees trade work for rent at cash-poor parks

On Climate Change

Arctic glacial dust may affect climate and health in North America and Europe.

Reforestation news

Reforestation taking root in projects around the world

Packing heat in National parks (really?)

Beginning Monday, you can pack a loaded firearm in a National Park

Last attempt legislation mess in US Congress this week on Climate Change

Senate weighs final push to move climate bill

The week in Marcellus Shale News (links from PA Environmental Daily)

Threat of gas drilling to PA forests weighed

CBF and TU Call For Ban On Marcellus Gas Wells In Floodplains After Incidents In Susquehanna & Lycoming Counties


Delaware County Trail News

County's rail to trails initiatives started slowly but are making progress

Williamsport Pa Trail News

NY-PA trail blends recreation, conservation

Appalachian Trail Expansion?

Appalachian Trail expansion gets closer to linking with Alabama

People just won't stop until the Everglades are destroyed

Environmental fight brewing over rock mining push on former Everglades land

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Saturday, February 20, 2010

President Obama brings science back

The local debates and discussion that occur regarding our environmental and ecological health are the roots for the larger debate that takes place in the highest levels of government in Washington D.C. Sadly, in the last few years, the debate has moved away from scientific discussion and into a discourse rooted in political or religious viewpoints rather than fact and proven experimentation.

Recently, the Texas Board of Education took up the cause to repaint our Founding Fathers as practicing Evangelical Christians much like themselves and in doing so they seek to change the text of social studies books at our earliest levels of public education. This influential group also brought the evolution versus intelligent design debate to the forefront of national discussion a few years ago by demanding that intelligent design, a religious based belief system, be taught in a science class.

The anti science movement is at a blood roar in the conventions and meetings of the recently founded reactionary Tea Party. The queen of the Tea Party, Sarah Palin, famously derides science that supports the idea of climate change as “snake oil”. Palin has also advocating drilling in the Arctic National Refuge for oil rather than explore and develop alternative energy sources to waylay our dependence on foreign oil.

Palin and her Tea Party have thrown science out the window.

Regardless of the climate change debate, excess pollution is bad for the planet. It’s a fact folks and the outdated modes of the combustion of fossil fuels to create energy are harmful to the environment. That is the bottom line, global warming or not. We are not living, as a species, in a sustainable way. The fledging “green” movement is like pouring a glass of water on a tire fire and expecting the flames to be extinguished.

As a planet, earth is an entity of cycles. Everything on this plant is recycled over and over again, for god’s sake, the water in the oceans has always been the water on this planet. Whatever we touch, our fingerprint remains on it for thousands of years. Unfortunately, Sarah Palin can’t see past her shoes.

President Obama has been surprisingly environmentally sensible in his first year. Yesterday, the President directly spoke about the science of Climate Change and in doing so, became the first president to take a stand against the anti science language of the Evangelical Right.


The President has started something. His administration needs to continue a dialogue steeped in the language of science. Our planet and in turn, our species is in danger. Bats, fruitflies, honey bees, every year, every month some organism instrumental in the perpetuation of the biosphere is announced on the news as dying or threatened. The signs of our environmental ignorance are unmistakable and are all around us. The President has finally brought the issue to the White House, and now, it is time to change the dialogue across America and begin the consideration of a different future without the combustion of fossil fuels pushing us there.

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Friday, February 19, 2010

Trails ahead: A look at other networks

During the trail presentation to city council on Wednesday night there was talk of other cities that adopted similar trail networks and the resulting positive economic impact as well as the strong community bonds that are forged through such a system. I did not doubt the authenticity of these claims, but I was curious to see what I could find out about these programs.

The first thing I learned is that interconnected systems of parks and urban landmarks are far from new ideas. As a matter of fact, the idea used to be defined by the term “park system” and London England gets the credit for the first one. Other cities followed suit and interconnected parks began springing up across Europe and into America. In the 1880’s, Frederick Law Olmstead created the “Emerald Necklace” in Boston Massachusetts, and it exists to this day.

As town planning became city planning and then urban planning, the design and purpose of park systems changed. The idea of greenways returning nature to the concrete jungles of 20th century cities became the focus of planning such systems. In an increasingly urban world, these strips of green serve as a reminder of the rural and of our connection with nature.

Looking up the specific projects mentioned during the city council meeting was a surprising experience. Instead of finding a lack on information, my Google searches were flooded by website after website: academic journal entry, community webpages, blogs, fan pages, etc..

Across America trails are happening folks. As close as York or Harrisburg, the positive economic benefits of such plans have been extensively documented. Trail systems like the one proposed for Allentown have been proven success in nearly every state in our union. Each city has dedicated volunteers who help maintain the trails and in Nashville TN, there is a state wide hiking club that offers daily hikes somewhere on the interconnected trails that stretch across the entire state. (And, TN is a loooong state. I have had to drive across it, not much fun.)

What the research I have done has shown me is that in case after case, these greenway systems dramatically alter and change the areas where they are developed in a positive way.

As I stated yesterday, I still have issues with parts of this plan and it is an absolute necessity to avoid paving in watershed areas. Stay involved. I certainly will. Each part of the plan will be up for public debate as it is implemented. We can keep making it better. It is time for everyone in this city who cares to step up to the plate with our elected officials and take a swing for the fences. We all need to be involved to ensure that this plan is implemented in the best way possible as well as the most environmentally sound way possible. We are a community. As individual members of that community we must stand up, join together, and push our city forward towards progress.

Until the next time…

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Thursday, February 18, 2010

It's a Plan: City Council Trail Presentation

The Greenways presentation was little changed from the debut of the draft plan at the last public meeting in January. What was different this time was that the plan was debuted to city council and the members asked questions about it. Each councilperson asked at least one question or made at least one comment. Councilman Donovan vocalized that he wanted to make sure every detail about this plan was debated and considered before implementation, to avoid a repeat of the miscommunications that led to the issues over the Cedar Beach Parkway renovations.

What, in my opinion, was the most important commentary came from Councilman Schweyer:
“ The city needs a vision.”

Councilman Schweyer is correct. As the council ended their questioning, they opened the floor to public comment. Randy Faye, a recently retired park employee called upon city council to remember that our park system exists the way it does because of a financial crisis that is not dissimilar from the one we find ourselves in today. A gentleman named Joe living near to Trexler Park voiced his support and echoed the sentiments of councilman Schweyer.

Of all the folks who made their opinions known last night (even I got in on the action), Dr. David McGuire brought the house down with an informed commentary and a familiar handout. Dr. McGuire stated that he supported the plan and the goals of the plan but he was concerned about the “location of paths” and the “composition of trails”. Dr. McGuire stated adamantly that there should be “no trails in floodplains” and that “paved trails should be an extreme alternative”. He then passed out the DCNR guidelines that I shared on Remember a few weeks ago. (See them here)

What Dr. Mcguire’s statements brought to the forefront was that not only is this a plan but that it is not an all or nothing issue. As the plan is implemented, if funding is secured, each phase will be brought before city council with a public input session before they are completed. The point of city council passing the resolution is to show that Allentown has an eye to the future.

I obviously share the sentiments of Dr. McGuire.

I also feel, and I told city council this last evening, that this plan will bring new business to the city and will begin to alter our image. I am 26 years old, and as a lifelong resident of Allentown I can say easily that most people my age have moved to Bethlehem or Philly and Allentown has not yet given them a reason to stay. Let’s give people a reason to stay.

I will attend every public meeting and information sessions about this plan as it moves forward (pending final passage on March 3rd) and I will share the dates on here. There are still issues and questions that I have with the plan as I am sure many of you do too. I am looking forward to engaging in a dialogue of progress and change.

Now, we have to get working on Trout Creek Parkway and Jordan Park. More to come…

Update: Had to change my wording thanks to a heads up from councilman Donovan.

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Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Tonight: City Council Chambers @ 6PM

Come out tonight as the final draft of the plan to create a new trail system across the city of Allentown and between our parks is presented.

I'll be there.

As I have stated before, I believe this to be a good thing for the city of Allentown and is in fact something that was part of the original design of the parks envisioned by General Trexler.

Come to the meeting tonight to show your support.

There will be a public opinion session as well.

Hope to see you there.

Posts regarding trail developments:

A recap of January's public meeting

Should park paths be paved?

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Remember 2010: New Walks in the Park (Video Post)

Today I have a video that begins with an address from me and ends with a slideshow of the three Remember events from last summer.

Check it out!

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Two New Blogs To Check Out

I have added two new blogs to the blog links on the side of the page and I wanted to mention them outright. Check them out!

The first is a blog called Save the Kales by Jamie K. It is a vegan cooking blog and Jamie has posted some great videos and recipes.

Check it out here: Save The Kales

The second, and I have mentioned it before, is Lehigh Valley Independent. This is a local political blog that is updated constantly.

Check it out here: Lehigh Valley Independent

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Monday, February 15, 2010

The Coming Riparian Buffer: Part 2

All descriptions come from the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.


Shrubs

Buttonbush

Buttonbush is a large, multi-stemmed shrub that grows to a mature height of twelve feet. It has opposite, entire leaves 2-6 inches long and 1-3 inches wide. They are glabrous and green above. The flowers occur in dense, round, 1 inch diameter clusters which bloom from June to September. The seed matures in the round clusters that resemble those of the sycamore tree. This plant spreads by seed dispersal and resulting seedling establishment.

Silky Dogwood

Silky dogwood is a large shrub, often 6-10 feet in height. The growth habit is upright rounded, but where stems are in contact with the ground, roots are formed. This behavior creates thickets. Young dogwoods have bright red stems in the fall, winter and early spring, which turn reddish-brown in the summer. As the shrub matures, the stems turn reddish-brown year-round and later gray. Silky and redosier dogwood, though very similar, can be distinguished by their pith and fruit color. Silky dogwood has a brown pith in 1-2 year old stems, dark green ovate leaves, yellowish-white flowers which bloom in mid-June, and bluish colored fruit which matures in September. Redosier dogwood has a white pith, dark green ovate leaves, white flowers, and whitish colored fruit. There are approximately 12,000 seeds per pound.

Gray Dogwood

Cornus racemosa Lam, gray dogwood, is a thickly branched, slow growing dogwood seldom more than 6 feet high at maturity. Its flowers, which bloom in June or July, are white and loosely clustered, and its white fruit, which appears in September and October, is set off by bright red fruit-stalks. Its leaves are opposite, taper-pointed and oval

Red-Osier Dogwood


General: Dogwood Family (Cornaceae). Redosier dogwood is a woody deciduous shrub generally 1.4-6 m (4.6-20 ft) tall. The bark and twigs are reddish to purple and fairly smooth from autumn to late spring; after the leaves have fallen, the deep burgundy branches add color to the winter landscape. The bark, twigs, and leaves are bright green in spring through summer. The simple, opposite leaves are 5-10 cm (2-4 in) long, dark green above and hairy and lighter-colored below, with smooth margins, rounded bases, pointed tips, and falsely parallel veins. Flowering occurs from June to August. The inflorescence is a cyme, with 2-3 mm (0.08-0.12 in) white to cream-colored flowers. The white berries are smooth on the faces, furrowed on the sides.

Winterberry

Winterberry is an erect moderate sized shrub, growing to heights of 5 to 15 feet tall. The smooth bark of winterberry is gray to blackish, with knobby lenticels The dense branches of this shrub grow in a zigzag pattern with an upright spreading crown. The twigs are slender, with gray to gray-brown color and small buds.
The simple, smooth, obovate to oblong-ovate foliage is sharply double toothed, with medium fine texture. The deciduous leaves are arranged alternately along the stems. Each leaf is 1 1/2 to 4 inches long, with dark green summer color turning yellow in fall, then drop off by mid-October. Small, inconspicuous, axillary, greenish to yellowish-white flowers bloom from April to July, after leaves have emerged. Like most others in the holly genus, winterberry is dioecious. Three years after planting, pistillate flowers begin to emerge in small clusters plants and staminate flowers develop on male plants with up to twelve flowers in a cluster; only now can plant gender be determined. Scarlet red to orange, globular fruit mature by late summer, often remaining on the plant into mid-winter. The berry-like fruit is about 1/4 inch in diameter, occurring singlely or in pairs, each containing 3 to 5 small nutlets. There are an average of 92,000 seeds per pound.

Common Ninebark

Native shrubs growing 1-3 meters tall, sometimes tree-like, with wide-spreading, recurved branches, the twigs brown to yellowish, glabrous; bark brown to orangish, peeling into thin strips or broader sheets on larger trunks. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, simple, ovate to obovate or nearly round, 3-12 cm long, with 3(-5) shallow, palmate-veined lobes, basally truncate or cuneate, on petioles 1-3 cm long, glabrous above and mostly so beneath but sometimes with a sparse covering of stellate hairs beneath, with crenate or dentate margins. Inflorescence of numerous flowers found in rounded clusters 2.5-5 cm wide; flowers 7-10 mm wide, calyx cup-shaped, glabrous or with stellate hairs, 5-lobed; petals 5, white or pinkish; styles 5; stamens 30-40. Fruit is compressed but inflated, ovoid, 8-12 mm long, shiny, red at maturity, glabrous or hairy, with papery but firm walls, splitting along two sides, in clusters of (2-)3-5 per flower; seeds 2-4. The common name comes from the bark, which continually molts in thin strips, each time exposing a new layer of bark, as if it had “nine lives.” This species flowers in May-July and fruits in May-July.
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There are more plants and wildflowers to come, check back tomorrow for a list of them as well as a look at the area as it is now. Once the spring arrives and this buffer begins to grow, all of the plants whose long descriptions I have listed here will be photographed and documented. Stay tuned.

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Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Coming Riparian Buffer: Part One

The new riparian buffer at Cedar Beach will be composed of all different sorts of trees, plants and shrubs. Today I will be introducing you to these new species in advance of the spring. When the snow melts, I will be following all these plants as they grow. Here is part one:

All descriptions come from the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Trees

Silver Maple

Acer saccharinum L., silver maple is one of the fastest growing deciduous trees of the eastern and midwestern forests. Also called river maple, this name derives from the common occurrence of the species along our river systems. Silver maple shares many of its sites with red maple, but the two species are easily distinguished. Silver maple is typically a much larger tree with a much larger fruit (called a samara), but the two species are the only native maples with spring seed dispersal. The leaves of silver maple are often larger and more deeply fissured between lobes than those of red maple. Silver maple can grow 3-7 feet per year.

River Birch

River birch is native to the eastern United States; south to Florida, north to Minnesota and west to Kansas; it is restricted to stream banks and other moist places. The tree can grow as tall as 40 to 70 feet and 15 to 30 inches in diameter. The bark is exfoliating; gray-brown to ivory or copper colored. The leaves are alternate, simple, 1-3 inches long, and oval-shaped with serrated edges; they are green above and whitish underneath. Flowers are inconspicuous. The winged fruit is small, brown, and borne in clusters in the spring. River birch bears an average of 375,000 seeds per pound. Root crowns and roots survive fire and sprout vigorously. The growth rate of river birch is typically 1.5 to 3 feet per year.

Green Ash


Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh., green ash, is a deciduous, medium-sized tree with an open, irregular crown reaching about 50 feet in height. Native to eastern North America and is fairly common west to Wyoming and Colorado along plains watercourses at elevations below 6,000 feet. The tree is fast growing on moist bottomlands, and is extremely hardy to climatic extremes once established.
Fruits are straw-colored, one-seeded, winged (samaras), 1 to 2 1/2 inches long, borne in dense branching clusters; flowers are inconspicuous, without petals, borne in dense clusters (panicles) near the ends of the twigs, male and female flowers on separate trees; leaves are opposite, pinnately compound, 4 to 6 inches long, 7 to 9 leaflets, narrowly elliptical, long-pointed, entire, bright green above, paler below; stem straight, bark thin with network of interlacing ridges, brown to dark gray, twigs smooth; roots are shallow, wide-spreading.

Swamp White Oak

General: Beech Family (Fagaceae). Native trees commonly growing to 15–20 m, sometimes to 30 m, the lateral branches relatively persistent (slow in self-pruning), with an open, irregularly shaped crown; bark dark gray, scaly or flat-ridged, often peeling off in large, ragged, papery curls. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, obovate to narrowly elliptic or narrowly obovate, (8–)12–18(–21) cm long, (4–)7–11(–16) cm wide, usually with regularly spaced, shallow, rounded teeth, or toothed in distal half only, or moderately to deeply lobed, upper surfaces dark green and glossy, lower surfaces lighter green to whitish, softly hairy. Male and female flowers are borne in separate catkins on the same tree (the species monoecious) on the current year's branchlets. Acorns maturing the first year, ovoid-ellipsoid or oblong, mostly 1.5–3 cm long, single or clustered in groups of 2–4, on a stalk (peduncle) 3-8 cm long; cup enclosing 1/3–1/2 of the acorn, scales closely appressed, finely grayish tomentose, those near rim of cup often with a short, stout, irregularly recurved spinose tip. The common name is from its typical habitat and its membership in the white oak subgroup.

Pin Oak

Pin oak is a moderately large tree with normal heights ranging from 70 to 90 feet with diameters between 2 and 3 feet. Trees reaching 120 feet tall with 5-foot diameters are occasionally encountered on good sites. The bark of this tree is smooth, reddish to grayish-brown during the juvenile period, becoming darker and shallowly fissured as the tree growth slows with age. The lower branches of pin oak are prostrate to descending, with smooth, slender, reddish-brown twigs. Clusters of pointed buds are located at the tips of twigs. Three to five inch alternate leaves have 5 to 7 points or lobes with bristled tips and deep C-shaped sinuses. The leaves change in color from a dark green to a deep scarlet red in fall. The leaves are deciduous but will usually persist on the tree into winter. The flowers of pin oak emerge soon after new leaves unfold in spring (April to mid-May). The acorns that develop are roundish, short stalked, 3/8 to 1/2 inches long, and capped with a thin and shallow saucer-like cup. The acorns will take 16 to 18 months to develop from pollination to maturity. When mature the acorn turns light brown to reddish-brown, and will drop from September to November. In 30 to 35 year old stands of pin oak, 4,000 to 20,000 sound acorns per acre yields have been documented. There are 410 acorns per pound. Pin oak is often confused with scarlet oak (Q. coccinea) due to similar appearance. Scarlet oak is an upland species that prefers soils with good drainage on dry sites.

American Sycamore

General: Planetree family (Platanaceae). Monoecious, native, deciduous trees with an open crown, among the largest of Eastern deciduous forests, reaching heights of 18-37 meters, and the greatest diameter of any temperate hardwood tree -- the largest known range 3-4 meters d.b.h.; twigs zig-zag, with only lateral buds, these completely covered by a single scale within the petiole base and not visible until after the petiole detachment; bark of upper trunk exfoliating in patches, leaving areas of inner bark exposed, a patchwork of browns, yellows, and greens against a background of white, the darker bark with age falling away in thin brittle sheets, exposing younger and lighter-colored bark. Leaves are deciduous, alternate, 10-35 cm long, palmate-veined and roughly star-shaped, with 3-5 sharp lobes, the blades often as broad or broader than they are long, truncate to cordate at the base, on petioles to 12 cm long; a leaf-like stipule at the petiole base is persistent during early growth. Staminate and pistillate flowers in separate, tightly compacted, ball-shaped clusters. Fruit is single-seeded and indehiscent (an achene), 8-9 mm long, with a ring of bristles at the base, numerous achenes in a pendulous, ball-shaped fruiting head 2-5 cm in diameter, the individual achenes drifting in the wind if the head breaks up on the tree. Common name apparently borrowed from the European sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.), which has similar leaves.

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Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Coming Riparian Buffer at Cedar Beach Parkway

I was standing in front of the statue of General Trexler at Trexler Park when I decided to write about parks on a blog. As I began my journeys, the day that changed me and my future happened at Cedar Beach Parkway. It was a particularly hot afternoon and I was stumbling around the various constructions in the Old Fashioned Garden when I thought of how nice it would be to cool off. I decided to go into the creek to try and attain this cooler feeling.

When I was younger, and I don’t remember with what organization or any names involved at all really, I attended some sort of nature camp at Cedar Beach and of all the various activities we did during camp time, I remember overturning rocks on the bottom of Cedar Creek the most. As I stood creek side, twenty years later, I thought of the excitement I felt as a child not knowing what to expect when I turned a rock over.

One leg at a time, I got myself into the creek. Where I stood, the water was rather cold and the sun had become more comforting than suffocating. Around me was thick vegetation. I had walked into the riparian buffer behind the reflecting ponds.

The plants were high enough that I could not see past them. I was alone, knee deep in cold water, in a place where no one else was and perhaps no one else had ever been. I certainly had no idea how many people wandered into the water to walk through this buffer. I knew how close Linden Street was, but it felt as if I had gone a thousand miles from where I had been before stepping in.

I took a deep breath and stood.

When I left the creek that day I walked alongside its banks to where there was no riparian buffer. I looked at the eroded creek banks, the sediment build up, the exposed roots of the willow trees hanging thirstily above the water and I thought: Why in the world has this been allowed to happen? I had just had a genuine experience with nature in an urban park and twenty feet downstream, nature was genuinely being abandoned. I was confused.

I began to do research and I started to learn about riparian buffers and proper management of watersheds. I wanted to fix the problems that were leading to the environmental degradation of these open spaces. I learned about invasive species and began to lose sleep over the Japanese knotweed in Trout Creek Parkway. I saw kids splashing in the filthy water in Jordan Park and I wanted to change the problem. At this point, I had changed. My blog had become the outlet to share my observations and concerns.

In October, I was able to spend a day planting hundreds of new species alongside Cedar Creek where a few months prior I stood in awe of the terrible conditions of the creek bank. In a few weeks, once all this snow has passed into memory, these plants will begin to grow. A long vein of new life will erupt in Cedar Beach Parkway and the first steps towards ensuring the ecological health of that park will be taken.

It is my hope that the experience I had, that brought me where I am today will be shared by many more people with the development of this new riparian buffer. I also hope that this will lead to new environmental educational programs in the park, especially for inner city children who otherwise would never have the chance to experience nature in this way. General Trexler wanted our parks to serve that purpose after all; it is time for them to do so.

Tomorrow will be part one of a two part post detailing the new plants, trees and shrubs that will begin growing in a few weeks alongside Cedar Creek. I’m beyond excited about it.

Related Video:

If you haven't seen it yet, this is a video I made about the problems facing our parks, and the future of them:

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Friday, February 12, 2010

Sledding in the Parkway (Video Post)

A long standing Allentown park tradition, I headed to the Parkway yesterday for a sled run. As expected, I rolled around on the hill like the old fat man I am slowly becoming. The Parkway itself was beautiful with the after effects of our blizzard still hanging in the trees.

Check out the video, it is a short one. Be warned, an audible use of the s-word lies within.

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Thursday, February 11, 2010

The Snopocalypse of 2010


When a snow forecast is issued by a meteorologist, it is usually met with skepticism by folks who live around here. They scoff at the forecast, and assert that “they never get it right” and “we never get as much as they say we’re going to get.” On Tuesday night, my friend CJ made such an assertion, claiming we’d be lucky to see eight inches. He was convinced that the predicted apocalypse of snow (snopocalypse) was simply more fear mongering committed by Ed Hanna, Glenn Schwartz and whomever else were spending the evening news red faced, spewing dire predictions.

The meteorologists might have actually underestimated this one. CJ certainly did.

Asleep on my couch, CJ missed his snow prediction come to fruition around 11:00 AM.



By 3, the snow had broken into double digits. CJ played xbox.

Around 4:30, Bucky CJ and I headed outside to get a leg up on further snowfall by beginning to shovel. The snow that had fallen was without question the absolute worst sort of snow to shovel. Wet and heavy, every shovel felt like hurling a bag of bricks into the air. Everything was buried. Our cars looked like eggs rising from an endless surrounding of white. The snowstorm had kicked our ass.







To end my post, I offer three views of my backyard as the day passed and the snowstorm let loose its wintry wrath upon us.

11:30 AM

1:30 PM

4:30 PM

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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Pine Tree Tops - Gary Snyder

"Pine Tree Tops"

in the blue night
frost haze, the sky glows
with the moon
pine tree tops
bend snow-blue, fade
into sky, frost, starlight.
the creak of boots
rabbit tracks, deer tracks,
what do we know.

- Gary Snyder

-Kalmbach Memorial Park, Macungie

Monday, February 8, 2010

Allentown Parks and Recreation Newsletter Notes

Upcoming Public Meetings
- City Council Meeting February 17th 2009 – Trail Plan Presentation 6:00 PM in Council Chambers
- Keck Park Public Meeting February 25th 2009 – Mosser Family Village Center, Keck Park


Trail Initiative News
- Besides the upcoming City Council Meeting, Greenways has created a Facebook page to support the plan. You can find it here.

Canal Towpath
- Refilled without being cleaned out.

Cedar Beach Parkway
- Apparently the paths and stairs around the mirror ponds are complete.

- The asphalt paths will be “stamped and coated” to match the new walkways. You can read about that process here. I cannot provide information regarding the environmental impact of this particular procedure yet but with the current paving extending throughout Cedar Beach Parkway, it cannot be much worse. To combat the negative environmental affects of the new asphalt path, it is my hope that no mow zones and riparian buffers are extended to the edges of the path where it passes closest to Cedar Creek. I am anticipating the coming spring to see if such a plan is implemented. I hope to see it. I’ll be watching.

- The playground construction will begin around February 24th.

- The entirety of Phase One is scheduled to be completed by June 23th 2010.

Keck Park
- Environmental surveys (I would love to see those) have been completed and groundbreaking on park renovations is coming up in 2010.

Lehigh River East Side Trail
- A trail (mostly street) to connect Canal Park and Kimmet’s Lock has been drafted and sent out to bidding.

The Fish Hatchery
- Following the 2009 improvements, major projects are ahead for 2010 including: a new netting system, a new “environmental education” system and the creation of a new bridge to keep pedestrians off of Fish Hatchery Road.


My concern as we near the end of winter will once again be focused on Cedar Beach, Trout Creek Parkway, Jordan Park, and Canal Park. As plans progress, I will update as soon as I become aware of anything. Thanks for reading.

Also, a new local blog has sprung up that I think is definitely worth a read, Check them out:

Lehigh Valley Independent

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Sunday, February 7, 2010

Snowfall, Canal Park, Lehigh Parkway and Wallace Stevens

Trying to ascertain a single line of truth from a winter storm forecast is like expecting a lick of sense from Glenn Beck. Before our latest winter storm this weekend I had heard forecasts ranging from 2 inches of snow to the end of the world and the return of Elijah, give or take a foot. By the time the storm ended on Saturday morning there was an observable average of 6-8 inches of snow in the Allentown area. Alas, Elijah was nowhere to be found.

Down in the Parkway, a winter wonderland was easily found without any gaudy light displays.




I drove through the Parkway all the way to the second park by the new bridge. There was a significant amount of snow left untouched when I arrived there and the parking lot had yet to be plowed. I left my car near the bridge with CJ (who was snowed in my house) sitting inside it. He didn’t want to go tromping around in half a foot of snow. I sure did. I was pumped.




Leaving the Parkway, I headed to Canal Park. The road was drivable all the way past the train tracks and under the trestle bridge.



After that, the road hadn’t been touched. I asked CJ if it was a good idea to drive up the hill given that despite plowing, a truck had been through and left tracks I could drive in. He told me it was a dumb idea, and I agreed. I then drove up the hill anyway, parked (or rather just stopped) and got out to take pictures.




The drive around Allentown and the walks inside the snow deep parks made me think of a poem by Wallace Stevens which I am going to post here to end this one. This is a fantastic piece of writing.

Wallace Stevens- "The Snow Man"

One must have a mind of winter
To regard the frost and the boughs
Of the pine-trees crusted with snow;

And have been cold a long time
To behold the junipers shagged with ice,
The spruces rough in the distant glitter

Of the January sun; and not to think
Of any misery in the sound of the wind,
In the sound of a few leaves,

Which is the sound of the land
Full of the same wind
That is blowing in the same bare place

For the listener, who listens in the snow,
And, nothing himself, beholds
Nothing that is not there and the nothing that is.

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