Wissahickon Friends seek help for habitat plan

Posted 6/15/18

Shirley Gracie in the pavilion attached to the Valley Green Inn dedicated in her name. Gracie served on the Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) board for 13 years, stepping down this week to pursue …

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Wissahickon Friends seek help for habitat plan

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Shirley Gracie in the pavilion attached to the Valley Green Inn dedicated in her name. Gracie served on the Friends of the Wissahickon (FOW) board for 13 years, stepping down this week to pursue other interests, including birding. (Photo by Barbara Sherf)

by Barbara Sherf

The Friends of the Wissahickon are seeking citizen scientists and data geeks to help botanists and ecologists at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University develop a Habitat Management Plan for Wissahickon Valley Park, looking at the entire watershed.

That was the pitch to the 200 FOW members and attendees who gathered June 5 for the organization’s annual meeting as heavy rain and thunder boomed outside of the Shirley Gracie pavilion attached to the Valley Green Inn. The structure was named after Gracie, who has served in an array of capacities and who stepped down after serving on the board for 13 years, along with Jack Kelly who served seven years, to a round of applause, heartfelt remarks and framed nature photos taken in the park.

Following a brief business meeting led by Jeff Harbison, FOW board president, the audience listened to a presentation by Dr. Will Ryan, restoration ecologist and field botanist, and Dr. Rich Horwitz, of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University.

McCarthy set the stage for the duo, noting that more information is needed to make decisions about the future uses of the park.

“This park has been in existence since the mid-1860s and is constantly reinventing itself – almost seasonally it is being recycled,” McCarthy said, noting that there are more than 1,000 FOW volunteers and 100 senior volunteers who could be pressed into action. “We as humans are the biggest detriment and biggest asset. We need to assess our existing conditions with data we have and data we need to collect in order to plan for the future of this park.”

The Academy team is relying on the new data along with 30 different sources of existing data spanning a half-century.

Ryan outlined three areas in need of protection to maintain the quality of the park: areas of restoration, assessing impact on access points, and the need for a baseline for data collection and monitoring.

“There will be some removal of invasive pests and recommendations made on stormwater issues,” Ryan said. “We may not pay as much attention to restoration of typical woodlands versus looking at hardscaping in gateways and secondary points of entry and protecting the edges of the park.”

He noted that the team wants to connect with neighbors upslope to assist with environmental stewardship.

Horwitz was asked whether ongoing efforts to reduce the deer population have helped the park.

“Yes, I can see a difference with fewer deer just by walking through the park and would place it a notch higher in quality than I would 20 years ago,” he answered as the audience erupted in applause.

“Trash, particularly in high use areas like Devil’s Pool, remains an issue,” said Ryan, adding that they are looking across the board at the impacts on the park that may involve changes in park usage.

“We are looking at possibly closing or limiting trail use of certain types and putting more money and effort into improving the trails, working on stormwater issues, increasing signage and trash removal, and saturating the area with native vegetation,” Ryan said.

The study, funded by FOW in the amount of $45,000, is expected to be complete by the end of the year or early 2019.

“We hope to prescribe areas of future data collection and, with the increased interest from volunteers and park visitors, there is a real opportunity to utilize citizen scientists who are currently using the park,” Ryan said.

FOW Treasurer Richard Kremnick noted that of the $1.8 million annual budget, $700,000 came from dues and donations.

Harbison thanked renewing board directors Sarah Weidner Asthiemer, Garrett Trego, Fred Magaziner, Janice Sykes-Ross, Jean Sachs and P.R. West for agreeing to continue to serve on the board. Incoming directors Michael Marchino, Hooman Parsia, Kevin Berkoff and John Meigs were welcomed to the board.

As data specialist Mike Campania talked to possible volunteers at the conclusion of the meeting, the rain subsided and attendees were treated to a spectacular view of a double rainbow outside the Valley Green Inn.

Volunteers interested in assisting with data collection should e-mail info@fow.org or call 215-247-0417.

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