Preserving the natural beauty and wildness of the Wissahickon Valley for 93 years

SPRING 2017 VOLUME 26 • NUMBER 1

FOW Project Update p. 4 Houston Meadow Close-up

Health Care p. 14 for Hemlocks

Wood Duck & p. 16 Warbler Fest!

Northern Flicker, found in Houston Meadow. Photo by Joe Durrance A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

here is perhaps no better place to observe the change of seasons from winter to spring than right here in Wissahickon Valley Park. T 40 W. Evergreen Ave., Suite 108, , PA 19118-3324 As I look back at previous messages I have shared with you (215) 247-0417 • [email protected] • fow.org in this newsletter, I realize that much of my focus has been on

the projects and activities of Friends of the Wissahickon. And as The mission of Friends of the Wissahickon is to easy as those messages are to write, and as impressive as FOW’s preserve the natural beauty and wildness of the work is, I find that this spring it is more fitting to write about the Wissahickon Valley and stimulate public simple pleasures and beauty of the park and the watershed itself. interest therein. Here in the Wissahickon, just a few miles from the center of OFFICERS a dense metropolitan area, we can experience plants and animals Will Whetzel, President of all kinds and share in the natural rhythms and seasonal cycles Jeff Harbison, Vice President of a gorgeous, world-class park. The park is a multi-purpose James Walker, Treasurer destination, with fields and a stream crisscrossed by over 50 miles of trails that range Cynthia Heckscher, Secretary from the large multi-purpose anchor of Forbidden Drive to the many multi-purpose trails PAST PRESIDENTS across the hills and along the streambed (many recently rebuilt as part of the Sustainable Cindy Affleck Charles Dilks Trails Initiative). Robert A. Lukens David Pope John Rollins Edward C. Stainton Robert T. Vance, Jr. Now more than ever, with the BOARD MEMBERS Christine Bamberger Louise Johnston fragility of this beautiful park constantly Christopher Bentley Courtney Kapp Amy Branch Benoliel John Kelly Tai-ming Chang Martha Kennedy challenged, we need you! Stephanie Craighead Richard Kremnick Walt Crimm Charles Lee, Jr. Emily Daeschler Chris McCausland David Dannenberg David Pope The park is also a multi-generational destination, with grandparents who grew Alyssa Edwards Jean Sachs up coming to the park during their childhoods, now sharing their sense of wonder and Sam Finney Robert T. Vance, Jr. Shirley Gracie James Walker inspiration in these natural settings with their children and grandchildren. With the Jeff Harbison Patricia R. West recent introduction of a more modern and organized signage system, even newcomers to Cynthia Heckscher Will Whetzel the park—business travelers or permanent transplants—find it easier to acclimate and Nina Hoe Susie Wilmerding share in this wonder and inspiration. Much of the heavy lifting that goes into preserving this beauty and wildness is done STAFF by the members and volunteers of Friends of the Wissahickon. Now more than ever, with Maura McCarthy, Executive Director the fragility of this beautiful park constantly challenged, we need you! There are many Ruffian Tittmann, Director of Development ways to help FOW preserve the Wissahickon: become a member; volunteer at one of our and Operations workdays (and if already a volunteer, become a Trail Ambassador or Crew Leader); Audrey Simpson, Business Manager join us at one of our many outings, talks, or special events; and, last but not least, make Denise Larrabee, Editor/Writer a donation. Sarah Marley, Outreach Manager Rather than slowing down at the ripe old age of 93, Friends of the Wissahickon is Peg Shaw, Project Manager embarking on a new and ambitious five-year strategic plan. One of our primary goals is Erin Mooney, Publicist John Holback, Field Coordinator to make the rest of Philadelphia and the world aware of what we already know: When it Christina Anthony, Volunteer Coordinator comes to parks with beauty, stature, natural resources, and ease of use, the Wissahickon Giulia Morrone, Development is second to none! and Outreach Assistant Lorraine Awuku, Development Manager Yours in the Wissahickon, Ashley Velez, Executive Assistant NEWSLETTER Denise Larrabee, Editor Moon Design, Layout Will Whetzel, FOW President Published by Bartash Printing, Inc., Phila. Printed on recycled paper.

UNITED WAY DONATIONS CORRECTION Friends of the Wissahickon can receive FOW extends our sincere apologies to Jack and Todd membership/donations through the United Laverty. In our Winter 2016 Newsletter, we misidentified Way. Our United Way number is 9882. If this them. Jack Laverty was FOW’s youngest Challenger in the is the most convenient way for you to give, All Trails Challenge in the fall of 2016. He is pictured here please do so. Visit our website (fow.org) to with his father, Todd Laverty. learn about the benefits of membership in Friends of the Wissahickon.

2 Spring 2017 • Friends of the Wissahickon BRIEFLY NOTED WISSAHICKON HIKING WITH PARK TRAIL MAURA THE CLOSURE EXPLORER A section of the Orange Join FOW’s Executive Director Trail running beneath Maura McCarthy for a hike on the the , last Friday of each month. She will between the Park Line tour a different section of the park Drive access trail and during each hike and talk about her the Blue Bell Hill access experiences in the park as well as trail, will be closed for an point out any recent improvements undetermined amount of by FOW. Bring your hiking shoes time due to construction and be ready to share your favorite work in this area. Trail use Wissahickon stories with her! is prohibited in this area Upcoming dates: March 31, April until further notice for 28, and May 26. More information safety reasons. at fow.org.

COMING SOON: FOW SUPPORTS PA A STREET VIEW OF MASTER NATURALIST THE WISSAHICKON The Fall 2017 Philadelphia County Master Naturalist training, Philadelphia is the first major city in the coordinated by FOW, will begin on August 29, 2017. Training United States to partner with Google to sessions will take place on Tuesday evenings with field trips capture imagery of hundreds of miles of on Saturdays. The application deadline is May 15, 2017. trails, parks, and cultural attractions to add to Master Naturalist is a statewide partnership Google’s worldwide database of maps. Staff from initiative that aims to connect people with their local ecosystems Philadelphia Parks & Recreation in partnership through intensive natural science training and local conservation with Conservancy borrowed service work. It is a venture directed toward developing a Google’s Trekker camera equipment, hiked around local corps of “master volunteers and service providers” to offer these unique and amazing locations, and shared these images for processing education, outreach, and service dedicated to the understanding and inclusion as panoramic images on Street View in Google Maps. Data was and management of natural areas within their communities. ​ gathered and then submitted to Google in October 2016 and is expected to be Visit pamasternaturalist.org for more information and to apply uploaded to Google Street View Maps by June 2017. — Philadelphia Parks & for the program. Have questions? Contact Ellyn Nolt at enolt@ Recreation pamasternaturalist.org

READ THIS! Philadelphia Magazine called City in a Park (Temple UP, 2016) “a thick and terrific compendium of everything that’s in our city’s biggest green space and how it came to be.” What green space is that? Fairmount Park. Philadelphia has more than 100 50+ ATTEND ANNUAL parks, squares, and PUBLIC MEETING green spaces totaling approximately 11,000 FOW hosted its annual Public Meeting on January 25 to discuss acres, and has one of progress on the Sustainable Trails Initiative (STI), the signage the largest landscaped program, and other upcoming projects in 2017. The meeting, led urban park systems by FOW Project Manager Peg Shaw, was held at the Chestnut in the world. Of that Hill Friends Meetinghouse. In addition, there was an update on total, 1,800 acres the new park-wide signage system and a question and answer comprises Wissahickon period. STI is a multi-year project that will make the 50 miles of Valley Park. Written by recreation trails in the Wissahickon a more environmentally and James McClelland and Lynn Miller, City in a Park will take you on an socially sustainable system. The project is being implemented in exploration of the 200-year history of Philadelphia’s unique park system. partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation.

Friends of the Wissahickon • Spring 2017 3 PROJECT UPDATE by Peg Shaw, Project Manager

those native plant species often cannot survive. It is FOREST RESTORATION the power of the food web in action. Therefore, removing non-native invasive plant species and replacing them with appropriate native species (either by planting, seeding, or allowing natural regeneration) is a fundamental component of habitat restoration. A WELL-PLANNED PLANTING DAY The first step in preparing this site was to remove existing invasive plants. FOW staff worked alongside Philadelphia Parks & Recreation staff to identify and remove invasive plants. Following that work, FOW recontoured portions of the site, removed suspended woody debris, scattered it across the site, and spread wood chip mulch. Planting of the site took place on Love Your Park Day on November 5. Although the area itself is rather small, conditions at the site are PLANTS FOUND AT his past fall FOW and Mt. Airy Avenue. In the fall, been well documented that trails THE SITE* undertook two forest we began finishing that work by create pathways for the spread of Thabitat restoration projects identifying an area for invasive invasive species, and trail users NATIVE SPECIES in connection with the trail work plant removal and native plant are unwitting conduits. Therefore, Canopy we accomplished earlier in the year. installation. we often see degraded forested Beech There was substantial planning, Behind Monastery Stables is conditions most intensely along Sassafras preparation, and organizing an intersection with a connector trail corridors. If you are curious Tulip Poplar invested into these projects to trail to Scotforth Road and about the source location of these White Pine make them a reality. As with so species, look no further than Mt. Airy Avenue. It is located Understory much of FOW’s park stewardship, neighborhood yards and the plant where the White Trail exits the American Euonymus volunteers provided the backbone woodland and traverses the lawn nurseries and retail outlets that Black Cherry for success. The first site was along edge before entering the woods. sell them. the White Trail behind Monastery Spice Bush At this intersection, there was WHY DO WE CARE? Stables and the second site was approximately 7,000 square feet of Arrowwood Viburnum Plant species have coevolved along the Sumac Street trail degraded forest trail edge occupied Herbaceous with interlocking dependencies entrance in Roxborough. You can by a canopy of native trees and an Black Cohosh among animal and insect species. learn more about the White Trail understory of non-native invasive Jewel Weed site below, and visit fow.org/news to These relationships are not plants. Solomon’s Seal read about the Roxborough site. completely understood, but we NATIVE VS. INVASIVE do understand that what binds Virginia Creeper WHITE TRAIL OVERVIEW The species mix at this site these relationships—the survival Habitat restoration along trail represents a combination of of these species together—includes INVASIVE SPECIES such elements as complex plant corridors is an integral component historical Oak-Chestnut forest Bittersweet of the Sustainable Trails Initiative chemistry and the natural rhythm (now sometimes referred to as Burning Bush (STI). In the spring of 2016, Appalachian Oak Forest) and forest of the seasons, such as precise Garlic Mustard FOW closed approximately 1,500 edge or successional communities. dates of leaf out and flowering. linear feet and constructed about While this constitutes a fairly good When plant species native to a Japanese Angelica the same quantity of new trail baseline canopy, there is limited region are replaced by species Porcelain Berry using sustainable design and natural regeneration occurring, native to another region (often White Mulberry construction methods on the White and subsequently a great deal of across oceans), the animals and Trail between Kitchen’s Lane invasive species incursion. It has insects that have evolved with *Not a complete list.

4 Spring 2017 • Friends of the Wissahickon NATIVE SPECIES PLANTED* SAVE THE DATE! Trees Basswood Before NATIONAL Flowering Dogwood Gray Birch TRAILS DAY Hackberry Persimmon JUNE 3, 2017 Shrubs Allegheny Serviceberry Black Chokeberry Blackhaw Viburnum During Hazelnut Witch Hazel

*Not a complete list.

After

Love Your Park Workday

varied and include a ridge color-coded planting plan FINISHING TOUCHES line, semi-shaded slopes, map, container plants FOW and our habitat shaded wet forest, trail were color-coded upon volunteers will be actively edge, and drainage areas. delivery to match the site monitoring the White These conditions and the area where they would Trail planting site for native plant community be installed. This proved mortality, stressors, and type combined to help us to be tremendously invasive plant resurgence. Post and rail fencing helps protect the planting site design a planting plan helpful in coordinating This is a vital component from dogs off leash. and identify the species, the activities of the 50+ of successful reforestation density, and location. volunteers who worked efforts. At this particular Prior to the workday, with us at the Love Your site, we took measures to we calculated the number Park planting event. protect the young plants. of plants needed based Due to our thorough Given the volume of trail on the size of the site preparation and the traffic in that area, and and the density desired, tremendous number of the preponderance of then we augered the enthusiastic volunteers, dogs off-leash that can planting holes. FOW we accomplished not only significantly damage Project Coordinator John planting 118 trees and habitat, we installed post Holback used the SK700 266 shrubs, but were able and rail fencing along the with an auger attachment to water and mulch them trailside perimeters of the to dig the holes in an all. planting site. To dog-proof irregular formation In addition to the planting site further, approximately 4’ by 6’ completing the planting, we attached black plastic on center throughout we also got a good net fencing to the back the site. This approach head start on tackling side of the post and rail helps to discourage the the approximate 5,000 fencing. Thank you to re-incursion of invasive square feet of invasive everyone for loving the plants and ensures plants (mostly Japanese Wissahickon by keeping a more naturalized Angelica stick and your dogs on leash at all establishment and growth multiflora rose) along the times while in the park! pattern. lawn edge section of the We plan to continue A critical limitation on white trail. working in this area in the final species list was the Spring of 2017, so based on the availability please stay tuned, as we at regional native plant hope you can join us with nurseries. For this that effort. site, FOW sourced our plants from Octoraro Native Plant Nursery in READ MORE: Bringing Nature Home: How Native Kirkwood, Pennsylvania. Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens (2007) by Color-coded Planting Plan By creating a simplified Douglas Tallamy.

Friends of the Wissahickon • Spring 2017 5 VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHTS MARTIN LUTHER KING DAY OF SERVICE

by Christina Anthony, Volunteer Coordinator

n January 16, 2017, an amazing volunteer crew of over 60 individuals gathered together to remove invasive plants at OThomas Mansion in Germantown, an historic property close to the Wissahickon, with a home built in 1869 by George Clifford Thomas and his wife Caroline Sheetz. The property, which once boasted beautifully landscaped gardens and a greenhouse, needs lots of routine maintenance to keep it from becoming overgrown. For each of the last two MLK Days, FOW has worked on the mansion grounds to clear the overgrown invasive plants along the driveway, a project we continued this year. FOW volunteers at Thomas Mansion on Dr. King once said, “Life’s most persistent and urgent question Martin Luther King Day of Service. is, “What are you doing for others?” By volunteering at Thomas Photo by C. Uniatowski Mansion, FOW and our volunteers spent the holiday giving back to our park, its users, and the plants and animals that rely on it to live. David Bower, a Parks & Recreation veteran and all-star FOW volunteer, led an intentional volunteer workday. He began the day by speaking about the significance of MLK Day and urging us to keep alive Dr. King’s teachings and vision for peace and equality. This workday was a beautiful sight to see, with volunteers from different backgrounds and ages coming together for a common goal. Several volunteers came up to me after the workday and told me how grateful they were for FOW and the sense of community we provide. Dr. King would be proud of the community coming together on this Day of Service to do such great work! Thomas Mansion is looking like it got a makeover, Volunteering thanks to all the hard labor donated by community with Friends of members. the Wissahickon As we ended the workday, I had to take a moment to is always well compose myself, as I was Rob Wilf and Lauren Easley. overwhelmed with feelings of organized, Photo by C. Uniatowski gratitude and pride to be part thoughtful, and of such a positive and uplifting community. Volunteering in the gives me a sense park is not just about pulling weeds and cleaning graffiti. of purpose. Today The love that we have for the Wissahickon is an extension was the first time of the love we have for our I shared this community, our land, and its people. experience with my John Holback, FOW’s Field five-year-old son. It Coordinator, read aloud this quote from James Baldwin to was a special way to end a day well spent: “The sea rises, the light falls, lovers cling spend time together– to each other, and children cling giving back to the to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we community and break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light celebrating Martin goes out.” Luther King Jr.’s I thank FOW and its birthday.” incredible volunteers for Harvey Miller, Brandon Cornner, reminding me of all that is good Gerene Schroeder, and Graeme Brown. and right in our community. Jill Sanchez, FOW volunteer Photo by C. Uniatowski

6 Spring 2017 • Friends of the Wissahickon PROFILE LATEST FOW VOLUNTEER PROJECTS* Cleanup, debris removal, and fence installation at Sumac Street Tool and equipment inventory at Wissahickon Environmental Center Rogue trail closure Construction of tool and wood storage structures by FOW’s Structures Crew Construction of wildlife boxes CHRISTINA ANTHONY Cleanup at Valley Green Inn area FOW VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR 8 trees removed on Feb. 18 at several sites by Denise Larrabee, Editor

*Not a complete list OW’s new volunteer coordinator, Christina Anthony, has an adventurous spirit: After an extensive trip to Asia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand, she moved to FPhiladelphia in April of last year without securing a job or knowing anyone in the City. “I moved here on a gut feeling,” she says. “While living in California I found that I gravitated toward people from the east coast. . . . I decided I wanted to explore what that would be like. So I packed my car up and drove here with no plans.” No plans, but lots of valuable experience working with volunteers. Christina found her calling while studying abroad in Chile during her junior year of college. While there, she volunteered at an orphanage, a school, and on farms. “It made me want to be a part of the world of volunteering because it was a really great way to give back to the community,” she says. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a B.A. in Communication Studies and a minor in Latin American Studies, Christina dedicated herself to working with volunteers. She served as a volunteer coordinator for AmeriCorps at a homeless shelter and a volunteer project coordinator for the Yanapuma Foundation in Ecuador, where she worked as a community liaison between local Ecuadorians and international volunteers. “We did things like grow thousands of cocoa trees and plant them, build vegetable gardens, and work with indigenous communities in daycare centers,” says Christina. “I led a group of about 20 international volunteers by myself throughout all of Ecuador for about three months.” Upon returning to the United States, she took a position with CoachArt in Oakland, Sam Johns and Moritz Endriss California, managing a corps of approximately 300 volunteers. “They give free lessons in the arts building wildlife boxes. and athletics to kids living with chronic illnesses,” she says. “Those are two of my passions: arts and sports.” Christina is pursuing both of those passions. When not in the Wissahickon or FOW’s office, she is taking classes in improvisational comedy, playing basketball, or paddling on the Schuylkill with her outrigger team, the Philadelphia Outrigger Canoe Club. Christina came to FOW from a position with the Nationalities Service Center, an immigrant and refugee service organization in Center City, where she managed 350 in-person interpretation projects and 120 independent contractors. But the position of volunteer coordinator at FOW allows her to return to working for the environment, another passion. “When I was working in Ecuador, we did a lot of manual labor outside and I loved it,” she says. “It was very gratifying and fulfilling and I didn’t find that in a lot of other office jobs that I have had in the past. . . . This job at FOW combines all of my passions and all of my skills.” Christina would like to grow FOW’s volunteer program further and simplify some of the administrative systems currently in place, while becoming more familiar with the park and the challenges it faces. “I’ve already met some of the volunteers and board members,” she says, “and they seem like incredible people with so much knowledge and kindness and generosity. I hope to get to know all of them and exchange experiences and knowledge.” With such interesting travel FOW volunteers at Valley and work experience, all of us at FOW expect to learn a lot from Christina, too! Green Cleanup

Friends of the Wissahickon • Spring 2017 7 7 TUNED IN TO THE WISSAHICKON

By Peg Shaw, Project Manager

ur yards are perfect opportunities to PLANTING increase habitat real estate for the hundreds • Consider replacing non-native plants with Oof birds, animals, and insects that live or native species. Seeds and shoots of these plants travel through the Wissahickon Valley Park region. can spread into the park and severely degrade With this in mind, there are many options for habitat. By and large, only native plants host the managing our private landscapes. Here are a few vast number and array of insects that birds rely suggestions you can practice on your own or discuss upon to feed their young. More native plants will with your landscape contractor. give you more birds to enjoy. LEFTOVER FALL LEAVES • Looking for more native species to choose from? Let your voice be heard at your local nursery. • Keep leaves on site. Leaves provide a natural They will listen, and growers will too! nourishing mulch layer under your shrubs and trees and create marvelous microhabitat. Often, RAIN GARDENS Photo by Marc Snyder if you carefully pull back the top layer of last An excellent opportunity to control stormwater, year’s leaf-fall, you’ll find salamanders, newts, recharge ground water and add more variety of frogs, turtles, and other critters living there. native plants to increase wildlife habitat. Learn more • Mulch leaves. If you don’t like the look of at https://tinyurl.com/jl9m9pe. ONLINE whole leaves as mulch, many lawn mowers MONARCH BUTTERFLIES have mulching options which allow for more CHATTER rapid decomposition. (Check for critters before Milkweed is the only plant that hosts monarch mulching!) caterpillars. These butterflies are in severe FOW reached over 4,500 people decline and we can help just by planting beautiful on January 19 with a post of an • Compost them. A simple yard compost pile is milkweeds. Learn more at https://tinyurl.com/ amazing video from Marc Snyder. all you need. Learn more at https://tinyurl.com/ kgky696. FOW volunteers discovered an z4rmmz8. PROTECT MIGRATORY BIRDS Eastern Screech Owl nesting in • If you must remove all leaf matter, please do one of our wildlife boxes in the not dump or blow them into the Wissahickon. Millions of birds are killed every year by colliding Wissahickon. We can’t stop watching Though organic, deep piles of leaves will not into our windows. During the spring and fall it. Visit our Facebook page and decompose at a normal rate. Piles of leaves and migration seasons, the problem is particularly check it out! woody debris tossed into the park will suffocate urgent. There are several simple steps we can take herbaceous plants and the root systems of to help migratory birds survive their amazing treks. shrubs and trees, leading to death. Such piles There is much information available on the web. A also impair natural stormwater flows and create good place to start is The Cornell Lab of Orinthology CREEK gullies. (https://tinyurl.com/yx8w5q). You can also take a field trip to the Heinz CLEANUP National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum in South Philadelphia for an up close look at some collision AND TALKIN’ prevention measures. TRASH PICNIC SATURDAY, APRIL 29 Creek CleanUp from 9 to 11 am at Historic RittenhouseTown Picnic from 11 am to 1 pm in Fort Washington State Park at the pavilion near the Militia Hill L-3 parking lot. Enter from the Joshua Road gate and follow the loop road. (GPS: 6036 joshua Road, Fort Washington, AP 19034) FOW and our partners at the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association need your help cleaning the from top to bottom. After the CleanUp, join us for a picnic with our fellow volunteers from upstream. To register contact FOW Volunteer Coordinator Christina Anthony at [email protected]. An example of a rain garden at Valley Green Inn.

8 Spring 2017 • Friends of the Wissahickon PARTNERS IN WATERSHED STEWARDSHIP WOODMERE ART MUSEUM Woodmere Art Museum is in the midst of completing a stormwater improvement project that re-engineers water flow across the museum’s six-acre site. Green parking solutions, such as permeable surfaces and reinforced grass, are combined with retention basins and a bioswale system of natural purification. Ultimately, the system directs excess water that is not absorbed back into the ground, and then into Philadelphia’s storm sewer system. Works of art, like Harry Bertoia’s monumental fountain, the Free Interpretation of Plant Forms (1967), will be installed in the area. This work of art celebrates an equilibrium of nature and creative expression. For the project, Woodmere has been consulting with the Morris Arboretum about best SAFETY trees and plants. Woodmere has also been consulting with Friends of the Wissahickon and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society on some aspects of the project, as well as GUIDELINES educational programming for Woodmere visitors to help cultivate more awareness, and hopefully inspire more action, about environmental best practices. Woodmere educators Exercise with a partner; if will address questions such as: How do step pools work? What’s underneath Woodmere’s parking lot and what does it do? Aside from mud in unwanted places and flooding, what exercising alone, avoid using the are other ramifications of unchecked stormwater? —Gabrielle Turgoose, Director of park during off-peak times. Communications, Woodmere Art Museum

Be alert and go headphone free! Headphones leave you vulnerable to physical injury and crime.

Vary your routine. Go at different times and start from different locations.

Trust your instincts. If you sense trouble because of a person or a place, leave.

When parking your car, lock doors, carry keys with you, and do not leave valuables in plain sight in the car.

Call 911 if your car is broken into. Use the parking lot number to report the location of the car. Stay until the police arrive.

Report suspicious activity by calling 911.

Visit fow.org frequently. FOW posts crime alerts as necessary. SEASONAL FIELD ASSISTANTS

If you need help, call 911 or NEEDED THIS SUMMER the Philadelphia Park System FOW will be hiring three Seasonal Field Assistants to carry out various tasks in Wissahickon Rangers: 215-685-2172. If you Valley Park beginning June 16, 2017, through early September. These temporary positions are unable to call 911 or the are primarily field based and applicants should be comfortable with spending long periods Rangers, find an FOW Trail of time outdoors performing various tasks. Ideal candidates will have experience working in park settings, be highly motivated, and able to successfully work as part of a team. Members Ambassador (TA) for help. of the seasonal field crew will be responsible for assisting FOW Field Staff. Duties include monitoring and cleaning popular destinations, trail maintenance/construction, assistance at TAs provide information to park FOW volunteer workdays, and other duties as assigned. Field Assistants will use hand tools, visitors about the Wissahickon such as shovels, picks, pulaskis, and other tools as needed. For more information, visit fow.org and report any problems they beginning in early April 2017, when an application form will be posted at fow.org. Deadline encounter to Park Rangers. for applications is May 15, 2017.

Friends of the Wissahickon • Spring 2017 9 If You Restore It, By Denise Larrabee, Editor They

Houston Meadow today. Will Photo by C. Uniatowski

Orchard Oriole. Come Photo by Ruth Pfeffer by Keith Russell, Audubon Pennsylvania

rior to 2008, the area now Warbler, Cerulean Warbler, Broad- known as Houston Meadow winged Hawk, American Woodcock, Pwas not a well-known part of and others that have now become Wissahickon Valley Park. I first saw very difficult to find in our region the area during the early 1970s when during the summer. Ring-necked a neighbor named Vangy Maddox took me Pheasants (now probably extinct and several other children there to fly kites. in Philadelphia) still haunted the Getting to the meadow required an arduous area then, while Field Sparrows, hike up a long, steep path that began at Common Yellowthroats, and Eastern Houston Meadow was overrun with invasive plants like the Bell’s Mill Road and Forbidden Drive. When Towhees were abundant breeders. multiflora rose pictured here. we arrived at our destination, we were During migration many other species enriched with organic material and more shocked to be greeted by an area of grassy, from Northern Goshawks to American Tree capable of supporting woody plants. Only rolling fields extending as far as the eye Sparrows could be observed in the area. 15 acres of grasslands remained, and most could see once we emerged from the forest. The fields of little bluestem grasses that of the unusual breeding birds were gone. It was almost as if we had just entered the composed the meadow in the 1970s would This is when I began discussions with Tom mysterious land of Shangri-La. Few people often catch fire, reducing the grass stems to Witmer, Operations Manager for Natural ventured into the area at that time, so it was blackened stubs. The grass would quickly Lands Restoration for Fairmount Park (now a wonderfully peaceful place to visit. But the resprout, and the fires probably helped to Philadelphia Parks & Recreation), about one thing that would draw me back to the maintain the area as a grassland by keeping the area’s history, and we created a plan to meadow more than anything else over the trees and shrubs from taking hold. But things reclaim Houston Meadow once again as a ensuing years was the meadow’s bird life. began to change in the late 1980s. Half of the grassland and meadow. fields, which had up until then been privately Throughout the 1970s, Houston The Houston Meadow Reclamation and owned, were sold to a developer who erected Meadow and the adjacent forest attracted Management Plan was designed to expand houses. Fortunately, the remaining fields a larger number of bird species during the the amount of grassland and meadow habitat were added to Fairmount Park. That is when breeding season than any other location in dramatically by removing hundreds of young the fires stopped occurring, and trees and Philadelphia. Over 75 species of birds could trees and shrubs, and planting native grasses shrubs started to invade the area. be found each summer in and around the and wildflowers in order to bring back the 50+ acres of grasslands that composed the By 2008 most of the area that had not many species of breeding birds and two meadow at that time: unusual species such been developed had become overrun with rare butterflies (the Dusted Skipper and as the Hooded Warbler, Yellow-breasted trees and shrubs. The once dry, sandy soils Cobweb Skipper, which lay their eggs on Chat, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blue-winged that supported grasses had become more little bluestem grass) that were declining or

10 Spring 2017 • Friends of the Wissahickon had already vanished from the area. And it also Forest Service became available for shovel-ready is difficult for them BIRDS involved modifying the adjacent forest edge by habitat restoration projects, and the City was to expand into newly removing some trees and planting more native awarded almost $2 million to conduct a number created areas of RETURNING shrubs because this kind of open forest habitat of habitat restoration projects including the breeding habitat. But TO can attract additional bird species. The native Houston Meadow Reclamation and Management having individuals plants added to these areas of modified forest Plan. of these species HOUSTON edge were protected from deer browse by deer Over the next few years the Houston reappear in the MEADOW* exclosures. Meadow Reclamation project was completed meadow after having While many of the area’s and a similar project was been absent for two Black-billed Cuckoo declining breeding birds only also completed at the nearby decades suggests that Blue-winged Warbler breed in or along the edges Andorra Meadow. Today the they might become Common Yellowthroat of meadows, some birds that DID YOU habitat in both areas has been reestablished at some Cooper’s Hawk formerly bred in the forest KNOW? transformed dramatically from point in the future. Eastern Bluebird adjacent to the meadow what it was ten years ago. The Houston Eastern Towhee had also disappeared like FOW undertook the redesign Thousands of trees have been Meadow Reclamation Field Sparrow the Cerulean, Hooded, and removed and thousands of and Management and construction of trail Hooded Warbler Kentucky Warblers. While new native plants have been Plan has been a networks with Philadelphia Kentucky Warbler these forest birds may have Parks & Recreation in planted. Invasive non-native success in stabilizing disappeared for a variety of plant species from autumn or increasing the Orchard Oriole Houston and Andorra reasons, we know that forest olive to Japanese knotweed populations of species Tree Swallow songbirds often move from Meadows. This trail work have been removed or reduced that were declining Yellow-breasted Chat forests into meadows once their (in 2011 and 2015) was in abundance and replaced as breeders, like young have fledged. So having part of the Sustainable with native grasses like little the