Penn’s Stewards News from the Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation Fall 2016 Coming Full Circle: n o i t n e M e l CREATING NATURAL b a r o n o H t s e t n o C PLAYGROUNDS to o h P F By: Rachel Baur, Environmental Education Specialist Supervisor, Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center F P P 6 01 , 2 rk Pa A hundred years ago we had urban and tate n S Pho s Gle to: Xiawei Zhang, Rickett rural living…and not much in between. IN THIS ISSUE If you grew up rurally, you were likely on PG: 1 Creating Natural Playgrounds a farm or a small town close to a wooded PG: 2 President’s Message area, fields, streams, and lakes. “City kids” PPFF EarthShare Member had empty lots and the occasional park. PG: 3-4 Creating Playgrounds continued What did these environments have in Trainings Abound common? Give kids a pile of dirt, some PG: 5 Connecting Gateway rocks, and a bunch of sticks and they will Communities Into The Future get dirty and have fun. PG: 6-7 Stewarding Hammonds Rocks Even with the addition of vast suburban PG: 8 Vandalism Infographic areas, today we have a new idea for PG: 9 Calendar of Events reviving outdoor play, and it’s called Conservation Heritage Project “natural playgrounds.” The natural Annual Foundation Awards playground is typically a designated PG: 10 PPFF Friends Groups space with as little man-made components Your Friends in Action as possible. Using native plants, rolling PG: 11 More Friends in Action YOU Made it Happen hills, and lots of trees, they are designed PG: 12 A Snapshot in Time with the intent of bringing children and We Will Miss people back to nature. continued on page 3 PG: 13 EITC Tax Credit Program Forest Legacy Trail Staying the Course “The world is HB2013 Defeated PG: 14-15 Photo Contest Winners mud-luscious and Stewards of Penn’s Woods PG: 16 The EXTRAordinary GIVE puddle wonderful.” CONTACT US: – e.e. cummings Pennsylvania Parks & Forests Foundation The photographs featured are from the Chickadee Nature 1845 Market Street, Suite 202, Camp Hill, PA 17011 Discovery Area’s Annual Mud Day Celebration at (717) 236-7644 www.PaParksAndForests.org Nolde State Forest held in May. President’s Message Marci Mowery When we start to pull together the fall newsletter, I often find myself scratching my “Thank you for being head in astonishment, wondering where the summer went and how it might already be a strong voice for ensuring that September. With filled days at work and P our children and grandchildren h , oto rk : C Pa 2 aro te 01 lyn Sta evenings enjoying family and friends in the 6 P Ande tone n PF rson, Keys tio F P en have access to a great park and hot le M o Contest Honorab outdoors, summer quickly becomes autumn, and the cicadas sing their song of a summer forest system.” well-spent. I hope that you, too, created many Board of Directors: fond memories with family and friends in your Hammonds Rocks in the Michaux State Forest. Chair George Asimos state parks and forests. Four volunteer days later, the 6500 square feet Saul Ewing LLP Speaking of parks and forests, you of graffiti has been considerably scaled back to Vice Chairman Maria Montero WOWED me with your enthusiasm when just a few hundred square feet. Cleanups also Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority legislation in the Pennsylvania General occurred at Beam Rocks and Cove Rocks, and Secretary Assembly threatened to change our parks in are started for Buzzards Rocks. Brian J. Clark Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney immeasurable ways. Your phone calls, letters, Or perhaps you assisted us at an event, or Treasurer and visits made a difference! Thank you for worked a trail with a friends group, or picked Gary Smith Retired, Bureau of State Parks being a strong voice for ensuring that our up litter during a park or forest visit, or alerted Directors children and grandchildren have access to a a ranger to vandalism that you witnessed. George Fernandez Latino Connection great park and forest system. There are so many ways that we collectively Jim Fields You not only loaned your voice to the cause care for our parks and forests, and for this SAP America of conservation of our state lands, you loaned I thank you. Enjoy the newsletter—it’s a Gus Frederick Delaware Valley Regional Planning your time and talents. When we started the celebration of all that we accomplished together. Commission summer, we identified 37 graffiti hotspots Yours in the Outdoors, Dr. James Grace Retired, DCNR across the state, the hardest hit being Marci Maxine Harrison Friends of Lyman Run/Cherry Springs Dark Sky Fund Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation Rep. Mark Longietti PA House of Representatives Becomes EarthShare Member Group Christine (Tina) Molski If your workplace participates in Earthshare, you now have an REI opportunity to support the work of the Pennsylvania Parks and Barb Sexton Chesapeake Energy Corporation Forests Foundation through your workplace giving campaign. Mary Soderberg Friends of Pine Grove Furnace State Park EarthShare, a nationwide network of the most respected environmental and conservation Rob Wonderling charities in the U.S., recently named Pennsylvania Parks and Forests Foundation (PPFF) as a new The Greater Phila Chamber of Commerce benefiting member for 2017. As one of EarthShare’s newest members, PPFF will be participating Advisory Board in employee engagement and workplace giving programs across Pennsylvania and across the Darla Cravotta William C. Forrey country so employees can easily support Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests through Mary Webber Weston their workplaces. For almost 30 years, EarthShare has supported nearly 600 of America’s most respected Staff: environmental and conservation nonprofit organizations through the original crowdfunding – Marci Mowery workplace giving. Workplace supporters aid in the preservation of our world’s natural areas, President as well as supporting public health and the protection of our air, water, land and wildlife. By offering Lisa Salvatore Bookkeeper the EarthShare program, forward thinking companies give their employees ways to connect with Pam Metzger purpose at work, along with an opportunity to easily and effectively support causes that matter Membership/Volunteer Coordinator to them while they help build a sustainable future. Beth Artz Office Assistant Amanda Trimmer Outreach & Public Relations Coordinator Did You Know? PPFF is able to accept your TAX DEDUCTABLE donations of stock to support our work and/or projects in state parks and forests. Page 2 | Penn’s Stewards Visit www.PaParksAndForests.org for more information Coming Full Circle: CREATING NATURAL PLAYGROUNDS continued from front cover While Pennsylvania’s state parks and forests are by What does it tell you when all you can see is a GREAT BIG SMILE? definition natural playgrounds, the Friends of Nolde State The mud pit is a Forest’s Environmental Education Center created something popular attraction at special to encourage children to explore off the trail - the the annual Mud Day celebration Chickadee Nature Discovery Area. The fenced play area in May. Poet provides boundaries for adult supervision. Packed with Carl Sandburg interesting natural objects, children engage in a non-plastic said it best: “There play experience; they make up their own games and play is an eagle in me by their own rules. The benefits of playing in a natural that wants to soar, environment include lots of moving parts, multiple textures, and there is a hippopotamus in me unusual things to look at, and a variety of scents and sounds. that wants to wallow Plants, animals, and insects pique their curiosity. Families, in the mud.” schools, or other groups (like scouts, etc.) have an absolute blast finding new ways to “turn over a rock.” The discovery These girls are sharpening their area is always changing so their nature play experience is observation skills never the same twice. and investigating Development of the Nature Discovery Area would not natural objects. have been possible without contributions from the Friends of Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center, who provided the funds for the installation of the split rail fence, materials to create the entrance sign, the low profile wooden bridge, the plant teepee, and river stones for the dry rock river. Volunteers from the Reading Hospital, Governor Mifflin Middle School, and many other individuals helped Playing in a dirt gather natural materials from the forest for use in the kitchen is a great discovery area. They spread the stones and created the river way to encourage of rocks, painted the birdhouses that adorn the area, painted imaginative play. hopscotch pavers, and built a teepee and rustic benches. Three years later the area remains a favorite project for the DCNR Conservation Volunteers who assist in raking the leaves, mulching the area, and sharing ideas for new and changing discovery features. A little teamwork goes a long way with keeping the area interesting and inspiring for the visitors. continued on page 4 Photos courtesy of the Chickadee Nature Discovery Area Trainings Abound Empowered volunteers learned new skills this fall in workshops focusing on chainsaw safety, trail maintenance, and food safety. Funded through private donations, a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and through the Pennsylvania Recreation and Parks Society, these workshops enable us to improve the visitor experience while assisting state parks and forests meet their management goals by working shoulder to shoulder with staff. Penn’s Stewards | Page 3 Coming Full Circle: CREATING NATURAL PLAYGROUNDS continued from page 3 The first features at Chickadee included a moving parts The Newest Old Idea teepee to build and take apart, complete with a make What is a natural playground? Simply stated, a natural believe fire ring with wooden flames, surrounded by child playground is an area where kids can play with natural sized log benches, courtesy of an Eagle Scout project…and elements such as dirt, water,wood, plants, and found objects it has never stopped growing or changing.