Denuded to diamond

According to Gifford Pinchot, first U.S. chief forester and a former Pennsylvania governor, "Conservation is the foresighted utilization, preservation and/or renewal of forests, waters, and lands."

With that in mind, the East Penn end of the Lehigh Gap Nature Center, part of a formerly denuded "moonscape," was dedicated as a new trailhead and arboretum last Friday.

Dan Kunkle, the center's director, explained that the land had been purchased by Doug Gause, who decided he wanted it to become part of the nature center and offered to sell it at a good price.

It was a bare piece of land with the boulders all lined up in a row, but the potential for a trailhead on the East Penn end of the property was there. Ron Kline, a board member, suggested it was the perfect place for an arboretum.

An arboretum is usually a collection of woody plants, usually trees, many of them exotic. What the Lehigh Gap Nature Center wanted was an arboretum featuring native trees and shrubs that provide wildlife with food.

The center partnered with Edge of the Woods Native Plant Nursery to choose 230 plants. Louise Schaffer and Sue Tantsit, nursery owners, followed through and designed and helped plant the area. Only four plants died.

Brian Birchak has taken on the role of chief caretaker with help from volunteers.

To obtain grants, help was needed with support letters, which were supplied by East Penn Township Supervisors, Lehigh County Commissioners and state Rep. Doyle Heffley.

Heffley was represented at the dedication by Timm Berger, who said the center is important to Carbon County.

As the leaves turn there will be visitors. The new resources provide more options for people.

Berger commended the center for bringing nature back to the mountain with help from a Community Conservation Partnership grant.

Partners are really important, said Kunkle. They met with Bill Mineo, who at the time was trail manager for the Delaware and Lehigh trail, and the two organizations worked together.

D&L's President Elissa Garafalo stressed the need for partners such as the Nature Center and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. She met with the Wildlife Information Center in Slatington before there was a nature center and they discussed how the denuded mountain could become an absolute diamond.

The idea of native plants was most important.

Funding came from a variety of sources, said Kunkle, including: DCNR's Bureau of Recreation; McLean Contributionship of Philadelphia, Pocono Forest and Waters Conservation Landscape program, an anonymous donor and members and friends who shared the vision.

Lorne Possinger, recreation and conservation manager for DCNR, said he hikes the trails there and one day saw a copperhead snake. To him that meant there had to be warm-blooded prey to attract it.

For the remainder of the hike in the grasslands he and a friend swept the grass in front of them with a stick to warn any other snakes of their approach.

Earlier in the summer he had a more enjoyable encounter when he saw a scarlet tanager.

Janet Sweeney from Pocono Forest and Waters said her organization donated 43 mini-grants, totaling $246,000. The Wildlife Information Center, still the formal name for the Nature Center, received one of the 12 grants in the last round.

They stress the importance of native plants.

Kunkle said the moonscape the Wildlife Information Center bought is the only Superfund Site that has become an environmental center. It needed someone naive enough to believe it could be done; he was that person.

Ellen Ferretti, secretary of DCNR, said she loves the native trees and the mountain behind them but her favorite is the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.

She recalled the denuded mountain and is glad to see the transformation. The restored land is an asset with its wildlife and river.

"This trailhead extends that reach. It is important to DCNR's work to create a conservation landscape with strong partnerships," she said.

It connects people with nature, leads to an awareness of native plants, and builds strong partnerships.

Anita Collins, LGNC board president, said after Kline proposed the idea, they came out and started putting it together. One of her contributions was llama manure.

The winding paths are symbolic of Native American heritage and its veneration of the snake, said Collins, adding that "all of a sudden this place was transformed."