Nature center keeps an eye toward the future

One of the best views in the area is from the windows at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center.

The view is so fabulous that director Dan Kunkle has to sit with his back to the window if he wants to get any work done. From the huge windows, visitors can see the Blue Mountain, the Lehigh River and Marshalls Hill.

The Lehigh Gap Nature Center is a nonprofit, member-run conservation organization located in the Lehigh Gap of Pennsylvania at the foot of the Kittatinny Ridge. The center is nestled between the Appalachian Trail and the D&L trail, providing 14 miles of trails, with the shortest loop being 2 miles.

On any given day, nature lovers can see anything from a bobolink to a butterfly.

In the summer, you'll see blue grosbeaks brighten the landscape, woodpeckers forage their way through the dead lumber and prairie warblers build their nests.

No wonder Kunkle loves every minute of it. No wonder the thousands of students are in awe when they come to the center.

Seeing nature in full motion cannot be compared to sitting at a desk staring at a teacher or a book.

Getting up close and personal, reaching out and almost being able to touch a butterfly's wings, brings out the curiosity in all of us.

That's why we spent hours last year glued to the webcam that showed us bald eagles feeding their young. The resident eagle at Carbon County Environmental Center, Rennie, attracted more than 4,000 views this week in a video.

That's why petting zoos make so much money. That's why my grandchildren spent hours running around trying to catch lizards when we were in Florida. They couldn't catch them, thank goodness, because we certainly didn't have a plan if they did.

School visits to the nature center are paying off with higher science test scores, Kunkle told members of the Palmerton Area Chamber of Commerce this month.

He's not taking credit for the improvement, but we all know we learn better when we experience.

Through the center, last year alone, close to 5,000 students got a glimpse of nature through the center.

Kunkle estimates between 35,000 and 40,000 have been served by programs since the center's inception.

Students from Palmerton, Northern Lehigh, Lehighton and Northampton come to the center for little or no charge, thanks to grants and sponsors.

When the center was started, Kunkle met with instructors to develop classes.

"We try to help the teachers either teach concepts that are difficult for them to do in the classroom or to reinforce concepts that are very important and on the tests the state students take. Our programs are always geared toward the state standards and the curriculum of the school that is attending," Kunkle said.

Retired teachers volunteer to lead the classes.

Where we're headed

The project began when visionaries gathered in 2002 to form a center on 750 acres, many of them on the New Jersey Zinc Superfund site. The building opened in 2010.

This is the only project of its kind in the country.

People come from as far as 100 miles to hike because they love the views. A native plant garden attracts winged creatures of all kinds.

Now, Kunkle is embarking on a five-year strategic plan.

Kunkle still faces environmental challenges from ground on the Superfund site, which is tested on a five-year cycle by the Environmental Protection Agency. The natural birch trees that are springing up are conductors for the metals in the ground. Birds and insects could eat from the trees and spread them.

Twelve species of grass have been planted. The names are not as important as the result. The grasses decompose and form a layer of debris over the metal-filled ground. How much is enough?

No one is sure, Kunkle said. As the only one in the country, the site is experimental. He does know that it takes 50 years to make an inch of topsoil.

One answer is a prescribed burn, which is no small feat.

"We have to hire professionals, and we need to find funding for that," Kunkle said.

"If we can raise the funds to perform the burns, we would like to burn about 60 acres of year (in patches of about 12 acres spread across the refuge) and do this in a five-year rotation - about 300 acres total."

Each burn costs about $80,000.

The area has caught the attention of many colleges and universities because of the work being done there.

It will continue to do so as the conservation group tries to fix the problem and enhance the beauty.

Kunkle, who retired from his teaching job to pursue the center full time, quotes Lou Gehrig's famous speech, saying he is indeed the "luckiest man on the face of the earth."

Like Gehrig's legacy, Kunkle says, "The idea was to get the place going and to do it so it outlasts all of us."

For information, visit http://lgnc.org/