What a Wonderful Winter to be Green
by Dennis Burton, Executive Director
If you couldn’t make it to The Schuylkill Center this winter, you missed a lot. Fortunately we have the Quill to keep you apprised and hopefully entice you to visit more often to enjoy the programs, events and happenings at 8480 Hagy’s Mill Road.
Our four departments: Environmental Education, Ecological Restoration, Wildlife Rehabilitation, and Environmental Art, continue the mission of preserving and improving our natural environment with panache, and if you think that’s an odd word for an environmental education center then you missed Governor Rendell releasing a Red-tailed Hawk as part of the Wildlife Clinic’s mission of preserving and improving natural habitat. Be sure to read all about it in this issue. And I add as a personal note that, having greeted the Governor when he arrived, His Honor was a hawkman extraordinaire, not knowing what to expect from a bound and hooded bird of prey about to be unbound in his hands. However, as the photos and story attest, the master of the sky and the master of the state both performed beautifully.
Two other wildlife events attracted a bevy of interest: The Winter Bird count and the Great Backyard Bird Count, both programs of Audubon and Cornell to monitor the populations and health of our winter birds. We will have the results posted on the website soon.
The Restoration Department has convened an Ecology Committee, to evaluate its nine years of ecological restoration. This will begin with a baseline survey of existing ecological conditions and restoration to date, to create an Integrated Restoration Management Plan that includes all Schuylkill Center departments. The plan will draw on existing studies to create a suitable model for The Center. The approach will be unique in that rather than the traditional approach to eco-restoration of clearing and planting, we’ll do it the way nature does it, in geological time. Rather than overplanting vegetation into a project, we’ll focus on stabilization of the least degraded areas, protecting them from invasives, and doing soil upgrades. Plant reintroduction will be primarily by seeding with local seeds. Stay tuned for updates.
The Environmental Art Department continues to give us alternative views of preserving and improving our natural environment. If you missed “Ghosts and Shadows,” the haunting exhibition at Brolo Hill Farm on the corner of Hagys Mill Road and Port Royal Avenue, you still have until April 12th to see “Ephemerality,” the gallery exhibit that reflects the on-the-grounds site-specific work, artwork that you can’t take with you. For an review see: Philadelphia City Paper. In addition, you certainly will not want to miss the opening of the Gimme Shelter exhibit on May 9th (see details this issue).
We look forward to seeing you this spring as we continue to demonstrate that we’re more than just a walk in the woods.
