FIELD TRIPS • Wednesday, March 16
Wednesday of the conference week is devoted to field trips — learning experiences integrated into the scope and theme of the conference. Thanks to hard work by a team of organizers in the Park Service’s Northeast Regional Office, we have an outstanding variety of trips to offer you. The links below will take you down the page to detailed descriptions of each trip.
SPECIAL EVENTS
In addition to these special events associated directly with the conference, we want to call your attention to an outstanding event that is going on in Philly during GWS2005. The Academy of Natural Sciences — a 200+-year-old institution that served as the repository for many of the original artifacts of the Lewis & Clark expedition — is hosting the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Exhibition from November 6, 2004 through March 20, 2005. That means that GWS2005 conference week is also the last week of the exhibition. A perfect time to go visit the exhibition would be during the Academy’s Wednesday-night “Cocktails with Lewis & Clark” event. The museum is staying open until 9 pm on Wednesday nights, and for $12 you get a ticket to the exhibition and light hors d’oeuvres (cash bar available). More info at http://www.acnatsci.org/lewisclark/cocktails.html.
FIELD TRIP DESCRIPTIONS
Cooperating to Conserve the Great Natural Features of New Jersey’s Delaware Bayshore
Depart Hotel 7:30 AM; Return to Hotel 6:30 PM. Box lunch included. Cost: $48.
Nestled between the Jersey Pines and the waters of the Delaware Bay is a land out of place and time. Called the Bayshore by its residents, it is one of the last, great wild places on the Atlantic Seaboard, celebrated for its natural heritage; distinguished by an array of natural spectacles that rival the best the planet has to offer. Snow geese, thousands of purple martins, one of the greatest concentrations of bald eagles on the Atlantic Seaboard and massed monarch butterfly migrations are some of the outstanding sights.
Protecting this treasure are an assortment of private for profit companies, non-profits, conservation organizations and local, state and federal government agencies. Learn about this unique resource and how these partner organizations are working together to protect it.
Itinerary:
7:30 a.m. The bus departs the Loews Hotel in Philadelphia. View “Down Jersey” video en route and discuss the day’s itinerary with the trip guides.
8:45 a.m. Arrive Fort Mott State Park, Salem County. Meet in Welcome Center that serves the park and the NJ Coastal Heritage Trail Route as the Delsea Region Welcome Center.
The Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) is a power and energy development company serving a large portion of New Jersey. PSEG’s Estuary Enhancement Program is the largest privately funded wetlands restoration program of its kind in the country. The EEP is a comprehensive program designed to promote aquatic productivity through a combination of innovative environmental improvement initiatives. One aspect of the EEP is a large-scale wetland restoration program. Through the EEP, more than 20,000 acres (32 square miles) of degraded salt marsh and uplands along the Delaware Estuary in both New Jersey and Delaware are being restored, enhanced and/or preserved. PSEG is restoring these degraded wetlands to their natural condition, i.e., tidal salt marsh, to provide expanded spawning/nursery habitat and food sources needed by fish and other aquatic life. This, in turn, will promote increased aquatic resources production and biodiversity in the estuary.
9:30 a.m. Depart Fort Mott for EEP sites in Elsinboro Township, Salem County.
10:15 a.m. Depart Elsinboro for Bayside Tract (EEP) via Stow Creek Viewing Area (NJ Div. Fish and Wildlife) and Stow Creek State Park (NJ Division of Parks and Forestry.)
10:45 a.m. Arrive Bayside Tract (EEP).
11:10 a.m. Depart Bayside Tract for Port Norris via Greenwich. Travel through communities of Bridgeton, Fairton, Cedarville, and Dividing Creek.
12:00 noon Arrive Port Norris for box lunch (carried on bus from Philly) at Bayshore Discovery Project, home of New Jersey’s Tall Ship, the A. J. Meerwald oyster schooner. (Back-up location possibilities are Commercial Township Municipal Hall or Haskin Shellfish Laboratory.)
1:30 p.m. Depart Port Norris for NJ Audubon’s Center for Research & Education, Cape May Court House. Pass over Maurice National Wild & Scenic River and listen to a talk about this unique resource.
The Maurice River and its tributaries drain the southwest portion of the Pinelands National Reserve, providing a critical link between the reserve and the Delaware Estuary. The Pinelands Commission considers the entire Manumuskin watershed an ecologically critical area, with the vast, unspoiled Kirkwood-Cohansey aquifer underlying most of the region. State and local governments and conservation organizations own significant acreage for preservation purposes. The rivers and associated wetlands serve as nurseries for ocean-going wildlife, offering food and habitat for resident and migrating species, many of which are considered endangered. Each year, huge flocks of birds alight within the watershed to enjoy the area’s natural bounty. As part of the Atlantic flyway, its clean waters and related habitats are vitally important to the migration of shorebirds, songbirds, waterfowl, raptors, rails and fish. The river supports New Jersey’s largest stand of wild rice and 53 percent of the animal species that the state has recognized as endangered, excluding marine mammals. Learn about the cooperative program with The Nature Conservancy, the Natural Lands Trust, the State of New Jersey, and the NJ Audubon Society to protect this unique area. Hear about the osprey habitat improvement program and the nighttime migration songbird study. The 35.4 miles of the Maurice River system (which includes Menanatico and Muskee Creeks and the Manumuskin River) travels through five municipalities and two counties in southern New Jersey on its way to the Delaware Bay. The Maurice River corridor is an unusually pristine coastal river with national and internationally important resources.
2:15 p.m. Arrive NJ Audubon’s Center for Research & Education.
4:00 p.m. Depart Center for Research & Education for Philadelphia.
5:00 p.m. Depart East Point Lighthouse for return to Philly via Routes 47 and 55.
6:30 p.m. Arrive back at hotel.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area
Depart Hotel at 8:00 am; arrive back at hotel 6:00 pm. Lunch at Shawnee Inn included. Cost: $46.
Bring foul weather gear (boots, parkas, gloves, hats, etc.) and binoculars.
Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area is a 70,000-acre park area interconnected to several other state and local conservation sites in rural Pennsylvania and New Jersey. This relatively large, eastern riparian ecosystem is a remnant vestige of natural resources and cultural heritage in the ever-expanding northeastern U.S. corridor (within a 6-hour driving radius of 40 million people).
The mission of DEWA is to provide outdoor recreation opportunities while conserving the natural, cultural and scenic resources of the recreation area (and the surrounding Delaware River Valley region). In so doing, the park staff works cooperatively with surrounding states, communities, and the public to achieve the conservation goals of the Delaware River region. This field trip will help show specific examples of natural and cultural resource management with this mission in mind.
Itinerary:
The bus trip to DEWA will leave the hotel parking area at 8:00 am. The trip takes approximately 2.5 hours. During this time, representatives from DEWA, the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, and the Delaware River Basin Commission will speak to the group and utilize video graphics to depict specific conservation strategies and methods. Discussions will range from natural resource management issues to planning and partnership between the NPS and its many partners along the river.
The first stop on the tour will take place along the Delaware River highlands (parking area) and participants will get off the bus and view the first pair of wildland-nesting peregrine falcons in Pennsylvania in almost 50 years. A DEWA biologist will lead that tour and discussion.
The next stop on the tour will be for lunch at the Shawnee Inn along the Delaware. During lunch, the group will receive a presentation on one of the following: threatened and endangered species issues and management, river water volume and ecological time and distribution issues, or archeological resource management.
After lunch, the group will re-board the bus and head north to the Dingman’s Falls Visitor Center area. This area contains several scenic waterfalls as you walk through a hemlock forest and ravine. The park’s ecologist will address hemlock forest management issues including the hemlock woolly adelgid pest.
The group will then re-board the bus and head back to Philadelphia.
POSTED 2/23/05: This tour has been cancelled.
Independence National Historical Park: The Rewards and Challenges of an Urban Park
Depart hotel: 8:30 am (for arrival at park visitor center at 9:00); return to hotel varies. See below for details. Cost: free, but reservations are necessary; sign up via the on-line conference registration form. Lunch and transport to the park are on your own.
Since its establishment in 1948, Independence National Historical Park and the neighborhood surrounding it have grown from a densely-built amalgam of light industrial, wholesale, and working-class residential multi-family buildings into a prime tourist destination surrounded by expensive homes and upscale service businesses. Many of the methods used today in various historic preservation disciplines were developed at Independence. The park is now one of five contiguous historic districts and includes a World Heritage site, six national historic landmarks, significant landscapes and modern architecture, as well as important museum collections. Spend a day with park cultural resources management staff and discuss some of their challenges and successes. The tour will include rest stops in comfortable locations on the edges of the park where the group can continue discussions over coffee and tea.
Itinerary:
There is no charge for this tour. Participants are expected to provide own transportation or walk to the park and to pay for all food. Tours will take place rain or shine; please dress accordingly. Groups will have lunch in the food court of the Bourse, a successful adaptively reused historic property. Vendors can accommodate all dietary needs.
9 a.m. Meet on site, Independence Visitor Center, Sixth and Market Streets (five blocks from the hotel) for welcome and group orientation.
10 a.m. Break into groups of 15 for the following tours. Specify which tour you wish to take. Reservations will be on a first-come-first served basis; sign up on the conference registration form. In some cases where noted, there will be two groups per discipline.
Amish and Mennonite Cultural Landscapes of Lancaster County
Depart Hotel: 8:00 am. Arrive back at hotel: 5:00 pm. Lunch at an Amish Farm included. Cost: $46.
Websites:
Lancaster County is synonymous with Amish to many people and few understand the relationship of the Amish to their Anabaptist brothers and sisters, the Mennonites who also share the county’s rich agricultural heritage. The landscape is characterized by relatively small extended-family farms regularly situated on the rich limestone soils of the Lancaster plain. In the more conservative groups, both farm machinery and transportation are pulled by horses and mules. The degree of acceptance and use of modern conveniences such as electricity, phones, and motorized transportation is controlled by the church bishops. Both the Amish and Old Order Mennonites have traditionally been associated with agriculture. Lancaster County’s farmland and the “Old Order” or “Plain” culture is the primary reason that 7 million tourists spend $1.3 billion in the county each year. Yet, it is the desire of the Amish to live an existence separate from the “English.” The Amish and Mennonites since their move into Lancaster County in the early 18th century have created a distinctive cultural landscape that many consider highly significant. However, that landscape is increasingly endangered by suburban sprawl, out-migration of Old Order families for access to larger farms and less contact with the outside world, and shifts in the economic and social forces in the county.
This field trip will provide a narrated overview of the elements of the Amish and Mennonite Cultural Landscape in Lancaster County during the bus tour on the back roads of the county between New Holland and Lancaster and an opportunity to hear from representatives of some of the agencies and organizations involved in preservation and conservation of the county’s resources. These include the Lancaster County Planning Commission, the Lancaster County Farmland Preservation Trust, and the National Committee for Amish Religious Freedom. The field trip will include opportunities to visit one or two businesses owned and operated by Amish and Old Order Mennonites, visit an Amish farm that is under a preservation easement, have lunch at an Amish Farm, and to hear noted scholar and extensively published author on the Amish and Old Order Mennonites, Dr. Donald Kraybill of Elizabethtown College, speak on the Amish and Mennonite Communities of Lancaster County. The bus will depart Lancaster County at 3:30 PM for the 1.5 hour trip to Philadelphia.
New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve
Depart hotel: 8:00 am. Arrive back at hotel: 5:00 pm. Box lunch included. Cost: $44.
With over 1.1 million acres, the New Jersey Pinelands, designated a National Reserve by Congress in 1978, is the largest body of contiguous open space on the Mid-Atlantic coast and comprises 22% of New Jersey’s land area. Low, dense forests of pine and oak, ribbons of cedar and hardwood swamps, pitch pine lowlands, and bogs and marshes combine to produce an expansive vegetative mosaic unsurpassed in the Northeast. The Pinelands contains over 12,000 acres of “pygmy forest,” a unique stand of dwarf, but mature, pine and oak less than 11 feet tall. The region is underlain by the Kirkwood/Cohansey formation containing an estimated 17 trillion gallons of some of the purest water in the nation. The Pinelands was designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1983.
Here can be found 850 species of plants and over 350 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians, including rare plants and animals such as the curly grass fern, broom crowberry, timber rattlesnake, and the Pine Barrens tree frog. The region contains unusual range overlaps where species of 109 southern plants and 14 northern plants reach their respective geographic limits. Development of the unique flora and fauna of the Pinelands is also closely related to the occurrence of fire.
The Pinelands is one of the most heavily regulated landscapes in the United States where future growth is determined by a comprehensive management plan, originally approved by the Secretary of the Interior in 1981. Ecological and economic monitoring programs have been ongoing in the region since 1994. The Pinelands is the proud home of the legendary “Jersey Devil,” who may or may not make an appearance during the tour.
Itinerary:
The bus trip to the Pinelands takes one hour, and the tour will start at the Pinelands Commission’s headquarters in New Lisbon, NJ.
National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom
Depart hotel: 8:30 am. Arrive back at hotel: 5:00 pm. Box lunch included. Cost: $44.
The National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom was created in 1998 and authorizes the National Park Service to develop and administer the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program or the Network, a nationwide collection of governmental and nongovernmental properties, facilities, and programs associated with the history of the Underground Railroad (UGRR). (www.cr.nps.gov/ugrr)
Here in the Northeast, the Network promotes preservation and commemoration and provides an opportunity to tell the story of enslaved Africans and African Americans who worked to secure their freedom. Stories of resistance to enslavement, abolitionist assistance and fugitive slave cases are also told at historic sites throughout the country.
This tour includes visits to sites in the Network and those eligible for inclusion. Participants will not only learn of the history but also efforts to further research the Underground Railroad, preserve the historic structures and educate the public.
9:30am Arrive at Friends Meeting House, Wilmington, DE
Built in 1815 in the Quaker Hill neighborhood. Thomas Garrett, who lived nearby, assisted over 2700 freedom seekers on their journey. He worshipped here and is buried in the cemetery. This building provided opportunity and forum for those interested members to assist freedom seekers on their journey through Delaware to freedom. One of those members was Isaac Flint. He purchased the freedom of UGRR assistant and free African American, Samuel D. Burris, when he was sentenced to servitude for assisting a freedom seeker in Kent County. Other members included Daniel Gibbons, Benjamin Webb, Edward Webb and William Webb.
10:30am Depart Meeting House
Ride by Tubman Garrett Riverfront Park, Wilmington, DE
This park is located along the Christina River at Market Street. It is a formal city park dedicated to the memory of two of the many heroes of the UGRR: Harriett Tubman and Thomas Garrett. Tubman gained her own freedom by escaping slavery in Maryland and then served as a conductor on the UGRR, operating in DE and the eastern shore of MD. The Christina River served as both a highway and barrier for freedom seekers as they reached Wilmington, the last stop on the UGRR in DE.
Ride by The Rocks – Fort Christina State Park, Wilmington, DE
This is a natural rock outcropping along the Christina River. It served as a landing point and dock and is mentioned in a letter from Thomas Garrett to William Still as a place where Captain Alfred Fountain landed fugitives from slavery. Captain Fountain spent years in maritime trading along the mid-Atlantic coast. From the ports of Norfolk, Richmond, and Petersburg, he brought fugitives north to freedom in collaboration with Thomas Garrett and William Still.
11:15am Arrive at New Castle Courthouse, New Castle, DE
Built in 1732 with additions and modifications throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, one of the oldest surviving courthouses in the United States, and a registered National Historic Landmark Site. The courthouse also served as Delaware’s first capitol. Significant trials and events took place at the courthouse including the escape of the runaway enslaved Hawkins family aided by abolitionist and UGRR stationmaster Thomas Garrett. Here Garrett and fellow UGRR stationmaster, John Hunn, were tried and convicted in Federal court for violation of the Fugitive Slave Acts of 1793. Featured are the New Castle Courthouse museum, tours, exhibits and educational programs on UGRR and abolitionists, period furniture, artifacts, documents, architecture and archaeology.
12:15pm Bus Departs to Philadelphia
Box Lunch
1:00pm Arrive at the Johnson House, Philadelphia, PA
The Johnson House was the home of several generations of the Johnson Family, ardent abolitionists whose Quaker beliefs led them to open their home to enslaved persons seeking freedom. Family accounts recall the night time appearance of runaways who were secreted in the house and than “spirited away” before morning. The house is located in the historic Germantown section of Philadelphia, an antislavery stronghold where in 1688 colonial America’s first formal anti-slavery protest was held. Johnson Family members were founders, leaders and members of many organizations dedicated to abolition and the welfare of freed blacks.
1:45pm Bus Departs to Independence NHP
2:15pm Arrive at Independence National Historical Park, Philadelphia, PA
The Quest for Freedom: The UGRR in Philadelphia, A Walking Tour
This one mile walking tour explores the history of enslaved and free Africans in Philadelphia beginning with the origins of the UGRR through the enlistment and service of the United States Colored Troops. Independence Square, Independence Hall, Congress Hall and Old City Hall are the four significant sites within Independence NHP that are associated with the UGRR. The Square was the gathering place for abolition activities. At Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence, promising freedom, was adopted, the U.S. Constitution with its three-fifths rule and 20-year postponement of slavery discussion was drafted and the US District Court trials concerning the Christina Riots and other fugitive cases were held. In Congress Hall, the US Congress passed the 1793 Fugitive Slave Act and heard anti-slavery petitions. In Old City Hall, two mayors publicly demonstrated their support of the anti-slavery movement.
Also included in this tour is a visit to Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. This land was purchased by Richard Allen in 1791. Allen was a champion of the anti-slavery cause and became a spokesman for African Americans on both local and national issues. Bethel Church hosted the first national convention of African Americans in 1830. It was a forum for many of the nation’s great orators. The church also houses the Richard Allen museum. This museum features exhibits on the early history of the church, including Allen’s first pulpit and pews from the first church building, educational efforts by the members, support and service by the women of Bethel, and social actions by the members. Allen and his wife are both entombed on the lower level.
4:45pm Board buses to return back to the hotel.
Schuylkill River National Heritage Area and Valley Forge National Historical Park: Integrated Planning Benefits Both Natural and Cultural Resources
Depart hotel: 8:30 am. Arrive back at hotel: 5:30 pm. Box lunch included. Cost: $40.
In the past three years, both Valley Forge National Historical Park and the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area have embarked on master planning efforts for both areas. We have participated in each others formal planning as well as growing a network of partners to enhance preservation / conservation efforts for both natural and cultural resources along the corridor and adjacent communities. Coupled with these two efforts, the park is working with a congressionally legislated partner to build the American Revolution Center which will house collections from multiple organizations. New ground is being covered in a number of areas including actively managing for natural as well as cultural resource values in a national historical park, developing and managing a museum that will serve as the virtual trailhead to the park and the 90-mile-long heritage corridor. Participants will view pilot projects for both natural and cultural resource preservation.
Estimated length: 8 hours. Leave Philadelphia at 8:30 am for trip out to park. Arrive at park for orientation with NPS, heritage area, and partners to overall integrated planning and implementation. Continental breakfast will be offered. Key presenters will be park management, partner lead, and executive director of heritage area.
Mid-morning to lunch: Tour park and view project on Valley Creek watershed restoration and historic structure preservation. Valley Creek is classified by the state of Pennsylvania as an “Exceptional Value Stream.” Presenters: VAFO Natural Resource Specialist, Trout Unlimited representative, VAFO Historical Architect.
Lunch at late 19th-century gentleman’s estate on park property.
Afternoon: Session on Schuylkill River addressing planning issues related to natural and cultural resource preservation and visitor use. Valley Forge NHP has been designated a trail network hub by state of Pennsylvania. Schuylkill Heritage Area is key organization furthering water trail and multi use trail through the park and beyond. Presenters: Chief of Planning, VAFO and Deputy Director of heritage area.
Leave for Philadelphia by 4:00 pm after last stop for afternoon refreshments at the Welcome Center with new exhibits, including one of the Gateway Centers of the heritage area which has been installed within the NPS facility.
Protecting Our Watersheds: White Clay Creek Wild and Scenic River, Pennsylvania / Delaware
Depart hotel: 8:30 am. Arrive back at hotel: 5:30 pm. Box lunch included. Cost: $44.
The White Clay Creek watershed is truly an exceptional resource in the Pennsylvania and Delaware bi-state region. The White Clay Creek is renowned for its scenery, opportunities for birding and trout fishing, and for its historic features. The White Clay Creek watershed is approximately 100 square miles in area and is a headwater tributary to the Christina River; as such more than half of the watershed is made up of first-order streams. The geology of the watershed makes it an important source of drinking water for residents in both Pennsylvania and Delaware. The proximity of the Philadelphia and Wilmington metropolitan area, however, is having an impact on the watershed. By the early 1990s there were more findings of pollution, fewer migrating birds, and receding forests. Along with these impacts plans were in the works for construction of a dam and water supply reservoir on the main stem. Local citizens became alarmed and in 1991, they petitioned Congress to study the White Clay Creek for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System. Congress agreed and authorized the National Park Service to conduct the study, which began in earnest in 1993. The study of White Clay Creek was the first time that an entire watershed was considered for inclusion in the National Wild and Scenic River System. The study along with a watershed management plan was completed in 1998. One hundred and ninety miles of the White Clay Creek along with its tributaries were designated into the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System in October 2000. The river is managed by state, county, local governments, non-profit organizations, residents, and private landowners, along with the National Park Service.
Itinerary:
The bus trip to the White Clay Creek watershed takes approximately 1.5 hours. The tour will start at Delaware Park, Newark, Delaware, a stream restoration project.
