Wildlands Conservancy Sell's Out

In today's Morning Call*, Abigail Pattishall, praises the park plans at Cedar Park; apparently she didn't drive by Cedar Beach last evening. Pattishall's praise was earned by the Park Department agreeing to plant riparian buffers along the creek west of Ott Street. Riparian buffers are shrubs left to grow along the creek banks. They reduce the amount of fertilizers and pesticides which can enter a stream; never mind that the park land is not farmed, nor are chemicals applied. The zones also help reduce flooding. The Conservancy, in exchange for this gesture, has ignored the consequences of all the remaining plans. The new plans increase the amount of impervious surface in the flood plain dramatically. How much surface will be covered by the new Destination Playground and it's required parking? How much surface will be covered by the new pavilions, walkways and lighted paths?

Had Ms. Pattishall drove by Cedar Beach last evening she would have seen hundreds and hundreds of cars parked on all the grassland between the creek and Hamilton Street. (Basketball Tournament). The compaction of the soil that occurred last evening will negate any benefit against flooding provided by a riparian buffer. I can accept the riparian buffer zone project. I cannot accept groups, which should know better, condoning intrusions on the park system, just because their pet project is accommodated.

* http://www.mcall.com/news/opinion/anotherview/all-pullqt.6953702jul09,0,6487124.story

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

reprinted from August of 2013

A New Tree For Cedar Park

The storm last year was devastating to the old willows of Cedar Park. To the members of our group, the weeping willows symbolize the finest aspects of our park system. This year the park was dug up while the Lehigh County Authority laid a new water main from Cedar Crest Blvd. to across Ott Street. The pipe then turned north, was dug under the creek, and up Ott Street under a new sidewalk. As noted in the post below by the Sierra Club, if Mayor Pawlowski has his way, the stream banks may soon be controlled by a private company with no ties to Allentown. Before that happens, our group will plant a symbolic willow tree along the banks of Cedar Creek. Although there is some debate on the appropriateness of riparian buffers in our park systems, it is agreed by all that the current No Mow Zones are not riparian buffers, but actually just No Maintenance Zones. Under the guidance of a riparian consultant, 20 feet of creek bank will be cleared to host the new willow.

Allentown Parks, An Environmental PlayStation

Over the past five years, older visitors to city parks have noticed that the lawns and meadows adjoining the streams have been allowed to grow wild. While we, who appreciate the view and access to the creeks, see this new model as unkempt, our young politically correct speak of riparian buffers and grow zones. The riparian theory is that the undergrowth keeps the nitrogen runoff from the surrounding neighborhoods from reaching the streams; it soaks it up. In reality, Allentown's storm runoff system is  piped directly into the streams, bypassing the buffers, which are then for naught. This charade continues to downgrade our traditional park system because of money. The Wildland's Conservancy get grants and ignore the pipes, and plants the nonsense. It's easier for the Conservancy to prevail upon the Park Department, than persuade farmers and private land owners beyond the parks, where the effort might really do something. These grants not only pay for the plants, more importantly, they play for the hypocrites' salaries. They are also funded by large corporations, which can feel better about their real pollution. The Allentown Park System has become a feel good, environmental playstation. The Conservancy's new grant is to remove dams in Allentown Parks. This practice, in theory, improves water quality. Just as the storm runoff pipes make the riparian buffers useless, the sewer pipe along the Little Lehigh makes the dam removal just another token project. When I pointed out the overflowing sewage pipe, they switched gears, and now speak of allowing fish to swim upstream. Our wonderful park system even takes care of that issue with the magnificent trout hatchery, on Fish Hatchery Road. Please help me protect and preserve the small iconic dam by the Parkway's Robin Hood Bridge. Let the grant hunters ply their hypocrisy elsewhere. Protect our traditional park system.

shown above are the pipes which release rain water directly into the Cedar Creek, next to the Rose Garden Ponds.

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

above originally posted in 2013

ADDENDUM JULY 1, 2022: When the above post was first written, Pawlowski's recreation trained park directors farmed many actual park decisions out to the Wildlands.  Although their influence has waned somewhat in recent years, these faux buffers remain a negative legacy. The buffers are faux because Allentown's storm system is piped directly into the streams, under the buffer weed wall. Those weed walls in turn have become hotbeds of invasive species, such as Poison Hemlock.  Now, as the downside of those invasives has become obvious, the department is cutting the grass back toward the streams, but still leaving the creek edge overgrown, hiding view and blocking access.  To further complicate the situation, in the last several years all new tree plantings were done away from the creek, at the outer edge of the then wide buffer...The end result is now cutting the grass is more difficult, with all the new trees in the path of the mowers.

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 19, 2024: In recent years the park department has only cut down the faux fake excuse buffers only once or twice a season. Those cutting were necessary, so that the invasives would not take deep root. This year the invasives, in most places, were not cut at all!

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

above originally posted in 2013

ADDENDUM JULY 1, 2022: When the above post was first written, Pawlowski's recreation trained park directors farmed many actual park decisions out to the Wildlands.  Although their influence has waned somewhat in recent years, these faux buffers remain a negative legacy. The buffers are faux because Allentown's storm system is piped directly into the streams, under the buffer weed wall. Those weed walls in turn have become hotbeds of invasive species, such as Poison Hemlock.  Now, as the downside of those invasives has become obvious, the department is cutting the grass back toward the streams, but still leaving the creek edge overgrown, hiding view and blocking access.  To further complicate the situation, in the last several years all new tree plantings were done away from the creek, at the outer edge of the then wide buffer...The end result is now cutting the grass is more difficult, with all the new trees in the path of the mowers.

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

reprinted from August of 2013

ADDENDUM: I have lobbied the park department to leave the creek accessible in a couple small areas in Cedar Park.

Allentown's Park Dilemma

Last night, I had an opportunity to listen to some environmentalists express their wish list for our park system. I noticed an irony that they would never acknowledge. Although they support, in lockstep unison voice, riparian zones, they are equally concerned about invasive species. Seems as if these riparian, no mowed zones, are ripe for the proliferation of invasives. The control and removal of the invasives requires much more manpower than just cutting the grass; much more manpower than the park department and/or volunteers could ever realistically expend. I have heard, through numerous sources, that even the riparian zones that were supposedly expertly planted,  by the Wildland Conservancy, had no follow up maintenance. Invasives had to be controlled by mowing in the fall. In other words, these are taxpayer, grant funded science experiments, which compromise both the view and access to the streams, for no real purpose other than making the ecology types feel better about themselves. Perhaps, the classic park designers of yesteryear, actually knew more about sustainability than our green friends realize.

This classic postcard, circa 1945, shows Lehigh Parkway's east entrance, with the Boat Landing. In 2009, with help from friends, I uncovered the previously buried Landing. Support our historical park system.

The Perfect Storm

In August of 1955, the Lehigh Valley got hit with Hurricane Diane, one of the most powerful to ever hit the area. The flood stage reached by the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers has never been seen before or since. 

The Allentown Parks weathered the storm fairly well. Unfortunately now, fifty four years later, our beloved parks are about to be destroyed by the perfect storm. In 2005, for the first time ever, we elected an outsider for Mayor. In 2007 he hired an outsider for Park and Recreation Director. This gentleman, well qualified in recreation, has no background in parks. In 2002, because the Afflerbach Administration was misusing Trexler Trust funds for operational expenses, those funds were frozen by Court Order and accumulated. In 2005 The Trexler Trust paid for a study of appropriate park projects, done by an outside firm from Philadelphia, for future guidance on how its funds might be used; also during this year certain members of the Trexler Trust became involved in the effort to elect Pawlowski. By 2008 the Perfect Storm had formed to assault the historic view of our Park System; an outside park director, an outside mayor, a huge amount of money and a politically supportive Trexler Trust. The plans for Cedar Creek Park offend almost everybody who grew up in Allentown; most of us didn't learn of them until recently, long after they had been funded by City Council. They include a Destination Playground above Cedar Beach Pool and a Wedding Pavilion in the Rose Garden. Ironically, the Philadelphia Study, known now as the Master Plan, calls for less use in Cedar Park. 

The WildLands Conservancy will plant a Riparian Buffer Zone throughout the Park System. As these bushes grow higher, except for a few places, park goers will not be able to see or approach the creeks. As the Riparian Buffers grow wider, more recreational venues are planned in the remaining green spaces; including skateparks, additional parking lots, additional picnic pavilions and restrooms. The Conservancy refers to seeing the creek as the old fashioned English and French Park values. What the Conservancy fails to understand is that our parks are not wildlands, they are parks. What the mayor and park director fail to understand is that thousands of Allentownians treasure our old fashion park values. Although much of these projects will be funded by the Trexler Trust and other grants, the maintenance costs will be borne by the Allentown taxpayers. I and other old fashion types will continue in our attempt to defend our parks. 

Addendum: Of the $3.8 million dollars Mr. Weitzel was allocated to remodel our park system, $482,000.00 may be spent on professional services and consultation.

above reprinted from August 2009

UPDATE AUGUST 23, 2021: Twelve years later, and I'm still fighting for our former traditional park system. The Wildlands Conservancy and their riparian buffers have denied Allentonians view and access to the creeks for over a decade now.  Ironically, because the storm sewer system is piped under the buffers, directly into the creeks, the buffers serve no positive benefit. On the contrary, they become overgrown with invasive species. In compliance with a EPA recommendation to mitigate invasives,  the buffer was recently temporarily cut back in sections of Cedar Park near the Rose Garden. I continue to lobby the park department to groom the park as originally designed.

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

reprinted from August of 2013

ADDENDUM: I have lobbied the park department to leave the creek accessible in a couple small areas in Cedar Park.

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

reprinted from August of 2013

ADDENDUM: In addition to Molovinsky On Allentown, I also publish Rainy Morning Chronicle, a digest for conservative Independents.

The Fountain Of My Youth

Just west of the Robin Hood Bridge is a fountain which quenched the thirst of my summer days. Built during the WPA era, it overlooked the creek. Although the water was turned off years ago, so now is the view. The weeds and assorted invasives growing are not a riparian buffer. Science says that a buffer has to be 25feet wide to be of any value. A reader described this thin strip of wild growth as neglect, masquerading as conservation. All it does is block both the view and access to the waterway. It denies our current citizens the beauty and experience for which the parks were designed. Although the Wildland's Conservancy would like you to believe that the Allentown Parks are there to be wildlands, in reality they were designed by landscape architects, to provide the citizens of Allentown with what Harry Trexler called serenity. He did also appreciate conservation, but for that he created the Trexler Game Preserve, north of Allentown. There are places in the parks which can accommodate the riparian buffer zones, without compromising the intended public experience of waterway view and access. Riparians could be created and maintained in the western side of Lehigh Parkway, between the pedestrian bridge and Bogerts Bridge. In Cedar Park, the riparian section could be in western side, between the last walking bridge and Cedar Crest Blvd. It's time that the parks were given back to the citizens of Allentown. They are not funded, or intended by our tax dollars and the Trexler Trust,  just to be a venue for the Wildland's Conservancy to harvest grants.  Let a child again giggle by the creek's edge. Let us get back our intended park experience.

above originally posted in 2013

ADDENDUM JULY 1, 2022: When the above post was first written, Pawlowski's recreation trained park directors farmed many actual park decisions out to the Wildlands.  Although their influence has waned somewhat in recent years, these faux buffers remain a negative legacy. The buffers are faux because Allentown's storm system is piped directly into the streams, under the buffer weed wall. Those weed walls in turn have become hotbeds of invasive species, such as Poison Hemlock.  Now, as the downside of those invasives has become obvious, the department is cutting the grass back toward the streams, but still leaving the creek edge overgrown, hiding view and blocking access.  To further complicate the situation, in the last several years all new tree plantings were done away from the creek, at the outer edge of the then wide buffer...The end result is now cutting the grass is more difficult, with all the new trees in the path of the mowers.

ADDENDUM DECEMBER 19, 2024: In recent years the park department has only cut down the faux fake excuse buffers only once or twice a season. Those cutting were necessary, so that the invasives would not take deep root. This year the invasives, in most places, were not cut at all! 

ADDENDUM JULY 8, 2025: I'm pleased to report that another suggestion of mine has filtered down to the ground crew. The weed wall in front of the fountain has been cut back, revealing the creek. The fountain remains inoperable, but that decision is beyond my pay grade. Unfortunately, the top of the wish list, the landings on the double stairwell, have yet to be repaired. That repair has been neglected for so long, that the landings are starting to sink down, making a former repaving job much more complicated.

Water Runoff In Allentown Parks

I have been wrestling with the Allentown Park System for over twenty years about the weed walls, aka Riparian Buffers.The bout started in Keck Park, early in the Pawlowski Regime, when he allowed the Wildlands Conservancy to install their first buffer. 

The back stories are that Pawlowski's first of several park directors all had the same background in recreation from Penn State, and asked the Wildlands for advise about park issues. The Wildlands back story is that they get to keep 15% of all government grants that they apply for, as an administrative fee. Riparian Buffers are supposed to filter the lawn fertilizer in water runoff from entering the streams. The ignored reality in the Allentown Parks is that the storm system is piped directly into the streams, under any  buffer planted. Across Cedar Creek behind the Rose Garden, a large concrete structure discharges the entire runoff from the Hamilton Park neighborhood, directly into the creek. Likewise, several pipes empty the West End directly into the creek. So, for twenty years, we park devotees have been enduring weed walls all summer, blocking view and access to the creeks. Worse, this summer the city allowed the Wildlands to plant over a hundred tree saplings out from the creek, to expand the width of the masquerade. This area will soon also not be mowed, because mowing between closely planted trees is very labor intensive.

The current park director is asking the city for additional funds to study water runoff. The free answer is in the above paragraph. I would be happy to recommend needed repairs to various WPA structures within our parks, providing some value for that money.

Shown above is the weed wall in Cedar Park during the summer. 

I'm not here to be polite or popular

Allentown Parks Can Kill Your Dog

Poison Hemlock has invaded the riparian buffers along the creeks in Allentown Parks.  These buffers are to accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy,  which essentially dictates all park policy, except recreation, in both Allentown and South Whitehall.  I suppose now the Wildlands can add pet killer to their dam buster credentials.

Allentown has been trying to control the problem by high rough cutting in spots where they see the hemlock.  The real solution is to go back to the way the parks were designed, without riparian buffers.

Frankly, I haven't had much success in curtailing the Wildlands Conservancy's influence in these park decisions. So far,  we lost two small historic dams, and the iconic Wehr's Dam is soon to go. We lost the view and access to the creeks in the park system, around which the parks were designed, by Harry Trexler's landscape architect. I have succeeded in creating a public record of these losses, and I will continue to speak out against how our parks are being compromised.

above reprinted from July of 2016

ADDENDUM JUNE 8, 2022: Park visitors may have noticed that the buffers have been cut down, except for a strip right along the creeks.  The cutting was done because the buffers were full of invasive species. Ironically, the remaining strips are almost exclusively Poison Hemlock, the worst of the invasives. More ironically, the park department has taken to planting the new trees on the outer edge of the buffer (instead of along the creeks), so now cutting the grass is so much more labor intensive. Thank the Wildlands Conservancy for this bastardization of the park system. The solution is to cut down the remaining strip, and start cutting the grass to the creek's edge, as prescribed by the park architect in the 1930's.  Furthermore, start planting willow trees along the creeks to combat erosion. 

Where's The Creek?

The young man seemed proud to be at the Old Fashioned Garden with his wife and child. I got the feeling that it was a rite of passage that he had enjoyed years earlier with his parents. He approached me with a quizzical look and asked Where's the creek? I assured him that it was still here, but hidden behind all that underbrush. When he asked me why they did that, I just shrugged my shoulders and walked away. I don't think he really wanted to hear a rant.

The Wildlands Conservancy had no resistance convincing the past two park directors to allow them to plant riparian buffers along the streams in the park system. Both directors were from out of town, trained in recreation at Penn State, and had no feeling or knowledge of the park's history and traditions. To add absurdity to the situation, the storm sewer systems in Allentown are piped directly into the streams, bypassing the buffers, making them useless to their stated purpose. To add further irony to the absurdity, the park department must now spray insecticide on the underbrush to control the invasive species. Worse than blocking access and view of the streams, the recent director endorsed the Conservancy demolishing two small historic dams, after being here only six weeks, and never actually having seen the dams himself.

Why do I dwell on water over the dam? The Wildlands Conservancy is now pitching the dam demolition and riparian buffer agenda to South Whitehall Township. If they get their way, the beautiful picnic vista overlooking Wehr's Dam will be replaced with a wall of weeds. I'm on a mission to make sure that beauty and history survive at Covered Bridge Park.

reprinted from September of 2014

ADDENDUM: June 14, 2018.  The park department now has a new director and the city a new mayor,  yet the influence of the Wildlands Conservancy continues, along with the weed walls blocking our view and access of the creeks.  Although Wehr's Dam was saved in South Whitehall by voter referendum,  the Wildlands Conservancy and the South Whitehall Commissioners still want to tear it down, and are conspiring with the state to have it condemned, to subvert the will of the voters.  The Morning Call has been cooperating with that effort by not reporting the story.

Where's The Creek?

The young man seemed proud to be at the Old Fashioned Garden with his wife and child. I got the feeling that it was a rite of passage that he had enjoyed years earlier with his parents. He approached me with a quizzical look and asked Where's the creek? I assured him that it was still here, but hidden behind all that underbrush. When he asked me why they did that, I just shrugged my shoulders and walked away. I don't think he really wanted to hear a rant.

The Wildlands Conservancy had no resistance convincing the past two park directors to stop cutting the creek banks and call it a riparian buffer. Both directors were from out of town, trained in recreation at Penn State, and had no feeling or knowledge of the park's history and traditions. To add absurdity to the situation, the storm sewer systems in Allentown are piped directly into the streams, bypassing the buffers, making them useless to their stated purpose. To add further irony to the absurdity, the park department must now spray insecticide on the underbrush to control the invasive species. Worse than blocking access and view of the streams, the recent director endorsed the Conservancy demolishing two small historic dams, after being here only six weeks, and never actually having seen the dams himself.

Why do I dwell on water over the dam? The Wildlands Conservancy is now pitching the dam demolition and riparian buffer agenda to South Whitehall Township. If they get their way, the beautiful picnic vista overlooking Wehr's Dam will be replaced with a wall of weeds. I'm on a mission to make sure that beauty and history survive at Covered Bridge Park. 

above reprinted from September 9, 2014

ADDENDUM JANUARY 6, 2025: While I did, with the help of others,  save Wehr's Dam, I have had no such success with the creek banks in the Allentown parks. On the contrary, this season yet another new park director didn't even do the once annual invasive species mow down. 

Although I am a long time known advocate for the WPA, I was denied a seat at the new Parknership table.  I did manage to place a letter to the Morning Call that appeared yesterday, and I will continue to speak out in defense of the traditional park system.

The Perfect Storm

In August of 1955, the Lehigh Valley got hit with Hurricane Diane, one of the most powerful to ever hit the area. The flood stage reached by the Lehigh and Delaware Rivers has never been seen before or since. The Allentown Parks weathered the storm fairly well. Unfortunately now, fifty four years later, our beloved parks are about to be destroyed by the perfect storm. In 2005, for the first time ever, we elected an outsider for Mayor. In 2007 he hired an outsider for Park and Recreation Director. This gentleman, well qualified in recreation, has no background in parks. In 2002, because the Afflerbach Administration was misusing Trexler Trust funds for operational expenses, those funds were frozen by Court Order and accumulated. In 2005 The Trexler Trust paid for a study of appropriate park projects, done by an outside firm from Philadelphia, for future guidance on how its funds might be used; also during this year certain members of the Trexler Trust became involved in the effort to elect Pawlowski. By 2008 the Perfect Storm had formed to assault the historic view of our Park System; an outside park director, an outside mayor, a huge amount of money and a politically supportive Trexler Trust.

The plans for Cedar Creek Park offend almost everybody who grew up in Allentown; most of us didn't learn of them until recently, long after they had been funded by City Council. They include a Destination Playground above Cedar Beach Pool and a Wedding Pavilion in the Rose Garden. Ironically, the Philadelphia Study, known now as the Master Plan, calls for less use in Cedar Park. The WildLands Conservancy will plant a Riparian Buffer Zone throughout the Park System. As these bushes grow higher, except for a few places, park goers will not be able to see or approach the creeks. As the Riparian Buffers grow wider, more recreational venues are planned in the remaining green spaces; including skateparks, additional parking lots, additional picnic pavilions and restrooms. The Conservancy refers to seeing the creek as the old fashioned English and French Park values. What the Conservancy fails to understand is that our parks are not wildlands, they are parks. What the mayor and park director fail to understand is that thousands of Allentownians treasure our old fashion park values. Although much of these projects will be funded by the Trexler Trust and other grants, the maintenance costs will be borne by the Allentown taxpayers. I and other old fashion types will continue in our attempt to defend our parks.

Addendum: Of the $3.8 million dollars Mr. Weitzel was allocated to remodel our park system, $482,000.00 may be spent on
professional services and consultation

Allentown Parks Can Kill Your Dog

Poison Hemlock has invaded the riparian buffers along the creeks in Allentown Parks.  These buffers are to accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy,  which essentially dictates all park policy, except recreation, in both Allentown and South Whitehall.  I suppose now the Wildlands can add pet killer to their dam buster credentials.

Allentown has been trying to control the problem by high rough cutting in spots where they see the hemlock.  The real solution is to go back to the way the parks were designed, without riparian buffers.

Frankly, I haven't had much success in curtailing the Wildlands Conservancy's influence in these park decisions. So far,  we lost two small historic dams, and the iconic Wehr's Dam is soon to go. We lost the view and access to the creeks in the park system, around which the parks were designed, by Harry Trexler's landscape architect. I have succeeded in creating a public record of these losses, and I will continue to speak out against how our parks are being compromised.

above reprinted from July of 2016

ADDENDUM JUNE 8, 2022: Park visitors may have noticed that the buffers have been cut down, except for a strip right along the creeks.  The cutting was done because the buffers were full of invasive species. Ironically, the remaining strips are almost exclusively Poison Hemlock, the worst of the invasives. More ironically, the park department has taken to planting the new trees on the outer edge of the buffer (instead of along the creeks), so now cutting the grass is so much more labor intensive. Thank the Wildlands Conservancy for this bastardization of the park system. The solution is to cut down the remaining strip, and start cutting the grass to the creek's edge, as prescribed by the park architect in the 1930's.  Furthermore, start planting willow trees along the creeks to combat erosion. 

ADDENDUM MAY 10, 2024:Cedar Park along the creek is once again infested with Poison Hemlock. It will always be that way until they start mowing the creek banks on a regular schedule. For the last five years or so, they control the Hemlock by cutting it down in late May, early June, just when the ducklings have hatched. I have no expectation that their schedule will change. Last season, not one duckling on the west side of the park survived. There were two families born on the Island in Muhlenberg Lake which fared better. If they would cut the creek banks along with the grass, the ducks would find safe places to nest. Instead, we have a stubborn park department, Poison Hemlock and ground up ducklings.

To Whom Do The Allentown Parks Belong

Recently the Allentown Park Director told me that she is being pressured to plant wider riparian buffers by the Conservancy/Greenlands, and to cut them down by me.  But, who are we?  I represent the park sentiments of thousands of Allentonians.  I know this from social media such as facebook,  where hundreds of people every week tell me to keep fighting for the parks.  I know this from visiting the parks, where dozens of people tell me to keep fighting.  But more importantly,  who is the Wildlands Conservancy and Greenways of Lehigh Valley? They are regional groups with paid professional directors who seek and award grants.  Although their counsel might be useful for a small township or municipality without its own park department,  why should they dictate policy in Allentown?  Allentown has its own iconic park system, and even its own grant benefactor, The Trexler Trust.

In Allentown the storm sewer system is piped directly into the creeks, bypassing the riparian buffers, making them useless as buffers anyway.  All they accomplish is to block both access and view of the streams.  The Allentown Park Department allowed the Greenway Project to plant a buffer on the Little Lehigh in Fountain Park,  while at the same time allowing the swimming pool there to succumb to neglect and permanent closure.  It is time for Mayor O'Connell and Allentown to reclaim direction of the Allentown Park System.

photocredit:molovinsky