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By KENNETH M. KLEMOW
Wednesday, January 25, 1995     Page: 10A

I was interested to read the article “Valley’s Hidden Masterpiece,” and the
accompanying editorial published on Jan. 9.
   
The area in Kirby Park, between the Susquehanna River and the river levee,
is indeed special and merits our attention.
    Unfortunately, I think that the article misrepresented the true nature of
the park as it now exists. Moreover, the recommended course of action for the
park was rather vague. An approach to “restoration” was implied. However, that
would be both wrongheaded and potentially costly.
   
There can be little debate that the area adjacent to the river in Kirby
Park is substantially different today than it was earlier this century. The
old foundations that exist today, and the memories of many of the Valley’s
residents, recall a past use as an intensively managed park. However, that
area’s life as a park lasted less than a scant 15 years.
   
Undoubtedly, the reason that the park was abandoned can be traced to its
location: directly adjacent to a large river that floods on a regular basis.
When the levee system was built in the 1930s, it bisected Kirby Park into one
area that is frequently disturbed by flooding and a second that is protected.
   
That protected area is the part of Kirby Park familiar to most Valley
residents –a place for enjoying softball, sledding and Fourth-of-July
fireworks. The portion of the park between the levee and the river was
essentially ignored, and it reverted to a forested ecosystem thanks to natural
processes.
   
Within the past decade, the area between the river and the levee has come
under close scrutiny by a variety of people interested in nature, history,
recreation and education. Its use has been debated extensively, and in 1991
Mayor Namey appointed a group of local citizens as a Riverfront Parks Advisory
Committee to generate, through consensus, a set of recommendations for the
area.
   
Early on, members of the Advisory Committee learned that the area has an
incredible value in its present state as a semi-natural forest. The area might
look “overgrown and in ruins~” to the uneducated eye. However, it is actually
home to a tremendous diversity of plants and animals. Each one can provide
immense fascination and joy to those with an appreciation for nature.
   
The area is still green and surrounded by herbs and trees. However, the
plants are not the foreign cultivars common to intensively managed settings.
Instead, the park is rich with intriguing native plants like spring beauty,
trout lily, waterleaf, bluebell, and Dutchman’s breeches.
   
Bird watchers ~especially recognize that the Kirby Park Natural Area is
home to at least 70 bird species that nest there and provides an important
resting point to at least 100 migratory species. There are also thriving
populations of small mammals and curious microscopic creatures essential to
the functioning of a healthy ecosystem.
   
In my role as an educator, l have found the Natural Area to be a great
setting for teaching biological principles to elementary, secondary, and
college students, as well as to adults.
   
The area represents perhaps the best example of an urban, riparian
(riverside) forest in our part of the country, and thus has wide-ranging
educational value. While some adults might remember wading in the park’s pond
as children, I hope that today’s students will grow-up to remember field trips
through its woods on a warm May afternoon.
   
Can the Kirby Park Natural Area be improved?
   
Yes. It is suffering the effects of an invasion by a tall herb called
Japanese knotweed that threatens to choke out smaller plants. Members of the
Natural Area’s Advisory Committee are looking into ways to selectively
eradicate that species.
   
Interestingly, even the noxious knotweed may have some value. It is prized
as a medicinal plant by many people in the Far East, and many of the old
folklore claims are now being supported by biomedical research. Perhaps
researchers at the new pharmacy school at Wilkes can look into the medicinal
benefits of this plant.
   
In his article, Gerald Reisinger ascribes a great deal of significance to
the famed Olmsted family’s association with the design of the original park.
It is my professional opinion that the Olmsteds made a mistake in locating the
park directly next to a river that floods frequently. It is a mistake that
they would undoubtedly admit today, given our present knowledge of landscape
architecture.
   
I am, therefore, concerned about, and would argue against, any attempt to
“restore” the area between the levee and river back to its intensively
cultivated form of the 1920’s and 1930s. It would be a waste of money, whether
funded by taxpayers or private donations, and would be doomed to failure.
Let’s not make the same mistake again.
   
Instead, residents of the Wyoming Valley should enthusiastically support
the efforts of the Riverfront Parks Advisory Committee.
   
For the past three years, the Advisory Committee has been working on a
master plan for the area, and thanks to a combination of private and public
grants has hired a design firm to assist in that task. The Advisory Committee
also sponsors a number of ongoing, worthwhile activities like clean-ups,
lectures, tours and recreational events. Those activities provide the best way
for all to enjoy what is truly a “Jewel in the Rough,” the Kirby Park Natural
Area.
   
Dr. Kenneth M. Klemow is associate professor of biology and
geoenvironmental science at Wilkes University, and is a certified senior
ecologist and botanist.
   
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