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With rocky cliffs, lush forests and a glacial lake, Clark Reservation State Park offers a scenic forest experience despite being only nine miles from the city of Syracuse, but a local nonprofit organization is working to make the state park an outlet for education as well.

The Friends of Clark Reservation State Park (FOCR) was founded in 1980 to promote the use of state parks, like Clark Reservation, as educational opportunities. Since its establishment, the entirely volunteer-based organization has used grant money to hire a naturalist who offers free sessions on the botany, geology and wildlife of the park. These educational programs go on during the summer, but FOCR also uses donations and money from memberships to put on other free activities throughout the year, like informational hikes.

“The volunteers work tirelessly to provide the valuable services of operating the nature center (at the park) and providing educational programs for park visitors. They want to take the next step on their journey so they can offer even more,” said Katie Mulverhill, an environmental educator for the central New York region.

Angela Weiler, the chair of the FOCR, said the organization is now trying to take their operations to the next step by applying to another grant through Parks & Trails New York. The money from this grant would be used to fund a full-time employee who would work for the FOCR for two years.

The new grant is much more than the FOCR has dealt with in the past, Weiler said. Because the FOCR is completely independent and funded through donations and memberships, she said, it’s pushing for donations to come up with 20% of the grant money.

The new hire would be a development role who would seek out relationships with businesses to fund the operations of the organization, which will still be educational opportunities for the community, Weiler said.

From the NYS DEC: Now is a great time to search for winter tracks or other animal signs visible in the snow. It can be fun to be a detective and figure out what animals have been walking through your yard or across a trail. Here are a few tips to get you started:
Snow conditions can make a difference in a track’s appearance—wet snow captures a print better than powdery snow.
Members in the dog family (coyote, fox, or dogs) will usually leave claw prints above the toes, while the cat family (bobcat, housecat) will not. You should see four toes on both front and back feet for both families.
Rodents, such as squirrels, chipmunks, mice, muskrats, and voles, usually have four toes on the front feet and five on the back. Claws may or may not be seen.
Sometimes an animal’s droppings, or scat, can help you identify it—a rabbit’s looks like small balls of sawdust.
More at https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/administration_pdf/tracks1.pdf

A photo posted by
friendsofclarkreservation

“Our mission is educational, so our main activities would still be programming, hikes, educational lectures, things like that,” Weiler said.

John Craig, a public affairs specialist for the New York State Parks, said the various sites across the state, like Clark Reservation, have been a safe haven for people. The environmental education at Clark State Park is a fundamental part to what the organization does, so furthering their impact is important for the community, Craig said.

Clark Reservation’s geology and variety of different flora and fauna grants visitors the ability to learn about the environment in interactive and hands-on ways, thus making the state park a classroom for participants, according to its website.

“We offer visitors insight and tangible learning, whether it’s with their hands, feet or minds,” Craig said.

The FOCR hires a naturalist each summer for the programming, who is typically a college student. Mulverhill said this allows the student to bring their own interests and studies into the program, while also giving participants the opportunity to learn about new topics each year.

Weiler stressed that nature education is more important than ever, given the serious environmental issues the earth has been facing. One effective way to translate this urgency to locals is through the hands-on programming and experiences provided by the FOCR, she said.

“Educational programs can help people understand how their actions, choices and lifestyles can affect the natural world in ways they may not be aware of,” Weiler said.

Published on January 22, 2023 at 9:23 pm