Legacy Riders Explore PSU’s Happy Valley

Happy Valley??? Is there really a place named Happy Valley? And does it live up to its name? The Legacy riders are happy to report that, yes, Happy Valley exists – it lies between Bald Eagle Ridge, Nittany Mountain, and Tussey Mountain in Central Pennsylvania and is home to Penn State University. And, we’re also happy to report that the Happy Valley name fits! The forested hills, agricultural valley floors, kind spirit of the residents, great ice cream, and innovative environmental initiatives made for a very happy, educational stop.

We have to send a BIG thank you to Penn State University and the Department of Landscape Architecture! Through the generous support of Tineke Cunning (Director of PSU’s Fellowship Office) and Brian Orland (Head of the Department of Landscape Architecture), all housing and meals were compliments of the University! Eating our meals as a group at the Pollock Dining Commons conjured memories of freshman year for all of us: Fifteen (yeah Joel!) newly made friends grouped around a table, chatting, laughing, and eating everything from potatoes au gratin, to Tofu Pups, to elaborate ice cream/cereal concoctions! The dining commons staff outshined some of our previous dining experiences creating custom-made meals to accommodate our food preferences and even searching out the locations of the different types of fish on the menu! At the end of each meal we contributed our food scraps and napkins to the university’s large scale composting operation (remember PSU is a land grant university!).

At the Department of Landscape Architecture, Brian Orland gave us an in-depth account of designing, constructing, and occupying the LEED gold certified School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA) building. Aside from the sheer size of the structure (imagine 500+ design students busily working together in one massive studio space), the most memorable features of the building tour were the locally quarried blue stone walls inside and out, the well designed parking lot preserving mature oak trees and incorporating bioswales, and innovative use of sustainable materials in the interior.


Our tour of the SALA building was followed by a lunch with guest speakers Jennifer Shuey, executive director of the Clear Water Conservancy and Bob Cameron of PSU’s Center for Sustainability. Both speakers presented their organizations’ environmental initiatives within the university and region.

Following lunch we helped Louise Comas, a restoration ecologist working with both the Clearwater Conservancy and the Center for Sustainability, initiate a riparian restoration program. Half of us rolled-up our sleeves, dug post holes, and spread mulch for a shaded propagation structure. The other half of the group potted bare-rooted plant cuttings of riparian plant species locally collected. After two hours of hard work, we had potted over two hundred and fifty plants, and provided a big start to the construction of the shade structure. To thank us for our help, Bob Cameron provided us with Penn State Creamery Ice Cream all produced on campus by Penn State cows! My favorite flavor was ‘Coffee Break,’ but I admit eating bowls of ‘Peachy Paterno’ and ‘Dark Chocolate Cherry Torte’ as well!

Ice cream, public service, green architecture, a great university and town – we couldn’t be happier!

By: Matt McMahon

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I'm a Plant Nerd

Everyone that knows me should know that I’m a plant nerd, and well, if there was any doubt, this blog entry will make it official. During our climb up one of Acadia’s many rocky summits, I had to keep pausing to take photographs of the intriguing plants growing out of crevices, on the cliff face, and beneath precariously perched boulders. Plant photography isn’t your typical extreme sport activity, but in this case I was taking pictures on the trail edge of a 500+ peak! Needless to say, my fellow hikers, Martina, Sapna, Bret, Julie, and John from COA didn’t like waiting on the precipice as I struggled to get the perfect angle! The best results of my photograph efforts are listed here and pictured below. Enjoy!

Pitch pine (Pinus rigida), my favorite pine on the cliff edge, sculpted by the wind

Contemplating the sublime before our descent



Bunchberry dogwood (Cornus canadensis), little cousin of the much beloved flowering dogwood



Pink lady-slipper orchid (Cypripedium acaule), rare and beautiful – what a treat!

By: Matt McMahon

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Legacy Riders Take a Bite out of the “Big Green Apple”

Top down and bottom up – both New York’s government and grass-root activists are transforming gritty urban areas into livable places, brimming with green space and social activity. During our two days in New York, we’ve witnessed these two very different approaches to improving the city - the high-profile public park initiatives of lower Manhattan, and the oft-forgotten Bronx River and waterfront community of Hunts Point in the South Bronx. This blogpost covers the walking tour of lower Manhattan, and a forthcoming post will cover our experiences in The Bronx.

On Wednesday morning, we put on our walking shoes and I led our group on a tour of lower Manhattan waterfront parks. To begin our tour, we passed beneath the rusting hulk of the Highline– an abandoned elevated railroad being converted into a lofted, linear public park. The designers envision the future Highline park to host a suite of ecological habitats ranging from perched wetlands to young woodland thickets accessible through a series of ramps, steps, elevators and pathways. Passing under the Highline, we traveled a few blocks west to the Hudson River to begin our walk south toward the tip of Manhattan. . .



The Hudson River Park, when completed, will stretch for five and half miles along the post-industrial western edge of Manhattan creating continuous public parkland along the entire Hudson waterfront. A popular bike-running trail used by commuters, exercisers, and tourists is all ready built and runs the length of the upland portion of the park. We walked the bike-running trail and observed the numerous uses placed upon the reused Pier structures extending into the Hudson River. Everything from kayak launches to dog parks dotted the piers, and were in use even during the midweek morning.

At its southern end, the Hudson River Park meets Battery Park City, a financial district residential community built upon landfill created from the initial excavation for the World Trade Center. Walking through Battery Park City, we observed a number of different green initiatives – photovoltaic cells on residential towers, well-kept public parks, and continuation of the Hudson River Park bike and walking trail. At the southern end of Battery Park City, we paused for lunch and views to the Statue of Liberty and the New York Harbor.

After lunch we coursed through the historic Battery at the very tip of Manhattan and boarded a ferry to Governor’s Island. Our ferry ride was short but memorable - to the west the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges spanned the East River, to the East the broad mouth of the Hudson River opened, spilling brackish water on the shores of Liberty Island, Ellis Island, and beyond, New Jersey. Once on the island we toured the historic forts, waterfront, and barracks with the National Park Service, and then visited an exhibition showcasing five proposals for the island’s future. The proposals, commissioned by the State and City of New York, address the future of Governor's Island now that is has been decommissioned as a coast guard base. We were happy to see that each proposal incorporated environmental sustainability as a central them of the park design. Proposed habitat types included oyster and mussel beds, salt marshes, tidal pools, pine barrens and meadows, and most schemes incorporated alternative energy sources such as geothermal heating, tide turbines, and windmills.

To begin the final leg of our tour, we returned to Manhattan and began walking along the waterfront edge of the East River. Unlike the Hudson River, the waterfront of the lower East River has not been addressed, and only a narrow sidewalk sliced its way between the water edge and large highway. The future site of Brooklyn Bridge Park occupied the opposite shoreline of the East River. Currently, the site hosts six large warehouse piers and upland parking lot areas. When built, innovative floating walkways will connect pier-end to pier-end creating a protected water area for kayaking and low-energy ecosystems such as salt-marsh and mudflats. Exposed shoreline will incorporate rocky tide pools and shellfish restoration areas. Uplands and pier surfaces will host coastal forests and stormwater treatment wetlands. These ecosystem types and open water areas will be laced with a network of pathways and biketrails affording New Yorkers and tourists unrivaled views of the lower Manhattan skyline and urban ecosystems.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park marked the end of our tour. Now at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and South Street Seaport, we had walked over six miles through parkland and soon-to-be parkland without having to cross a single road - not a small feat in Manhattan! The toured parks demonstrated New York’s continuously improving relationship to its waterfront with progressive park design incorporating solar panels, re-used marine infrastructure, habitat restoration, and diverse recreational opportunities. Then the next day we headed to the Bronx!


By: Matt McMahon

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