Urban Wilderness and Accessibility

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“This game of preserving, managing, [and] restoring … very public green space in our fair city is not a game for sissies.” – Ken Leinbach

New Cambridge Woods trail

Ken, Executive Director of the Urban Ecology Center, made this thoughtfully provocative statement in an email response to concerns that recently were voiced about a new wheelchair accessible trail being constructed in Cambridge Woods.

A healthy patch of trillium

My fondness for Cambridge Woods, a strip of riparian parkland along a stretch of the Milwaukee River north of Locust Street, goes back more than twenty-five years. I lived a block away. Nearby Riverside Park, once one of the Olmsted-designed jewels in the Milwaukee Park System’s emerald necklace, had gone feral and was considered unsafe. Few people ventured there.

Retaining wall collapse

I still remember “discovering” the path north from Riverside, between the water and the Oak Leaf Trail, which was still called the “76 Bike Trail” back then. Mountain biking was not yet popular and a well-used but narrow dirt path led past prodigious CCC-era retaining walls, up and down surprisingly rugged terrain, through tall stands of hardwoods and thickets of mostly native shrubbery.

Banzai blocked with logs and brush

Near the end of Cambridge Avenue a wide ravine had become a defacto banzai half-pipe for kids on short trick bikes. Ropes strung from trees enabled them to swing out across the intervening space. Unpoliced, the slopes were pounded bare and eroded.

Together Riverside Park and Cambridge Woods lent several meanings to the term urban wilderness, mostly dark connotations indicative of places civilization has either fouled or neglected.

Much has changed since then.

A healthy patch of May apples

In 1991 the Urban Ecology Center established an outpost in Riverside Park. Long story short, over time the Center and its programs grew; the park was transformed once again, this time into an inviting natural area and outdoor classroom and laboratory. It also was made accessible to a public that had long since learned to shun it.

Natural areas as significant as the Milwaukee River Greenway, as it has come to be known, are magnets for diverse activities. This is particularly true in cities where relative scarcity creates high expectations. Accessibility means different things to different people – and inevitably leads to conflicting demands. The drug dealers that made the parks unsafe have largely moved on, but taggers continue to spray paint colorful graffiti under bridges and along decaying foundation walls. Hikers must stand aside as mountain bikers blaze past. Their wide treads have expanded and muddied once narrow paths, gouged the rugged slopes, and exposed tree roots. Anglers who wade into the river shallows also must contend with a growing contingent of canoes and kayaks as more and more people discover the Federally designated Urban Water Trail.

Wild geraniums

As new appreciation for urban wilderness grows some of the conflicts that arise – ironically – are amongst the very people who most care about the land. Now a new controversy has erupted over the new trail being constructed in Cambridge Woods. Accessibility is the heart of the brouhaha.

New trail construction

On the one hand, the dirt track is being widened and paved with gravel. Trees have been cut, hills and curves straightened. Some have complained that the “wilderness experience” is being “ruined.” If I didn’t know the feeling myself, I would find it amazing: That we have a constituency who feel that a wilderness experience is possible in the most densely populated zip code in the state must be some kind of miracle!

Endangered red trillium

But the new trail not only will provide access for disabled people; it is more inviting to many who would not otherwise enjoy the beautiful woods. The beauty of this place is not in fact a miracle or illusion but part of a deliberate management plan. As Ann Brummitt, director of the Milwaukee Greenway Coalition, put it, “Cambridge Woods is home to the greatest biodiversity in the Greenway. It has an extraordinary array of plants.”

Invasive garlic mustard

It doesn’t take a long walk to recognize the threat that invasives like garlic mustard pose to that diversity. The new trail is not being constructed in isolation; it is one element in a comprehensive restoration project that will close opportunistic trails that cause erosion and protect native plant species. And the contractor, Marek Landscaping, which specializes in native landscaping, is doing the work with integrity. At one point I asked the crew what a deep pit next to the trail was for and the reply was “a living retaining wall.” Sounds better than concrete to me. I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

May apple, worm's eye view

The accessibility conundrum and controversy is hardly unique to this area. National Parks and natural areas in far less populated places face the same concern. Ken Leinbach admits, “The Urban Ecology Center can be seen as a culprit here as we are now bringing tens of thousands of visitors to the area.” Then he continues, “This game of preserving, managing, [and] restoring … very public green space in our fair city is not a game for sissies. Trying to accommodate one user often alienates another.” I personally will never fault the Urban Ecology Center for pacifying what once was a demonstrably dangerous urban wilderness.

Leinbach, Brummitt, and many others who help manage and protect the Greenway understand very well that “improvements” can go only so far without destroying the essence of what makes it unique and marvelous.

Riverside Park trail, bird's eye view

During the leisurely walk when I made the photographs that accompany this story I met a man in the company of four large furry dogs along the newly graveled trail. I asked what he thought about it. With a reflective demeanor he considered for a moment, clearly torn. Then he said, “I was disappointed when they did this in Riverside Park, but now that things have grown back, it seems fine. I've gotten used to it.”

A healthy patch of wood anemone

Like nearly everyone I’ve heard on the issue, I would prefer the old dirt path. Unlike most, I mean the old old dirt path: before the explosion of activity, the mountain bikes, and the increased erosion. But the increase in usage is a double-edged sword. Greater access has already created the constituency that has made protection of the Greenway a reality. Well managed, the urban wilderness is resilient.

I agree with critics who insist that some sections of the riparian trail system ought to be left as "wild" as possible. Some trails should be reserved for foot traffic alone. How fortunate we are that the Milwaukee River Greenway is large enough to provide such a choice.

Choke cherry blossom

Buddhism teaches us to be mindful of the “true nature” of things and people. We are remarkably blessed to have urban parks like Cambridge Woods and the Greenway. Unfortunately, much as it pains me to confess it, they will never be wilderness in the literal meaning of the word. But if we walk there in wonder, with our senses awake to the vitality, we will know its true nature and be comforted.

The Greenway with Cambridge Woods on the right

Riverside Park was burned on Wednesday!

I learned after the fact that the Urban Ecology Center (with help from the Milwaukee Fire Dept. and others) had conducted a controlled burn in parts of Riverside Park. I wish I could have been there to witness the event. As is explained on the UEC website, burning is important for long term sustainability of certain habitats and native species. (Before we humans interfered it happened naturally, of course.)

Although I missed the burn itself, I had to go check out the aftermath and take a few photos.

The burn is kept at ground level and even during natural burns established trees and hardy native shrubs seldom suffer for it.

Before long (especially with the early spring we're having this year) new shoots will sprout up amongst the ashes. Native species withstand the effects of burning better than exotics.

While I was there I met a nice young volunteer who explained why many of the trees in the park have blue bags hanging from them. These are sugar maple trees that the UEC taps for maple syrup, which they process themselves right at the center.

But if you want to see that you better head out there soon. They will be having a pancake breakfast on Saturday, March 24.

We're all invited. (Go to the UEC website for more info.)

While you're in Riverside Park to see the burn and the maples being tapped, make sure you wander on down along the Milwaukee River to see how other strategies are being used to control invasive species.

Large swaths of the flood plain have been covered in black plastic sheeting. No, it's not an elaborate environmental sculpture project, a la Christo. It's to control reed canary grass.

There's always something constructive going on around the Urban Ecology Center.

Celebrating Leopold Weekend in Riverside Park

I did celebrate Aldo Leopold Weekend by taking a hike in Riverside Park. I managed a few photos to commemorate the day.

 
The Urban Ecology Center, a most appropriate place to pay homage to Leopold.

A view of Gordon Park from Riverside Park.

The Milwaukee River and the urban wilderness through which it runs.

For more photos, check out my Milwaukee River Greenway set on flickr.

River Revitalization Foundation takes a hike on National Trails Day

Last Saturday was National Trails Day, so designated by the American Hiking Society. The River Revitalization Foundation (RRF) invited the public to celebrate the day with a hike along the Milwaukee River. Although I had to wonder why a specially designated day was needed, being highly self-motivated when it comes to hiking, the Milwaukee River Greenway is one of my favorite places for it and I relished the idea of a hike guided by the knowledgeable staff of the RRF. 

false Solomon's seal

The worth of the designated event became apparent immediately as about 25 people assembled in Gordon Park. A few were seasoned hikers but most were not. Some confided that they’d never hiked along the Milwaukee River before.

We began with sight, across Locust St., of a modest house that belonged to Charles Whitnall, the mastermind of Milwaukee County’s magnificent park system. Vince Bushell, RRF’s Land Steward, provided some historical background about Gordon Park and the river below the bluff, which was invisible due to a screen of mature trees. When first developed, he said, the view was unobstructed. However, cuts to the parks budget have resulted in the elimination of tree trimming operations.

Anise blossoms

 We strolled down the recently developed, paved Beer Line Trail, so called because it follows the route of the former railroad line that once served Milwaukee’s breweries. Vince identified native flowers that were blooming in places that had been cleared of garlic mustard and other invasive species by RRF volunteers. 

Next to one of the two massive UWM dorms that bracket the river at North Ave. we found a troop of boy scouts working on another RRF project: re-routing a mountain bike trail to reduce erosion. Bikers love the riparian trails – and multi-use is the name of the game in this high-profile urban wilderness.

I was delighted to see the creative re-use of buckthorn as a fencing material in the new Wheelhouse Gateway Park at the south end of the Greenway.

By the time we crossed the bridge at Caesar’s Pool and turned back north up the East Bank Trail attrition had reduced our party to seven diehards. Which was too bad, I thought, because the east side trail is unpaved, which I prefer, and because we discovered a number of fascinating projects in the works.

 There were square depressions at regular intervals in the tall grass made by slabs of plywood laid down to provide shelter for endangered Butler’s garter snakes. A soccer-field size area had been battened down with black plastic, in an experimental effort by the Urban Ecology Center to control invasive reed canary grass, which blankets much of the riverside.

The most exciting project has to be imagined from the devastation wrought upon one section of the bluff, which looks like a war zone. A new 40-acre arboretum is being created that will extend up and over the top of the bluff.  With an irony that is emblematic of the urban wilderness I love to write about, the first step in the development of the arboretum, apparently, is to clear-cut all the trees. The new, yet-to-be-planted trees will outlive me – and it fills my heart with joy to know that. 

arboretum under construction

We finished our loop in Riverside Park, which was originally designed in the 1890’s by Frederick Law Olmsted and rescued a hundred years later from blight and neglect by the Urban Ecology Center. Much as I admire Olmsted’s classic landscape designs and anticipate the beauty of the new arboretum, I must admit I was heartened to see this magnificent old black willow (below) lying where it had recently toppled. It is a fitting symbol of a new sensitivity to ecological processes and biodiversity. One of the signature differences between a wilderness and most urban parks is what happens to fallen trees. Park managers traditionally have made lumber and carted it away. But where trees are left to decompose they provide habitat for wildlife and their nutrients eventually return to the earth, repeating the cycle of regeneration. 

I enjoyed National Trails Day but I won’t be waiting for another official excuse to take my next hike in the urban wilderness. (You knew that!) I hope I see you out there on one of my hikes.

Click here to see more images from the National Trails Day hike and Milwaukee River Greenway.

Autumn colors along Milwaukee River Greenway

Cambridge Woods and Hubbard Park

How far do you have to go to visit a beautiful scene like this? No farther than the Milwaukee River Greenway, between North Avenue and Silver Spring. The weather has taken a turn - it's too early for winter (please!) but it is cooler. So here's a taste of autumn from a few of my recent travels in Milwaukee's urban wilderness. And a shout out to Ann Brummitt and the Milwaukee River Greenway Coalition, which helps to protect this greenway, as  well as Sue Black and the Milwaukee County Parks Department, may they receive more funding.

The river edge at Kern Park

Don't forget to go to the polls next Tuesday and vote for candidates who will support the parks and the environment. Those candidates, for whatever reason, are mostly democrats. But don't take my word for it - check it out at the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters website.

Click here for more information about the Milwaukee River Greenway.

Click here to see more pictures from the vicinity.

Riverside Park from the Locust Street bridge

Milwaukee River Greenway in yellow and gold

It never fails to surprise me, no matter how many times I’ve been there. I walk away from the Urban Ecology Center, through Riverside Park, and down to the waterside. The twin parks flanking the Milwaukee River there, Riverside and Gordon, make a wonderful open green space. But a tall apartment tower and the Locust St. bridge remind me that I’m still in Milwaukee. It’s when I wander upstream along the hilly river trail that I begin to lose track of where I am. Not literally, of course. But by the time I reach Cambridge Woods, across from Pleasant Valley Park I have to pinch myself and listen for the traffic that can still be heard in order to be reminded. Milwaukee suddenly seems very far away indeed.

We have been blessed with one of the warmest, driest Octobers I can recall. My favorite time of the year, it’s hard to spend any of it indoors. Here is an offering of images from my recent hike into the Milwaukee River wilderness. Enjoy!

To see more pictures from the Milwaukee River Greenway go to my website.