Our Priorities
The WVWA and the communities within the watershed have worked to preserve
the Wissahickon Green Ribbon Preserve, a band of natural open space along the entire
length of the Wissahickon Creek. Through most sections of the Preserve, the WVWA maintains
trails so that hikers and others can experience the blending of tranquility and the
excitement that only natural areas can provide.
Today, the Green Ribbon is nearly complete. The WVWA continues to work
with landowners either soliciting gifts of land or negotiating for the purchase of the
parcels which need to be added to the Preserve.
The WVWA believes that protection of the environment comes with knowledge.
Its teaching staff brings innovative environmental education classes to thousands of local
school children at the Association's century-old headquarters building, the Four Mills
Nature Reserve. Working with a local school district, WVWA has guided the creation of
natural habitat areas on the school grounds, and it conducts outdoor environmental
education classes for young students and their teachers.
In addition, the WVWA sponsors after school and weekend activities for
children and adults including hikes, lectures, nature crafts and games, and in early
spring, maple sugaring. A spring sale emphasize trees and bushes indigenous to the area,
while bird seed sales are designed to encourage a diversity of regional birds.
The WVWA works to identify vital open space and prime natural areas, and
to preserve these priceless lands through conservation easements, land donations, or
purchases.
Because the health of the Wissahickon Creek is determined by the use of
the land that surrounds it, the WVWA works with municipal governments, private land
owners, and developers to encourage environmentally sound land use.
More than fifty mills once dotted the banks of the Wissahickon Creek. The
Evans-Mumbower Mill, located in Upper Gwynedd Township, is one of the few that remain. It
is a focal point which reflects past uses of the waterways in the area. With much of the
mill's original machinery intact, the WVWA is striving to restore the mill to working
order so that it can provide valuable insight into the region's history as well as past
uses of the waterway. Tours for the public are conducted periodically throughout the year.
Working with organizations such as Temple University's landscape
architecture department and the Morris Arboretum, the WVWA demonstrates to large land
owners, including corporations, how portions of their properties can be converted into
natural areas.
As a watchdog, the WVWA routinely monitors the water quality of the creek.
When pollution problems are evident, staff members work to identify the problem and
advocate a solution. When necessary, a local government or a regulatory agency will be
contacted. Supported by volunteers, the WVWA conducts an annual stream clean-up to remove
trash carelessly dumped by those unaware of its potential to contaminate the water.
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