Nearby Nature Trails: Part 3

As part of year-long celebrations of the National Park Service Centennial, the Sierra Club is working with local communities on trail projects to connect people with nature, particularly in urban areas. There are nine projects in seven locations across the United States. Follow our multi-part series as we interview project leaders to learn more about how the projects are helping people unplug and experience nature nearby.

Part 3:  Meet Tom Hiegel working in Erie, PA.

Project: Build a handicap accessible trail system in McClelland Park to provide all residents in the nearby high-density, low-income neighborhoods access to urban parkland and natural areas.

First, paint us a picture of your community. Where is it?  What’s it like?

The city of Erie is located in northwest Pennsylvania on Lake Erie.  McClelland Park is a virtually undeveloped 56-acre tract of City parkland located in an urban area on the eastside of the city.

The city population is approximately 100,000 people.  At one time a heavy-industry community, the city now has many abandoned, demolished or downsized factories and lots of poverty.

McClelland Park is bordered on all four sides by medium- to low-income homes.  A large industrial park is across the street from the homes on the McClelland Avenue side of the park.  Several urban elementary schools with high minority-student populations are within a short bus ride or walking distance of the park, and the Erie Boys and Girls Club is a five-minute drive from it.

How do community members connect with each other? Do they connect with nature?

Erie is a venue for the very popular Presque Isle State Park.  Also Lake Erie Arboretum at Frontier Park is located in the city, and Asbury Woods Nature Center is located in a nearby suburban community. However,  if you live on the city’s eastside and don’t have a car, accessing these nature spaces by public transportation isn’t easy.

What have been some of the barriers that prevent or discourage people in the area from spending time outside?

There’s a lack of knowledge that McClelland Park exists and a lack of transportation as I mentioned. But there are also barriers for people with physical disabilities and a general preoccupation with TV programs, internet games and smart-phone apps.

Tell us about your work with the trail project. What do you have planned and how will it help area residents experience the outdoors?

I did extensive mapping which revealed nearly seven miles of trails in a heavily forested park that is only approximately a half-mile square in size!  I mapped the trail loop having appropriate elevation gradients suitable for our trail improvements that will be accessible for people with disabilities.

Students, faculty, and administrators from the nearby elementary schools will be using our accessible trail improvements in McClelland Park to conduct outdoor classroom exercises, such as are already in place at many national parks.  As part of this project we are designing interpretive signage that will boost the educational benefits that all can experience in the park.

In your time working on this project, is there one moment that stands out for you that really illustrates the value of providing new outdoor opportunities?

Yes.  The heartfelt speeches at the groundbreaking ceremony at the trailhead in the park from those who preceded us in turning this former gravel pit and dump into the forested paradise it is. They saw the potential for this park for kids getting out in nature.

This year we’re celebrating the centennial of the National Park Service, but as we look ahead to the next century, what do you hope to see when it comes to our public lands?

More city kids getting out in the forests to experience the nearby nature spaces near them. Soon McClelland Park, which is literally only a five-minute walk from a public elementary school, may become a nature center for urban kids to enjoy with their classmates.