Today we said farewell to Acadia and headed for Boston, Massachusetts. In Boston, we learned the history of the Big Dig and got a tour of the Rose Kennedy Greenway from members of the Greenway Conservency. The Big Dig was a project that rerouted Interstate 93, the chief highway through the heart of the city, into a tunnel. I-93 was causing a lot of noise, congestion, and pollution, which the city did not want. The Rose Kennedy Greenway was put in the space vacated by the previous I-93 elevated roadway. The Greenway is a mile long and composed of five parks (Chinatown Park, Dewey Square Park, Fort Point Channel Parks, Wharf District Parks, North End Parks) and green space for the community to gather.
Although hard to read, the map above gives you an idea of the size and location of the Greenway. Some of the projects within the Greenway are a demonstration Garden, which allows people of the community to go and learn about gardening. The Greenway also hosts local farmers markets, which we actually when we visited. Almost all of the food at the market was organic, locally grown, and delicious! There are also some fountains and misters that families can recreate in on a hot day. Currently, there is a carousel being built specifically for the Greenway which, once in place, will a be a great attraction for families. There is plenty of green space for people who work in the area to come and relax on their lunch break and such. You get the vibe of the great city of Boston while still being submerged in nature.
The annual budget for the Greenway Conservancy is 4.3 million dollars. The state provides about half of that funding. The company who owns the rerouted highway, now underneath the Greenway, provides funding to the Greenway. All of the ladnscaping done on the Greenway is organic, which is important because all of the run off from rain goes right into the Boston Harbor. You can see in the map above how close the Harbor is to the Greenway. About 300-500 people volunteer for the Greenway Conservancy a year. Many of the corporations and businesses surrounding the Greenway take part by doing days of service there. The Greenway Conservancy has a strong belief in horticulutre and has implemented it strongly. This means that all of the maintenence for the Greenway is done organically, so volunteers are crucial for its survival. Doing it organically means a lot more physical labor and not just spraying chemicals everywhere and letting them do the work. The Greenway Conservancy only uses of native plant species and additional non-native, non-invasive plant material with a proven record of adapting to the existing environmental conditions and urban stresses of the parks. Operations vehicles include plug-in electric vehicles, and small fuel-efficient park vehicles. The Conservancy distributes bicycles for its personnel and they use quiet, fuel-efficient blowers, generators, and other tools. The lights that line the parks are powered by either wind or solar energy.
Removing the highway from the heart of the city was probably one of the best decisions the city of Boston could have made. The Greenway is a great model to cities around the world of how they can impliment sustainability in their communities. Incorporating nature into cities is known to reduce crime rates. The people feel safer, and become more connected with their community. The city of Boston is now trying to incorporate bike lanes which would add to their already noted "green" status. The Greenway is an awesome place and the Greenway Conservancy does a great job of keeping it beautiful, as well as sustainable.
After experiencing the Greenway, we headed to a hotel in the suburbs of Boston. Yes, another hotel, and guess what? This one had a salt water pool. Yeah, it was awesome. Before we indulged ourselves in the luxuries of our hotel, we watched the film Acadia Always, by Jack Perkins. This film is covers the hisory and some ecological factors of Acadia National Park.
What is now known as Acadia National Park was originally called Lafayette National Park. Many small islands are present off the coast of the park, including Baker Island, which we visited today. 50,000 years ago, Acadia was actually covered in ice. As the glaciers moved, the valleys and lakes that now define Acadia were formed. 6,000 years ago, Native American's occupied Acadia. They built cabins out of birch bark, which lead to the birch bark culture of Acadia that is still present today. The Native American's had a good life in Acadia, until European settlers arrived. Samuel DeChamplain was the first to arrive, and called it "The Isle of Bare Mountains." DeChamplain did not stay in Acadia however, and the first Europeans to actually settle there were Frenchman. Then the English came, and they wanted control. This led to a century and a half of war in Acadia. The French won, and Acadia was given to a madame of French royalty (who is probably the same woman who owned Baker Island we learned about on our boat tour yesterday). She didn't find Acadia of interest, so she started selling parts of Acadia off until she didn't own anymore.
It was not until the mid 1800's that the beauty of Acadia started to be recognized. Students of the Hudson River School sketched and painted pictures there. Word began to spread, and Acadia started to have many visitors. Wealthy people of that time period started to build cottages there. Well, what they considered a cottage. Eighty to one hundred room mansions is really what they were.
What is now known as Acadia National Park was originally called Lafayette National Park. Many small islands are present off the coast of the park, including Baker Island, which we visited today. 50,000 years ago, Acadia was actually covered in ice. As the glaciers moved, the valleys and lakes that now define Acadia were formed. 6,000 years ago, Native American's occupied Acadia. They built cabins out of birch bark, which lead to the birch bark culture of Acadia that is still present today. The Native American's had a good life in Acadia, until European settlers arrived. Samuel DeChamplain was the first to arrive, and called it "The Isle of Bare Mountains." DeChamplain did not stay in Acadia however, and the first Europeans to actually settle there were Frenchman. Then the English came, and they wanted control. This led to a century and a half of war in Acadia. The French won, and Acadia was given to a madame of French royalty (who is probably the same woman who owned Baker Island we learned about on our boat tour yesterday). She didn't find Acadia of interest, so she started selling parts of Acadia off until she didn't own anymore.
It was not until the mid 1800's that the beauty of Acadia started to be recognized. Students of the Hudson River School sketched and painted pictures there. Word began to spread, and Acadia started to have many visitors. Wealthy people of that time period started to build cottages there. Well, what they considered a cottage. Eighty to one hundred room mansions is really what they were.
It was not until the mid 1800's that the beauty of Acadia started to be recognized. Students of the Hudson River School sketched and painted pictures there. Word began to spread, and Acadia started to have many visitors. Wealthy people of that time period started to build cottages there. Well, what they considered a cottage. Eighty to one hundred room mansions is really what they were. A railroad was even built on, what was then known as, Green Mountain. This railroad was eventually closed, and the mountain was purchased by Charles Elliot and George B. Door. These two preservationists made the mountain the center piece of Acadia. They realized that Acadia must be protected or else industry would come and destroy it. Some advocates of preserving Acadia were the Rockerfeller's. They vacationed there often and gave funding to help preserve it. Another supporter was Teddy Roosevelt, who felt that since Acadia was the only National Park on the East Coast at the time, it was of importance.
Then, in the Autumn of 1947, a fire spread through out Acadia and burned for three days. Many of those "cottages" were destroyed and the ecology of the park severely damaged. Although the historic cottages could not be rebuilt, the ecology of Acadia could. Through restoration, the park's ecology has made a good recovery. Acadia has made it through eons of natural phenomenons such as volcanoes and glaciers.Fortunately for our class, we visited in summer, which is considered the most lively season for wildlife. Although, there is always wildlife to see in Acadia, no matter what time of year. Pine trees, sea urchins, toad crabs, tide pools, and sea cucumbers are all found in Acadia National Park. Sedimentary rock can also be found on Cadillac Mountain.
The Park gets a lot of volunteers who come to help maintain trails and remove unnecessary brush. These volunteers are incredibly helpful since governmental funds to Acadia have been cut back. Park rangers work to educate children on the importance of Acadia National Park to make sure it is protected for future generations.
Citations used in this post:
http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/
Jack Perkins. Acadia Always.
Citations used in this post:
http://www.rosekennedygreenway.org/
Jack Perkins. Acadia Always.
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