Pathways Spring 2008

8/8/2019 Pathways Spring 2008

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◦ Ecological Restoration◦ Ramblings from Red Hill

◦ A Visit to the Wolf Conservation Center

◦ Hobblebush: A Dominant Adirondack Shrub

Spring 200

The official publication of theThe official publication of the

New York State Outdoor Education AssociationNew York State Outdoor Education Association

New York

State covered in a vast, shal-low ocean. Hundreds of mil-lions of years ago, it was.Relatives of modern sea ur-chins called crinoids, or sea lil-ies, wave their feathery arms tocapture food. Large scorpion-like eu-rypterids, ancient relatives of horseshoecrabs, swim through the water using their paddle-like ap-pendages and prey upon small fish and other smaller euryp-terids. Honey-comb and chain corals build large reefs, andabundant brachiopods filter nutrients from the shallow sea.

Imagine that a crinoid dies. Quickly, sediments bury thecarcass. Eroding sand and silt from the mountain range to theeast (where New England is now) continues to cover the deadcrinoid. Over time, the soft parts of the crinoid dissolve, leavingbehind the skeleton.

(Continued on page 10)

Photo by

AnneSchlesinger

NYSOEA western region members (and potential members) en-

joying a snowshoe walk on March 2 at Reinstein Woods NaturePreserve, in Cheektowaga, NY. A total of 13 people came andlearned about NYSOEA, enjoyed snacks & socializing, took a tour

of the "green" education center at Reinstein Woods, then enjoyeda snowshoe walk.



John Stowell [email protected]

Laura Careylacarey@

gw.dec.state.ny.us

Page 2

NYSOEAExecutive Board

President

Mary Anna Russo

President Elect

MaryLynne Malone

VP Administration

Maritza Cuevas

VP Communication

Jonathan Duda

VP Human Resources

Brian Joyner

VP Program

Laura Carey

Secretary

Meaghan Boice-Green

Treasurer

Sharon Kennelty-Cohen

Office Darleen Lieber

Regional Directors

Tim Stanley - EasternJeff Gottlieb - MetroJack Swan - Northern

Kristen Rosenburg - WesternCarol Stokes-Cawley, Central

2008 ConferenceCommittee Chairs

Laura CareyJohn Stowell

Office Services

NYSOEAc/o Department of Recreation

& Leisure StudiesP.O. Box 2000 SUNY Cortland

Cortland, New York

(ISSN 1077-5100) is published fourtimes a year by the New York StateOutdoor Education Association and ismailed to NYSOEA members.Opinions expressed by contributorsare theirs solely and not necessarilythose of the Editorial Board of pa thway s or o f NY S O E A .Advertisements included in pathways

should not be interpreted asendorsement of the product(s) byNYSOEA.

Advertising in pathways pathways pathways pathways pathways welcomes advertisementswhich will be of interest to themembership of NYSOEA. If you havea product, service, equipment,resource, program, etc. that youwould like to share with ourmembership via an advertisement,please contact:

Jonathan Duda at: (845) 657-8333

Materials Submissions

Anyone interested in contributingto pathways is encouraged tosubmit material to:

Ashokan Field Campusc/o Jonathan Duda477 Beaverkill Road

Olivebridge, NY

or E-mail:

[email protected]

Materials should be typed.Please include a short biographi-cal section about the author of the article. References cited inthe article should be listed at theend of the article, APA style.

New York State Outdoor Education Association New York State Outdoor Education Association New York State Outdoor Education Association New York State Outdoor Education Association

pathways pathways pathways pathways



Page 3 pathways pathways pathways pathways

What a super time to be involved in environmental or outdoor education! I must ad-

mit that often times I do get caught up in my own little garden and forget to look at thebigger picture. But right now I am so excited to be reading about, listening to and oth-erwise receiving communications about the innovations in the field about which we areall so passionate.

I invite everyone to really delve into all of theinitiatives that are currently in the forefront. Forexample, get to the website for the TEEP(Teacher Environmental Education Preparation)initiative, a joint effort of the Wallerstein Col-laborative for Urban Environmental Educationand several other NYC agencies. The inroadsthese folks are making into the efforts towardcertification of teachers in environmental educa-tion are truly significant.

Be sure to go to NAAEE’s (North American Asso-ciation for Environmental Education) site andfind the information on guidelines for environ-mental education which have been accepted byNCATE (National Council for Accreditation of

Teacher Education) one of the two national or-ganizations in the country for accrediting institu-tions which prepare teachers. This step is hugefor environmental education! Lest non-formaleducators be left out, state organizations aretaking the initiative to develop that certificationpiece. NYSOEA will use the NAAEE guidelinesas the norm as we work through this.

Don’t miss the NCLI (NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE)webpage for updates on this legislation. Not

only will this adjunct to the NCLB bill impact“ee”, but it could release $10 million to assistthe effort of getting kids back into the field tripsthat many have been missing.

I deliberately have not listed any web sites…there are so many with varying points of you that I encourage you to be informed and create well-formed opinions on yourown.

Enjoy the adventure!

PLAN B 2.0*

Friends: Keepon doing what you’ve been doing.

You are part of the “Blessed Unrest”;

You take baby steps for future earth;

Future sustainable Earth;

Enlightening humans toward a

Future sustainable Earth;

You’ve fallen back on plan B 2.0.

Each of us are rescuing the planet

In our little, unique creative way.

Keep on doing what you’ve been doing.

~Tom Stock

“Blessed Unrest” by Paul Hawking

* Plan B 2.0 Rescuing a Planet under Stress and a

Civilization in Trouble by Lester Brown: Earth Policy Institute, Washington D.C.



Page 4New York State Outdoor Education Association New York State Outdoor Education Association New York State Outdoor Education Association New York State Outdoor Education Association

AS OUTDOOR EDUCATORS, we all rel-ish the opportunity to share the wonders of the outdoors, to point out the nuances of nature to others, and particularly, to thenext generation. But how many of us havecurbed erosion on a hillside, removed inva-sive exotic vegetation, or made a portion of a trail less wet and muddy, enabling others

to explore and enjoy a “secret place” forthe first time? Combining ecological resto-ration with outdoor education is like com-bining music with lyrics; it amplifies the im-pact and the enjoyment of the experience,making it more concrete and memorable forall those involved.

Last September, I had the opportunity toassist the NY/NJ Trail Conference with a“side hilling” project along the Blue Trail inSouthwest LaTourette, Staten Island Green-belt. Through this project we were able toimprove pedestrian access to the trail bycontrolling erosion, directing the flow of water down slope and off the trail, and us-ing natural features such as rocks to createnarrow choke points to deter bikes andATVs from using the trail. First, we re-moved honeysuckle and other invasivevegetation from the upslope, pulling them

by hand, cutting them with loppers, thenraking them down slope. When the hillsidewas cleared, we used mattocks to shape thecontour of the hillside, carving an angle tohelp divert the water off the trail. Theprocess of transforming the hillside was dy-namic. There was something meditativeand mindful in connecting the mattock with

the hillside, a sense of creating a better to-morrow. As Walt Whitman wrote in Song

of the Broad Axe, “The axe leaps. Theshapes arise!” When that was completed,we improved the trail by making it nar-rower, modifying its contours, and addingand spreading soil to make a more levelgrade. Later in the day, I penned this exu-

berant commemoration of my experience:

The mattock descends upon the hillsideDragging honeysuckle vines down from the

slopeSaws removing dead branches

Lopperas cutting through layers of multiflora A rhythmic tapping Metallic melody

Tools keeping cadence A new energy flowing through the trail

As contours are redefinedBending and picking up stones

Tending to this hallowed groundForming structures and shapes,The steps and wallsPoints of reflection

For future jaunts and journeys

Volunteer organizations such as theNY/NJ Trail Conference are always lookingfor people willing to lend a hand and re-store natural areas. In exchange, volunteersgain knowledge and skills, get a great total-body workout, meet other people inter-ested in the outdoors, and appreciate naturefrom different perspectives. I would recom-mend these experiences for all outdoor edu-cators, as they plant valuable seeds in ourhearts and minds that can blossom in oureducation programs.

Photo by Liz Nealon




It certainly is possible to bring this senseof stewardship and service learning intooutdoor education programs. Factors youwould need to consider are: time, equip-ment, location, expertise required, and skilllevel of the group. A side hilling or othererosion control project [i.e., installing logsand water bars] may be suitable for a highschool or college group. For a youngergroup, a simpler, more straightforwardproject may lead to meaningful, memora-ble experiences. For instance, a group of elementary school students may be able tohelp pull out several garbage bags of garlicmustard [invasive ground cover fromEurope] from a wooded area in your parkor near your nature center in the latespring or summer. Or, this same group,with shovels, gloves, wheelbarrows, rakesand some guidance, may be able to spreadwoodchips along a portion of your trails.

If space is more finite, perhaps you couldmulch, weed, and water street trees, orgreen an area near your building.

A mentor of mine once taught me acredo of environmental education: “WhatI hear, I forget. What I see, I remember. What I hear, see, and do, I understand.”As outdoor educators, what better gift can

we give our students than a hands-on out-door service learning project where theycan help make an area better than theyfound it, and they can come back withfriends and family weeks or months laterand point out the work they did?

For more information about the NY/NJTrail Conference work at Harriman StatePark, Bear Mountain, or within the fiveboroughs of NYC, contact Joe Gindoff,NY/NJ Trail Conference Metro Trails Com-mittee at (718) 614-2209 or [email protected].

From December 2004-January 2008,

Jessica Kratz served in an administrative

position with the GreenApple Corps, a pub-

lic service program with the New York City

Department of Parks & Recreation, and rel-ished every opportunity she has to teach

and mentor and to get outdoors. Jessica,

who also previously served as a New York

City Urban Park Ranger, recently accepted

a position as Greenbelt Nature Center Coor-

dinator, where she shares her love of the

Staten Island Greenbelt trails with the young

and young at heart.

By Jessica Kratz

JULY 13JULY 13JULY 13JULY 13----18181818

Located at Located at

SUNY Cortland’sSUNY Cortland’sSUNY Cortland’sSUNY Cortland’sSUNY Cortland’sSUNY Cortland’sSUNY Cortland’sSUNY Cortland’sAntlers FacilityAntlers FacilityAntlers FacilityAntlers FacilityAntlers FacilityAntlers FacilityAntlers FacilityAntlers Facility

onon

Raquette LakeRaquette LakeRaquette LakeRaquette LakeRaquette LakeRaquette LakeRaquette LakeRaquette Lakein the Adirondacksin the Adirondacksin the Adirondacksin the Adirondacksin the Adirondacksin the Adirondacksin the Adirondacksin the Adirondacks

CLASSES include:* General, Lake, and

Adirondack Ecology* Forest, Field, Pond, and

Bog Exploration* A Great Camp Tour* Environmental Literature

Review* Nature Songs and Stories

For more info,For more info,For more info,For more info,contact the NYSOEA officecontact the NYSOEA officecontact the NYSOEA officecontact the NYSOEA office




July 29, 2007 dawned brightlyas most summer mornings do. Theannual pilgrimage to baseball’sMecca was being made by thou-sands of weary journeyers. Coo-perstown’s “Holy Grail,” the Hall of Fame Induction weekend, was un-folding down the road as it doesevery year. Being a local I usuallydon’t get too wrapped up in the ex-citement but this year was different.Cal Ripken, my son-in-law Jordan’s

favorite player of all time, was goingto take his place in the hall of im-mortals this day. The plan for years

was when Cal’s election was secured, we wouldplay host to Jordan and his family; Ripken fansall. But, as fate would have it, on that eventfulday my daughter and son-in-law were missingfrom our little group. To keep Jordan away onthis momentous day meant that something of ex-traordinary importance was taking place; and in-deed it was. At about the same moment that Cal

Ripken was addressing the masses through his ac-ceptance speech, David Andrew Krey came intothis world. In a heartbeat, the importance of aprofessional athlete took second place to thebirth of a son; our first grandchild.

With all the recent discussion regarding nature

deficit disorder in children, I’d like to share a fewexamples of what our family is doing to combatthe problem. While David is only 3 months old,

he’s already been exposed to numerous outdoor“adventures.” Each day, regardless of theweather, our daughter wraps him up in his frontpack and goes for a walk in their neighborhood.At this early age he is becoming comfortable withthe warmth of the sun, the briskness of a breezeand the sounds of his world. Other early hikeshave included a beach walk with his mom andmy wife, and a walk he and I took where we dis-covered an old cemetery near his home.

On a weekend visit to Red Hill he spent considerable time with Grandma out in the garden While he wasn’t tending crops or weeding hwas able to interact with a woman who lovehim in a beautiful outdoor setting. He breathein clean country air and heard Canada geesoverhead as they began their annual migratoryflights. After gardening David “hiked” up andown the road meeting our neighbors. This littl jaunt gave him even more exposure to the sightssounds and smells of the countryside.

To top it all off, at the ripe old age of months to the day, David went on his first whalwatch! While the sun was out, the salty air and biting wind gave him other insights into his newworld. Swaddled in a fleece jacket while wearinhis favorite sun hat, he and I shared another opportunity to bond as the boat rolled and rockedon Cape Cod Bay. The entire time he took it ain stride, either sleeping snuggly against my chesor burbling excitedly with his bright eyes shiningThe fact that we saw 6 humpback whales was jus

an added bonus.

Now, to be honest, do I really think he’s going to remember these individual experiences ahe gets older? No, but they are allowing him tbecome comfortable outdoors. He is learning ttrust the fact that being outside is an adventure tolook forward to. Whether he’s with his parentor grandparents, he is discovering that the naturaworld is just that; natural. It’s the place to be

the place to experience life and, hopefully, thplace that will inspire him throughout his life What more could we ask for?

Until next time, may all your rambles lead you tonew and exciting places…

- David Andrew Krey

R a m b l i n

g s from Red Hill




On the morning of January 30th a groupof 21 outdoor educators and conservationprofessionals received education about wolf conservation at South Salem’s Wolf Conser-vation Center (WCC), which promotes wolf conservation by teaching about wolves,their relationship to the environment, andthe human role in protecting their future.The group consisted of educators and staff from the Taconic Outdoor Education Cen-

ter, The Fresh Air Fund’s Sharpe Reserva-tion, Bear Mountain State Park, and theDEC region 3 office.

The morning’s program started off withan informative slide show highlighting the WCC’s mission and important facts aboutwolves and conservation efforts. What bet-ter way to learn about wolves than doing soin the presence of real live wolves? Andthat is precisely what we did, for the WCChas four ambassador wolves that the public

is allowed to see. Before approaching, ourgroup howled in their direction to let themknow we were coming. In response, fromoff in the distance, we were answered bythe shrill howls of the wolf pack.

The ambassadors, Apache, Lukas, Kaila,and the well known Atka, who is their trav-eling wolf, are all different breeds of greywolf. WCC also has a pack of 20 Mexicanred wolves, which seldom see any humansin order to maintain their shy, elusive na-

ture. This must be done if they are to suc-ceed when released in the wild. Contrary tocommon belief, wild wolves are shy andafraid of people. Observers of the ambassa-dor wolves might get the impression thatwolves are like big, friendly dogs. In thewild they are far from it though domesticdogs are actually a subspecies of grey wolf.

Also related to wolves are coyotes andfoxes, which we do have in New York. Wolves, however, have not inhabited theregion for many decades due to hunting andhabitat fragmentation. The historic popula-tion of wolves in the lower 48 statesreached a high of over 250,000. By the1970s there were only a few hundred left.Thanks to captive breeding programs likethat of WCC there are now viable popula-

tions in the Western Great Lakes region,Northern Rockies (including YellowstoneNational Park), Southwest, Parts of Canada,and South Carolina.

Wolves are able to survive in these re-gions because there is enough undisturbedhabitat to support their prey and their terri-torial nature. Wolves mostly hunt large un-gulates such as caribou, elk, musk ox, anddeer. Their reintroduction has been a keycomponent in restoring badly damaged eco-

systems as in the case of Yellowstone Na-tional Park where wolves were absent for70 years until 1995.

The elk population in Yellowstone ex-ploded after the last of the wolves werekilled off by hunters early in the 20th cen-tury. Inflated populations of elk subse-quently grazed the park almost bare, pre-venting young trees and plants from grow-ing up, which in turn has cascading effectsthroughout the entire ecosystem. The pres-

ence of wolves breeds an ecology of fearcausing prey to be on the move constantlysuch that they cannot overgraze any particu-lar area. Spoilings from wolf kills also pro-vides meals for other animals. Wolves areclearly a keystone species necessary formaintaining the integrity of an ecosystem.They are a symbol of a healthy environmenton this continent.

- Glen is an SCA member currently working at Sharpe Reservation Environmental Education Center -

A Visit to the

Wolf Conservation CenterBy Glen Widjeskog




Hobblebush, witch-hobble and tangle-legsare intriguing names for an extraordinary vibur-num in the honey-suckle family. This shrub isworthy of our attention – both in our teachingand for our garden. It is common in the Cats-kills and Adirondacks, and less so in cool ravines

across the state. Thoreau listed it in his Maine Woods as one of four “prevailing underwoods”species on trips he made tothe north woods in the1850s. Easy to find, I feel itis the most attractive of ournative viburnums. Flower-ing in May, we may see itsred fruit and unusual fallfoliage on field trips at ourLake Placid Conference in

October.

Arching branches rootwhen they touch theground – an effectivemeans of asexual reproduc-tion – and a challenge tounwary bushwhacking hik-ers. Flat clusters of tinywhite flowers are mademore attractive by a showy sham: a ring of large sterile flowers that attract pollinators tothe many fertile ones. Wild food fans wait untilthe bright red berries dry and darken. Two re-lated species are known as wild raisin; suggest-ing what the fruit taste like. Large, broad leavesexhibit striking color patterns.

Many naturalists wonder why this and mayother handsome natives aren’t brought into cul-tivation. The answer is simple. Nursery profits

come from volume selling of a few species. Al-most no homeowners know this handsomeplant even exists, so there is little demand. Rely-ing on stock European and oriental landscapingmaterial, suburban America is kept distancedfrom nearby nature. (A subject for another arti-

cle is the nursery trade’s reluctance to giving upselling invasive aliens.)

John Burroughs broughthobblebush from the Catskillsto landscape his WoodchuckLodge at Roxbury. You too canuse favorite wildlings to remindyou of favorite places. First,check with local large nurseriesto see if their suppliers carry it.

If not, search native plant nurs-eries on the web. Either way,you’ll need to know Viburnumlantanoides or V. alnifolium.The name has changed.

I could go on for pagesabout this or any other plantthat excites me. But far moreimportant is . . .

. . . Teaching Eco-literacy

My enthusiasm for botany sometimesprompts my colleagues to remind me that a cri-terion for achieving outdoor literacy shouldn’tinclude being able to recognize every tree,shrub, vine, herb and fern we see. Although myfervor might suggest otherwise, I agree com-pletely.

Frank Knight




In fact, let’s look at a much bigger picturethan plant and animal species and their com-munities that we visit on field trips. We don’temphasize learning lists of individual plants,mushrooms, insects, reptiles, amphibians, birdsand mammals because it’s not good pedagogy.

We do use individual critters to teach apprecia-tion, awareness and a whole host of naturalhistory concepts such as adaptation. But weseldom relate all the examples we use to teachHow the World Works. We ignore this basicprinciple of ecology because it seems over-whelmingly abstract and complex both to usand to our students:

How the World Works: The sun cycles nutri-ents through living communities of plants, ani-

mals, people and decomposers.

We capture audience attention with an eco-system’s most interesting bits and pieces: ediblehobble-bush berries, fierce hawks and poison-ous mushrooms. But we can do so much more.

The next time berries are the topic, besidesedibility, be sure to explore their place in theircommunity including pollination, seed disper-

sal, disease, food chains and webs It’s easy tounderstand food chains and webs in the woodsin which we’re teaching, but how does this re-late to the pond at the bottom of the hill? Allof this is still too abstract and complex.

I’ve developed a graph with habitats as col-umn heads and energy flow as row headings.After any given outing, students can completethe column with examples of the most com-

mon plants, animals and decomposers in thenatural habitat they visited. From left to rightthe habitats go from most familiar – home,school, farm, field, and forest to the least fa-miliar aquatic habitats. (Contact me for chartexamples and blanks.) This is hardly a pro-

found idea, but it does reinforce some key con-cepts: 1) Plants, animals and decomposers are

equally important to community success. 2)Each habitat supports a different variety of liv-ing things that are vital for cycling resources.3) Energy and materials are used in each habi-tat in the same way. By learning only some of the many species they might encounter on fieldtrips, over time students will come to under-stand the basics of ecology.

We all are most enthusiastic about the disci-plines we know best. We all do a good job of conveying our excitement about nature to ouraudiences. We can do a better job of sharinghow wonderfully all living things work to-gether to sustain life. When we succeed at this,it should be easier to help people understandthe necessity of stewardship.

By: Frank KnightBy: Frank KnightBy: Frank KnightBy: Frank Knight

Using Common Plantsand Animals to Teach

Eco-literacy




(Continued from page 1) If the skeleton disintegrates, itwill leave behind only an impression or a cast of thecrinoid: a fossil. Or perhaps minerals replace cellularmaterial while retaining the organism’s structure, pre-

serving the crinoid through a process called perminer-alization. The minerals of the crinoid’s skeleton couldalso eventually recrystallize into more stable mineralswith the same chemical composition. Although thereare many ways in which an organism can be fossil-ized, very few actually do become fossils.

New York is world famous for its fossils— particularly its Silurian and Devonian invertebrates.The oldest tree fossils ever found in the world datefrom the Devonian and were recovered from bed of the Schoharie Creek. Some of the most completemastodon fossils ever found were excavated fromDutchess County.

Why are fossils important, and why are they soprevalent in New York? Fossils can be used in allsorts of applications: because they are unique to atime and place, they can be used to date strata, orlayers of rock. Scientists can also use fossils to studyhow species evolved and to recreate paleoenviron-ments.

Not all New York State rocks yield fossils. If yougo searching for fossils in the heart of the Adiron-

dacks, you will come up empty-handed. Fossils occuralmost exclusively in sedimentary rocks. Sedimentaryrocks form from layers of mud, silt, clay, shells andskeletons of organisms, sand, gravel, and other sub-stances that have collected and lithified, or hardenedinto rock, usually under water. The Adirondacks,however, consist primarily of igneous and metamor-phic rocks; not only did they form under pressuresand in temperatures too high to allow for fossilizationto occur, but they are some of the oldest rocks on

earth and predate all life, except for bacteria.If you look at a geologic map of New York State,

you’ll notice that there are sedimentary rocks cover-ing much of the state. New York State has not always

been in its present location, and it has not alwaysbeen above sea level. Between 543 and 359 millionyears ago, there were mountains to the east, and acoastline was located in eastern New York. Sedimenteroding from these mountains flowed into the oceanand settled, eventually forming the bands of sedimen-tary rocks visible across the state today. These rockscontain the abundant and diverse fossils that havemade New York famous.

The New York State fossil record dates all the wayback to the Cambrian Explosion, 543 million yearsago, when multi-cellular life first burst onto the scene.During this period, single-celled cyanobacteria were

forming stromatolite reefs in the Sara-toga Springs area. The bacteria wouldgrow in sticky mats that were coveredin sediment, forcing the cyanobacteriato grow through the sediment, atwhich point more sediment wouldaccumulate. The process repeatedover and over again, and the matseventually formed a reef of cabbage-

like columns. Although stromatolitesexist today (notably in Shark Bay, Australia) they arerare. Some scientists attribute this rarity to the factthat stromatolites require water with a high enoughsalinity to drive off would-be predators, like snails.

As life on earth diversified, the ocean coveringNew York became home to myriad species of brachiopods (or lampshells), trilobites, sponge-likecolonial animals called bryozoa, coral, eurypterids,crinoids, and countless other invertebrates. Trilobiteswere some of the earliest multi-cellular organisms to

evolve, and they belonged to the same phylum thatincludes modern day insects, crustaceans and spiders:Phylum arthropoda. Trilobites were so abundant inthe Cambrian that they set what is called a“biostratigraphic standard” for the period; in otherwords, geologists and paleontologists date layers ofrock, or strata, by examining the trilobite genera theyfind.

(Continued on next page)

FOSSILS OF

NEW YORK STATE




380 million years ago, land plants flourished onthe swampy coastline of present day Gilboa, NY, inSchoharie County. In 1850, an amateur naturalistdiscovered the oldest tree fossils in the world in the

Schoharie Creek. He found sandstone casts of theprogymnosperm Eospermopteris, a relative of mod-ern day conifers, preserved in situ: where the treeshad actually grown. The Eospermopteris trees hadbeen entombed in sand during a Devonian flood.

Practically no new sediments were deposited inNew York after the Devonian except sand andgravel left behind by glaciers. One of the mostcomplete mastodon skeletons ever found, however,was recovered in Hyde Park in 1999 when land-owners began expanding their glacial-age backyardpond. The Hyde Park mastodon roamed the eartharound 11,000 years ago, and the combination of being buried in sediment under water protected thebody from weather and from scavengers. Crewsfrom the Paleontological Research Institute spent sixweeks unearthing the skeleton in 2000.

Interested in seeing a trilobite or a mastodon foryourself? New York State museums house magnifi-cent fossil collections that the public can access. TheHyde Park mastodon now resides at the Paleontologi-

cal Research Institute in Ithaca, NY, where it is on dis-play in the Museum of the Earth, along with hun-dreds of other specimens. At the New York StateMuseum in Albany, you can see a Gilboa tree fossil,as well as a Cambrian mystery fossil that scientistshave yet to identify, not to mention countless otherNew York fossils. If you live in Western New York,check out the Penn Dixie Paleontological and Out-door Education Center in Hamburg, where naturalistslead fossil-collecting expeditions. The American Mu-seum of Natural History in New York City has someNew York State invertebrates on display in the War-burg Hall of New York Environments, including a eu-rypterid, the official fossil of New York. Greg Dietl,the Director of Collections at the Paleontological Re-search Institution, thinks of these places as “libraries ofthe history of life,” where scientists and the public canread the earth’s history, interpret specimens as a his-torian would texts, and apply their newfound knowl-edge to the continuing study of life on earth.

Central New YorkPaleontological Research Institution1259 Trumansburg RdRt. 96 Ithaca, NY 14850

(607)273-6623http://www.museumoftheearth.org/pgs/home.php

Hudson ValleyNew York State MuseumCultural Education Center of the Empire StatePlaza,Madison AvenueAlbany, NY 12230(518) 474-5877http://www.nysm.nysed.gov

New York CityAmerican Museum of Natural HistoryCentral Park West at 79th StreetNew York, NY 10024-5192 USA

(212) 769-5100http://www.amnh.org

Western New YorkPenn-Dixie Paleontologicaland Outdoor Edu. CenterP.O. Box 772Hamburg, NY 14075(716) 627-4560http://www.penndixie.org

Where to See New York State Fossils

Anne Schlesinger interned with the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Rogers

Environmental Education Center in Sherburne, NY during the winter of 2007. She owes her love andknowledge of paleontology to Hamilton College Professor of Geoscience Cynthia Domack.

She is currently an instructor/naturalist at the Ashokan Field Campus.



Established in 1968, the New York State Outdoor Education Association is the leadingprofessional group supporting outdoor education, environmental education, and inter-pretive services in New York State. Our membership includes classroom teachers, envi-

ronmental educators, college professors, naturalists, interpreters, youth leaders, adminis-trators, students, parents, and others interested in the outdoors.

Our Goals

• We promote public awareness of the value of outdoor and envi-

ronmental education and interpretation.

• We foster a lifelong appreciation and sense of stewardship for

the environment.

• We help classroom teachers and youth leaders use the outdoors

to enrich their curricula and programs.

• We assist our members in expanding their knowledge and skills

in using the environment for responsible educational purposes.

• We act as a unified voice supporting the fields of environmental

education, outdoor education, interpretation, and outdoor rec-

reation

New York State Outdoor Education Associationc/o Dept. of Recreation & Leisure Studies

P.O. Box 2000

SUNY Cortland

Cortland, New York 13045

Non-ProfitU.S. POSTAGE

P A I DCortland, NY

Permit No. 14

New York State Outdoor Education Association

OUR MISSION

NYSOEA is a professional organization that

promotes interdisciplinary life-long learning

in, for, and about the outdoors

and seeks to inspire appreciation of the

environment by all people.

Pathways Spring 2008

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