It's Evan Mulvihill, "treasurer" of Friends of the Gorge (FotG?), previously known as Friends of Fall Creek. I hope this will be a place where we post minutes of meetings, our progress on our assigned tasks, and perhaps even idle banter.
What is Friends of the Gorge? Our advisor, Professor Marianne Krasny, provided the following explanation of our mission and goals:
"Friends of Fall Creek is a student organization whose mission is to develop and help implement management plans for the campus gorges. We will start with the section of Fall Creek on the Cornell campus (between the Triphammer and Stewart Avenue bridges). Students will come up with recommendations and solutions to address: (1) deteriorating condition of trails; (2) trash dumping into the gorge; (3) student safety (in light of three student drownings, suicides, and accidental falls); and (4) access to this important recreational resource for the Cornell community.
The current Cornell policy of fencing off the stairs to the Creek to ensure safety is not effective. In the short time the fence has been in existence, it has been repeatedly vandalized so that students are continuing to swim in the Creek. Students are best suited to come up with creative ways to deal with issues related to preserving recreational opportunities that have long been part of the Cornell experience and tradition, while paying attention to critical safety concerns.
For information about joining the Friends of Fall Creek student organization, please contact Professor Marianne Krasny at mek2@cornell.edu."
1 comment:
Evan and FoG,
I really enjoyed meeting our group members yesterday along with Todd Bittner, Natural Areas Coordinator at Plantations, who provided valuable information about management of Fall Creek. It seems that with all the City of Ithaca and Cornell interest in the issues of trash dumping by fraternities and others, safety, and natural areas stewardship, the work that you as students do will be felt widely by the Cornell and Ithaca communities. I look forward to our Wednesday, October 1 meeting, 5-7, in 304 Fernow, and hope you will invite your friends and colleagues.
Please note also that Dr David Weinstein has offered to share with us information about volunteer water monitoring on Fall Creek being done by another "civic ecology" volunteer group called Fall Creek Watershed Committee.
Great start! Marianne Krasny
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