Petition Against Hartley Nature Center Master Plans Gains Support

DULUTH- The Hartley Nature Center is considered one of Duluth's gems, but it's in the middle of a controversy.It all boils down to the master plan the park presented to the city.This is the fourth revision of the plan because over and over again the plan hasn't been acceptable to different groups of people. This time one man says changes to the park will negatively affect the children who are learning by exposure to the park.With 640 acres of woodlands, creeks and ponds, 10 miles of trails and a wide variety of wildlife, the Hartely Nature Center provides children an intimate encounter with nature the outdoors.For three years the "Gender Matters" program has been pushing for children to be immersed in nature and they have collected over 500 signatures to prevent changes being made to the park.Dan Mundt of Gender Matters said, "how do we insure the continuance of this sense of stewardship? By childhood immersion. That became our North Star. I said that's what we're going to do."This immersion is designed to provide many benefits including helping to improve children's ability to learn, so teachers have been taking children out more frequently.Mundt said, "because they see what happens with the children. They change totally. All of a sudden you don't have disciplinary problems. All of a sudden this is their classroom."Mundt believes the new changes proposed in the newest addition of the master plan will have a terrible impact on nature and affect the kids."Do you understand how unusual it is to have bluebirds up here, you know why, they don't come up this North."These are just a few of the recommendations in the new master plan, and these are some of the concerns "Gender Matters" have:Master Plan Says:"Failure to proactively thin and replant forests planted in the 1940's that are now unnaturally uniform in age and species composition."Gender Matters Says:"Management will be for thinning or harvesting and destroy all natural development of forests at this time."Master Plan Says:"Implement two–option route for the Duluth Traverse with the Old Hartley Road providing a beginner level trail from Arrowhead Road to Woodland Avenue..."Gender Matters Says:"[The trail] will provide an active large route for outdoor bikers to complete the 25–mile trail going through Hartley at this time."Duluth Parks and Recreation manager, Kathy Bergen said, "there are trails in that area and because it is so wet, the damage to the trails, just happens on a regular basis, so one solution to improving the sustainability of the trail is to put a board walk there.It's possible that more people will go to the park because it will be a little more accessible. There's not going to be races through the park or any kind of programmed events that will hurt the ecology."Master Plan Says:"Examine feasibility of restoring natural creek condition above and below damn by separating and realigning stream bed around Hartley Pond."Gender Matters Says:This creates a "Loss of an essential ecosystem and part of Hartley Nature Center, which should never occur."Gender Matters is worried these and many more changes will greatly affect the natural beauty of the park, but city leaders says they are going to great lengths to hear all sides.Bergen said, "but not all changes can be made and sometimes it just comes down to personal opinion."Gender Matters also says these changes destroy the contract they have with Hartley Nature Center.The next step after this meeting is for the plan to go to City Council for them to vote.