Armacost Park Pits ‘Savers’ from Both Sides

AVALON – Again, those who want to save Armacost Park faced off against those who want to save Armacost Park. On March 27, a group of committed residents held a press conference on 71st Street, the site of recent vine-and-understory removal efforts by the borough in Armacost Park.
Presenting East Stroudsburg University Professor of Biology Terry Master as an expert on the environments most appropriate for herons, the group that opposes borough efforts hoped to show that those efforts are directly counter to the borough’s stated goal of promoting the park as a bird sanctuary.
Resident Steve Malyszka, who supported the borough at a recent council meeting and who urged council to “stay the course,” carried a sign saying “Save the Park” in opposition to the position of the press conference organizers.
Only a handful of residents braved a cold, wet afternoon to hear Master talk. Acknowledging his special expertise as an ornithologist, Master drove over four hours to promote the point of view that the park environment “is fine as is” with respect to habitat it offers birds, especially herons.
Master defended vines and understory as protection from predators and a source of food for migratory birds. He concluded in the way activist residents seeking to stop the borough’s activity hoped he would. “The park is valuable as it is,” he said.
He also advised that a possibly low count of herons at present has very little meaning. “The colonies move a great deal,” he said. “What is important is maintaining a suitable alternative site for them.”
Borough Council members have been struggling with the issue of the park ecology for years. From their perspective, and that of experts brought in to advise them, a once-vibrant park with oak, cherry and cedar trees has been deteriorating rapidly due to invasive vines. The borough has recently initiated a plan to manage the forest with a pilot project that commenced in February.
It is precisely the intent of the borough to “manage” the park that has a small but persistent group of residents upset.
According to Martha Wright, it was the last effort to manage the park by introducing a freshwater pond that probably gave rise to many of the problems the park has. Leave the park to nature was the mantra of the opposition to the borough initiative.
According to Borough Business Administrator Scott Wahl, the borough has “conducted ecological studies and surveys” at the park and collected the advice of numerous experts. Those efforts led to the recent “cut-and-leave” pilot project in a two-acre section of the park on the northeast side.
The plan, Wahl said, “has been endorsed by the Avalon Home and Land Owners Associations, which represents over 1,000 Avalon property owners,” and “the all-volunteer Avalon Environmental Commission.” The next step in the plan is the planting of “300 new trees in the park where the vines were cut.”
Malyszka says the park is in desperate need of intervention. Master’s comments were largely limited to the park’s current environment as a attractive ecosystem for birds. “This is too much about herons,” said Malyszka. “There is more to this than herons.”
How much the press conference and Master’s presentation will influence future events is unclear. The council, confident in its efforts as an environmental steward and backed by the borough’s experts is not likely to change course. The residents who showed up to hear Master speak were already declared on one side or the other on the issue. Those who oppose intervention in the park will probably need greater numbers before they are likely to have any real impact.
The park has its friends on both sides of the debate. All want to save Armacost Park, but the routes to achieving that goal could not be more different.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.