This past year, the Central Park Conservancy had the unique opportunity of partnering with the Blahttp://www.blackrockforest.org/ck Rock Forest Consortium. This is an exceptional alliance of colleges and universities, public and independent K-12 schools, and leading scientific and cultural institutions that jointly operate the nearly 4000-acre Black Rock Forest (BRF) — located 50 miles north of New York City in the Hudson Highlands — as a field station for scientific research, education, and conservation. This partnership has allowed the Conservancy to enrich its educational offerings, while also allowing its research team to use valuable resources outside Central Park for important studies on the continued health of the Park.

One of the first actions of this partnership has been an active collaboration between the educational arm of BRF and the Central Park Scholars program.  Starting this past fall, the 7th grade Central Park Scholars have teamed up with BRF to help students answer the question, “What is Nature?”  Students have been able to spend time in both Central Park and BRF studying the trees and environment for clues to help answer this deceptively simple question.  During the second week of the program, forest manager John Brady came down from BRF to lead a walk through the North Woods that provided an introduction to forest ecology by sampling Red Oak acorns from around Black Rock Forest and Central Park’s North Woods.

A month later, the Scholars got their first chance to experience BRF for themselves.  The day trip included the release of brook trout, a walk in the forest, and a “solo sit.”  The solo sit gave students a chance to experience the woods by themselves and to begin heightening their awareness and observational skills. As the Scholars begin their studies of the health of trees in different areas of the Park, their ability to draw comparisons between the two areas will enable them to have a better understanding of what it means for a tree to be healthy.  In April, they will head back up to BRF for an overnight visit, which will include hiking, working in the forest, and, of course, recreation. 

"The Scholars Program is a great way to connect New York City students with nature,” says Bill Schuster, Executive Director of Black Rock Forest Consortium. “We are happy to help them better understand trees, their uses, and their roles within forest ecosystems. It may encourage some of them to consider exciting and rewarding careers in the natural sciences. Our relationship with the Conservancy has seemed like a natural fit from the beginning."

Another valuable opportunity for the Conservancy in undertaking this partnership has been the ability to participate in a tree study that examines the effects of urbanization on plant growth. In an article published in a 2003 issue of Nature magazine, a local scientist found that poplar tree seedlings grew better in New York City than they did in upstate rural research plots.  To explore why this might be the case, a new study — using oak tree plantings in Central Park, Black Rock Forest, the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, and a fourth plot on the property of Conservancy trustee William T. Golden — is testing the oak’s response to conditions in urban, suburban, exurban and rural environments.

The Conservancy looks forward to continuing its fruitful collaboration with Black Rock Forest Consortium.