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09/02/2002 Natural Lands Restoration & Environmental Education Program (NLREEP) (Ed Goppelt)

• Photos
• Parks News

Having read the Daily News Acres of Neglect series when I actually went out into the park system I expected the worst. What I found when I actually visited parks not known to me surprised me: on the whole, the parks looked pretty good and some of them, like Pennypack looked terrific.

Of course, it's been over a year since the Daily News ran their series, but I think there is another reason, too. For five years now, a kind of Park "skunk works" has been working to reform our park system. This division, which is not listed on City Org Charts because it has its own money, reports directly to the Executive Director and the Commission. It has its own source of funds, independent of the City.

Sometime in the mid-nineties, top Fairmount Park managers, led by Peter O'Dell, applied for and received from the William Penn Foundation. The a $26.6 Million grant was for something they called the Natural Lands Restoration and Environmental Education Program (NLREEP).

At its inception NLREEP in 1997 consisted of 6 people. Now 19 people work there. "The City picked up 10 positions, a great gain for the park" says Focht. By this and many other measures, NLREEP is flourishing. According to Focht's Accomplishments by the Numbers, NLREEP has completed work on 150 restoration projects and improved 190 acres of park land. It has built two new environmental centers and has completed designs ready for four more.

The original grant expired on June of this year, and NLREEP was awarded a new grant for $1.5 million. Focht hopes that the City will eventually assume the entire cost of the program.

Note: for the sake of those with slow Internet connections, pictures are displayed at their smallest possible size. To enlarge the photos, simply click on the size controls under any photo.

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Case Building, NLREEP's Home
2002/09/02 The Case Building is located not far from Memorial Hall at the intersection of Belmont Ave. and Parkside Dr.

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Mark Focht, Director NLREEP
2002/09/02 Mark Focht was one of six people originally hired to staff NLREEP in December 1997. Following the return of his former boss, Nancy Goldenberg, to the Center City District, Focht was promoted to NLREEP director. Focht, 41, has a BA and an MA in landscape architecture. He's spent ten years working for the private sector, four years at John Rahekamp Consultants and 6 years at Wallace Roberts a national landscape architecture firm based in Philadelphia. He worked at the Center City District for three years starting in 1994.

Asked which he liked better public or private, Focht replied "as a consultant you only have the ability to make recommendations. I believe in the concept of giving back to the community and effect in charge in the public realm."

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Question: Where is NLREEP on this Org Chart?
2002/09/02 Answer: you won't find it here, because NLREEP has a funding source independent of the City.

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NLREEP Reception Area
2002/09/02

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NLREEP Goals
2002/09/02 NLREEP is primarily focused on conservation and restoration. At least on this document public uses-- activities like swimming, hiking and biking-- are listed near the end of NLREEP's "Guiding Principles."

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Watersheds of Philadelphia
2002/09/02 NLREEP has taken upon itself the enormous task of restoring the watershed parks in Fairmount Park, i.e., parks like Wissahickon and Pennypack which have a creek running through them.

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No Public Bathrooms here!
2002/09/02 NLREEP, like Fairmount Park HQ in Memorial Hall, doesn't let the public use its restrooms.

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The NLREEP Parking Lot
2002/09/02 Even the parking lot is a NLREEP restoration project.