From the Director’s Notebook: Planning for the Future of Our Park
by Sarah Marley, FOW Interim Executive Director
As the year winds down, with so much incredible work in the rearview and on the horizon, I remind myself to feel gratitude for this exact moment in Friends of the Wissahickon’s (FOW) story. Just as I might pause on a hike in the Wissahickon, I’ll close my eyes, feel the silence of the woods, breathe in the fragrance of the earth, and know that we’re so lucky to be exactly where we are.
Thank you for joining us during our 101st year of stewardship. The community we serve is at the center of our mission, guiding our work, and helping us achieve our ambitious goals. If you would like to contribute to our end-of-year campaign, consider becoming a member or donating to support our work.
Thanks to a generous anonymous donor and FOW’s board of directors, your donation will be matched up to $20,000 from now until the end of the year.
As we dive into our second century of stewardship, here’s how FOW plans to build resiliency in 2026 and beyond, so we can continue to welcome and enrich the experience of the park’s 2+ million annual visits. I hope to see you on the trail this New Year!
Wissahickon Valley Park Streambank Resiliency & Flood Study
With grant funding from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Coastal Zone Management Program, and with the help of expert contractors, FOW will identify locations along Forbidden Drive and adjacent access trails most vulnerable to flooding, erosion, or susceptible to bank collapse.
Forbidden Drive is the arterial trail to the heart of Wissahickon Valley Park. The clearing in the forest where neighbors meet, and families form traditions that transcend generations.
The results of the study will guide our stormwater management for the next two decades. Your support will ensure our trails are resilient to flooding and sediment discharge and your grandkids can play down by the crick too.
Learn more about this project at FOW’s Public Projects meeting on January 28 at 6 PM. Register here.
Zone Stewards Program
None of FOW’s work would be possible without the 2,000+ annual volunteers who dedicate their weekends and early mornings for the sake of their community’s continued enjoyment of Wissahickon Valley Park. Full stop.
Our trained volunteer Crew Leaders and Trail Ambassadors co-lead service days, provide information to park users, lead free guided hikes, and now, with the advent of the Zone Stewards, independently care for their own corner of the Wissahickon.
Since the program began in 2022, newly trained Crew Leaders are ushered into the program and assigned a section of the park where they’ll hone their new land stewardship skills by cutting back sight lines, collecting trash, removing invasives, and reporting damages and park problems to FOW staff.
What was once a vast 2,000+ acres of parkland are now broken into 15 sections, intimately known by their designated caretakers, expanding FOW’s capacity for stewardship beyond the bounds of what we ever thought was possible.
The park can’t care for itself. It requires that support of a community that knows the value of a vast green space in a world where it’s quickly disappearing.
Little Friends of the Wissahickon
How do you raise children who feel confident in the outdoors, who value green space, and will advocate for its conservation in a rapidly developing world? The Little Friends of the Wissahickon program, in partnership with Let’s Go Outdoors, is a response to these questions of resiliency.
Since 2018, the Little Friends program has welcomed more than 5,000 Philadelphia Public School students to Wissahickon Valley Park. For many of the students who take part, this is their first time in Wissahickon Valley Park, or in the woods at all.
Access to the outdoors is critical to children’s growth and development. It supports their physical health, boosts mental, well-being and instills confidence. FOW strives to connect all who seek a place in nature with pathways to Wissahickon. We know the future of the park is in good hands with our Little Friends. Will you help us secure funding for the future of this program and the future of Wissahickon Valley Park?
Photo courtesy of Hunter Nichols