Lime Hollow

Last updated
Lime Hollow
USA New York location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Map of New York
Location Cortland County, New York
Nearest city Cortland
Coordinates 42°34′10″N76°15′07″W / 42.56956°N 76.25192°W / 42.56956; -76.25192 Coordinates: 42°34′10″N76°15′07″W / 42.56956°N 76.25192°W / 42.56956; -76.25192
Area 400 acres (1.6 km2)
Established 1993 (1993)
www.limehollow.org

The Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture (Lime Hollow) is a nature preserve project in Cortland County, New York. It was founded in 1993 as the Lime Hollow Nature Center, the culmination of efforts 20 years earlier to develop a nature preserve to protect an unusual assemblage of marl ponds, a peat bog, and kame-and-kettle topography along an abandoned railroad right of way in Lime Hollow, just west of the city of Cortland.

Cortland County, New York County in the United States

Cortland County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 census, the population of Cortland County was 49,336. The county seat is Cortland. The county is named after Pierre Van Cortlandt, president of the convention at Kingston that wrote the first New York State Constitution in 1777, and first lieutenant governor of the state.

New York (state) State of the United States of America

New York is a state in the Northeastern United States. New York was one of the original thirteen colonies that formed the United States. With an estimated 19.54 million residents in 2018, it is the fourth most populous state. To distinguish the state from the city with the same name, it is sometimes called New York State.

Marl Lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and silt

Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and silt. The dominant carbonate mineral in most marls is calcite, but other carbonate minerals such as aragonite, dolomite, and siderite may be present. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay and calcium carbonate, formed under freshwater conditions; specifically an earthy substance containing 35–65% clay and 65–35% carbonate. It also describes a habit of coralline red alga. The term is today often used to describe indurated marine deposits and lacustrine (lake) sediments which more accurately should be named 'marlstone'. Marlstone is an indurated rock of about the same composition as marl, more correctly called an earthy or impure argillaceous limestone. It has a blocky subconchoidal fracture, and is less fissile than shale. The term 'marl' is widely used in English-language geology, while the terms Mergel and Seekreide are used in European references.

Contents

History

Lime Hollow, through a renewable use agreement, began by utilizing 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land and two buildings belonging to the Tunison Laboratory of Aquatic Science of the US Geological Survey. Lime Hollow purchased an additional 190 acres (0.77 km2) adjoining the Tunison property in 1998, partly funded with a grant from the New York State Clean Air/Clean Water Bond Act. The area included a four-acre (16,000 m2) pond, beaver pond, old fields, and woodlands.

During 2002, the name of the center was changed to Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture. A new logo was created to better express the mission of the center, including an emphasis on providing cultural education programs in addition to environmental education programs. Lime Hollow opened a $1 million Visitor Center facility located on McLean Road in May 2007. The Visitor Center has a central exhibit space, a bird education room[ clarification needed ], several modular educational displays, gift-shop, staff offices, and numerous green building features. Outside, the center features a creek-side bird sanctuary - and, a key new addition to the center - a "Trail For All" designed to give people with disabilities easy access to one of the center's groomed trails.

Cultural studies is a field of theoretically, politically, and empirically engaged cultural analysis that concentrates upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture, its historical foundations, defining traits, conflicts, and contingencies. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices relate to wider systems of power associated with or operating through social phenomena, such as ideology, class structures, national formations, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and generation. Cultural studies views cultures not as fixed, bounded, stable, and discrete entities, but rather as constantly interacting and changing sets of practices and processes. The field of cultural studies encompasses a range of theoretical and methodological perspectives and practices. Although distinct from the discipline of cultural anthropology and the interdisciplinary field of ethnic studies, cultural studies draws upon and has contributed to each of these fields.

Environmental education Branch of pedagogy

Environmental education (EE) refers to organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably. It is a multi-disciplinary field integrating disciplines such as biology, chemistry, physics, ecology, earth science, atmospheric science, mathematics, and geography. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) states that EE is vital in imparting an inherent respect for nature amongst society and in enhancing public environmental awareness. UNESCO emphasises the role of EE in safeguarding future global developments of societal quality of life (QOL), through the protection of the environment, eradication of poverty, minimization of inequalities and insurance of sustainable development. The term often implies education within the school system, from primary to post-secondary. However, it sometimes includes all efforts to educate the public and other audiences, including print materials, websites, media campaigns, etc.. There are also ways that environmental education is taught outside the traditional classroom. Aquariums, zoos, parks, and nature centers all have ways of teaching the public about the environment.

Ecosystem

The Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture is home to a very diverse ecosystem. The kame-and-kettle topography was created by glacial movement, making it so that the land is very undulated. [1] Due to the nature of the topography, Lime Hollow possess several unique habitats. Among them are marl ponds, [2] small ponds containing deposits of mudstone with high amounts of calcium, and a peat bog, an area where dead vegetation has been compressed by water pressure creating a wetland environment. [3]

Kame An irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier

A kame is a glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the glacier. Kames are often associated with kettles, and this is referred to as kame and kettle topography. The word kame is a variant of comb, which has the meaning "crest" among others. The geological term was introduced by Thomas Jamieson in 1874.

Kettle (landform) A depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters

A kettle is a depression/hole in an outwash plain formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. The kettles are formed as a result of blocks of dead ice left behind by retreating glaciers, which become surrounded by sediment deposited by meltwater streams as there is increased friction. The ice becomes buried in the sediment and when the ice melts, a depression is left called a kettle hole, creating a dimpled appearance on the outwash plain. Lakes often fill these kettles, these are called kettle hole lakes. Another source is the sudden drainage of an ice-dammed lake. When the block melts, the hole it leaves behind is a kettle. As the ice melts, ramparts can form around the edge of the kettle hole. The lakes that fill these holes are seldom more than 10 m (33 ft) deep and eventually become filled with sediment. In acid conditions, a kettle bog may form but in alkaline conditions, it will be kettle peatland.

Flora and fauna

Labrador Tea Rhododendron groenlandicum (7833316082).jpg
Labrador Tea

Within the wide range of habitats existing in Lime Hollow there are wide variety plant and animal species. The peat bog is home to a wide swathe of Labrador tea ( Ledum groenlandicum ), an acid-loving plant whose growth season is in the spring. [4] There are also a wide variety of animal species including muskrats, beavers, and white-tailed deer.

Educational programs and opportunities

Lime Hollow boasts several summer programs that are both educational and recreational. Among these, Nature's Keepers is a program specifically targeted towards 3- to 5-year-olds and teaching them the value of spending time in a natural environment. [5] In addition to the summer programs, local schools frequently send field trip groups to the center throughout the year. This is supported through the contributions of the Cortland Community Foundation, which granted $10,000 to be used in the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years. [6] In recent years, through a collaboration between Lime Hollow and OCM BOCES a new environmental education center was constructed. The center plays host to OCM BOCES science classes for 40 weeks out of the year, and then to summer camps for another 10 weeks. [7]

Recreation

Chicago Bog Chicago Bog, Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture.png
Chicago Bog

Lime Hollow has developed nearly 10 miles (16 km) of walking trails, several wildlife viewing stations, and over 375 acres (1.52 km2) of land. Lime Hollow offers walking and hiking opportunities year-round, while winter allows for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. A local geocaching group has established several locations on and off the trails. Lime Hollow also boasts unique topographical features, like the Chicago Bog on the Phillips Memorial trail, which is one of the few existing peat bogs in the Finger Lakes region. [8]

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References

  1. ↑ Kumar, Dr. Amit. "Kame and Kettle Topography" . Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture". New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  3. ↑ "Peat Bog" . Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  4. ↑ "Ledum groenlandicum Oeder Bog Labrador Tea". United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
  5. ↑ "Lime Hollow Day Camp Programs". Lime Hollow Nature Center. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  6. ↑ "Lime Hollow Center for Environment and Culture". Cortland Community Foundation. Retrieved 26 February 2014.[ permanent dead link ]
  7. ↑ Durfee, Nell. "Nature in Lime Hollow". Ithaca Times. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  8. ↑ "Lime Hollow". I Love the Finger Lakes. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
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