Students follow water’s path from mountains to city

Upstate and downstate partner about

the importance of watersheds

By FRITZ MAYER

fritzmayer@riverreporter.com

NEW YORK STATE — The Catskill watershed is important to two different groups: the people in the watershed in the mountains, and the people who live in New York City and drink the water. Although the two groups sometimes clash about how best to manage the watershed, several organizations from both sides of the divide united in an effort to send a group of high school students hiking and canoeing along a more than 100-mile path that some of that water travels from the source to the tap.

Twelve high school students, six from Sydney High School in Delaware County and six from New York Harbor School in Brooklyn, are participating. The point of the trek, according to the organizers, is to help the students become “agents for educating the public” about protecting the watershed, and about “the vital and little-recognized connections between the city and the upstate communities.”

While these are commendable goals, there is also the inescapable fact that these 12 students are on a three-week journey that they will not soon likely forget. They started at the Belleayre Ski Resort in Highmount on July 7, and will finish in lower Manhattan on July 28. In the meantime, their thoughts about the experience are being documented in an on-line journal.

After the first night camping out, Sean Soto, a sophomore from Brooklyn, wrote, “When I woke up this morning, I could not stop thinking about the stars that I saw last night. I live in Brooklyn and at night you do not really see stars …but last night was like WOW! In Brooklyn, we have streetlights lighting up our streets, while up here you have these beautiful stars to light up your environment.”

Another student, Marissa Morton, a senior from Sydney, wrote in the aftermath of a challenging hike through backpack country, “This trek has taken away any problem at home and has made me completely at peace.... This may sound corny but it is the truth. The thought of an ipod on my ears or waiting in line at a restaurant puts stress right back on. I have learned so much about myself the past six days and I will carry this experience with me the rest of my life.”

A posting three days later from Sarah Place, another senior from Sydney, had a decidedly different tone: “We are finally out of the mountains and I feel like we are actually moving closer to civilization. Do not get me wrong; it is nice here and everything but if you haven’t seen a McDonald’s or Walmart since this trek started, well, that is self-explanatory.”

Along the way, the students participated in experiments, met with environmental experts and also took some time out for fun. More details of the trek and the student’s reactions can be found at www.stroudcenter.org/nytrek2007.

The photos and journal entries will be featured in an exhibit at the South Street Seaport Museum at 12 Fulton Street in New York City from October 25 through November 27.

The trek, led by Wes Gillingham, an organic farmer in Sullivan County and the program director of Catskill Mountainkeeper, was organized and sponsored by dozens of environmental groups including Riverkeeper, The Catskill Center, Stroud Water Research Center and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection.