The town of Bloomsburg has a location that is in the proximity to some of Pennsylvania’s greatest ecological landmarks, one of which is Ricketts Glen State Park. In an interview with Environmental Education Specialist Rhiannon Summers, she was able to give some valuable insight into how the park is run and what makes it so unique.

When asked about what her position as an environmental education specialist is and what the job duties entail, Summers replied,

“I implement, organize, and plan the historical, educational, and recreational events at the park.”

Summers went into detail explaining just what makes Ricketts Glen so unique to other state parks. She noted that the park has an abundance of waterfalls, 22 to be exact. These beautiful waterfalls are a big tourist attraction and bring in half a million visitors to the park each year!

She discussed how the park is filled with visitors throughout the year, but the summer months are always busy. Summers talked about how the summer months receive the most traction, with vistiors from every age group attending.

When asked what group of people visit the most, Summers stated, “all ages visit, never stuck with one demographic.” One reason for the packed venue may be the swimming area which is open for the summer.

Volunteering is another area the park excels at. Summers explained how both the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts volunteer their time at the park to help with events. Eagle Scouts also work on projects of their own there.

One group that could volunteer more at the park though is Bloomsburg University students. Summers noted that the volunteering in local events from BU students is, “not very active”.

Summers expressed that differing groups come throughout the year, and that a diverse series of events are planned throughout the year to reach every kind of audience. Some events are recreational while others are therapeutic.

Forest therapy is one of the therapeutic events offered at the park. When asked if forest therapy had been performed at the park, Summers noted that it had. She described how it has happened three times, two forest bathing activities and one wellness walk.

She further explained that audience reception to forest therapy was very positive. She said, “very positive comments afterwards” in regards to audience reception. She expressed that forest therapy was something that was seeing an increased interest among visitors and was able to reach a new demographic.

Summers was then asked if she felt that forest therapy was something that she saw as beneficial to the park. She stated,

“Yes because one of my main goals is to get people outside and to understand what’s going on around them.”

She also touched on the practice’s focus on recognizing local species and systems along with the easy to do nature of the practice.

When asked what the biggest problems facing the park are, Summers was able to identify two major problems.

1. Climate Change– Summers identified that the problem has really become apparent over the last two summers and the flooding caused by climate change has led to the cancellation of park events and has lowered attendance.
2. Invasive Species– This is a problem directly related to climate change. Some of the species invading the park are the gypsy moth and the elongate hemlock scale.

Summers was adamant though in explaining the park’s many methods of up keeping its natural beauty. She noted that her job directly relates to this because she is able educate and inform the visitors of how to best preserve the park.

The forest rangers also work tirelessly to combat vandalism, trail up-keep, and fight invasive species.

Summers ended the interview by noting some of the events planned for the park’s future. Two such events are:

• Music event upcoming for the summer- guests can take sessions to learn instruments then play in concert.
• Earth Day Everyday- Scheduled for June 13th, this day will have different conservation groups educate and visit.