A local newspaper article describes the discovery of the rare tree and the establishment of this micro nature preserve. Source: Morning Call Newspaper, April 12, 2012.
'Whitehall student finds rare magnolia trees on school grounds
One look, and Chad Schwartz could tell this tree wasn’t from Whitehall.
The trunk was thin and narrow. White flowers surrounded a blooming pink fruit. And its leaves spread fantastically wide from the branch, unfolding like a delicate umbrella.
Indeed, that’s what the tree in the woods behind his house was: an umbrella magnolia, which has been sighted in only a handful of Pennsylvania counties.
And there wasn’t just one, but a stand sprinkled among other trees and plants on land owned by the school district.
Schwartz, then in fifth grade, made note of the trees and went on.
But years later, as he started crossing through the woods again to reach Whitehall High School, the budding environmental scientist saw the trees again. His curiosity wouldn’t let him leave it alone.
“They really stand out,” he said. “I knew they didn’t really fit in back here.”
So, the 17-year-old senior successfully petitioned to have a 6.8-acre wooded area containing the trees declared a wild plant sanctuary.
Schwartz was honored this week for his efforts.
Stretching behind the high school’s football field, the tract is now on a registry of properties recognized by the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources as hosting rare life.
David Schmit and Tim Latz of DCNR attended Tuesday’s school board meeting to present a plaque to Schwartz and the district in recognition of the sanctuary designation.
Latz said the umbrella magnolia is found in only 13 of the 67 counties in the state and in only 12 states in the country. Latz said West Virginia has the most umbrella magnolia trees, followed by Pennsylvania.
“Chad Schwartz recognized the educational potential of that wood lot and the rare specimens it holds within,” Latz said.
The Whitehall-Coplay Wild Plant Sanctuary is one of only 13 non-state-owned properties recognized as such by the state.
Schmit said the area can provide educational opportunities for botany, biology, photography and more. Schmit said the area should be enclosed by a fence to keep out whitetail deer that munch on native plants. Other native plants, such as orchids, could be introduced, he said.
Schmit also provided a list of organizations, including the Rodale Institute and the Nature Conservancy, which could provide assistance and expertise in caring for the sanctuary.
“You guys bring the education and we’ll bring the technical assistance,” Latz said.
Schwartz has big hopes for the site. Though he’ll be graduating soon, with plans to study environmental science at Muhlenberg College, he said the high school’s outdoors club may install improvements to the sanctuary to make it more accessible.
“I wanted to raise awareness and try to protect it,” he said.'
The preserve has a fence with a gate for people to enter and to deter deer.
If you follow these tracks, you can get to the preserve by walking inf ro public parking:
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visit link)