Gifford Pinchot

Grey Towers

In 1989 I don't think I had any idea about Gifford Pinchot when we decided to bike to investigate a local monument...The family estate of the Pinchot family and Gifford Pinchot.

Gifford Pinchot is considered among the fathers of modern American forestry and was the Secretary of the Interior during the Teddy Roosevelt administration. In 1908 he convened the first White House Conference on Conservation. Andrew Carnegie gave a keynote speech at the conference, which may explain why Mr. Pinchot's approach to forestry is biased toward management of resources. This approach led to battles with John Muir and others during the early formative years of the National Park System.

Years after my visit I learned and appreciated a more personal connection to the work of Gifford Pinchot. Namely that my great grandfather was a forester and a professor at the School of Forestry at Syracuse University. In the late twenties he wrote a paper titled, "Making Best USe of Idle Lands in New York." Another example of the utilitarian approach to the forests.

Giffor dPinchot was also a progressive Republican of the sort you no longer see much. He was twice elected Governor of Pennsylvania. In addition to his support of conservation his platform called for greater regulation of utilities to protect the working class consumer.

Twenty years after visiting GRey Towers I am pleased I had the opportunity to stumble upon the landmark to this important man and vow to return an dlearn more about him and his work. For now, a couple quotes from Mr. Pinchot:

When I got home at the end of 1890...the nation was obsessed by a fury of development. The American Colossus was fiercely intent on appropriating and exploiting the riches of the richest of all continents.

-- Upon returning from studies at the L'Ecole Nationale Forestiere in Nancy, France

The central thing for which conservation stands is to make this country the best possible place to live in, both for us and for our descendants. It stands against the waste of the natural resources which cannot be renewed, such as coal and iron; it stands for the perpetuation of the resources which can be renewed, such as the food-producing soils and the forests; and most of all it stands for an equal opportunity for every American citizen to get his fair share of benefit from these resources, both now and hereafter.

-- From The Fight for Conservation, 1910

Sunday May 21

Intermittent clouds throughout the day with a brief shower while in Layton New Jersey. There were thunderstorms to the North in New York, according to radio reports.

The route for the day was about forty miles and was extremely easy compared to the day before.

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=43067

We arrived at the Youth Hostel early enough to enjoy the views of the Delaware River Valley in the afternoon.  The Youth hostel is the house in the grainy picture on the right.  It apparently is no longer operating as a hostel as I found no record of its existence.

After leaving in the morning we rolled down a steep hill into New York state for a few miles before rolling into Vernon New Jersey and stopping at the Saxony Bakery (Now Euro Bakery).  Vernon has been a rural crossroads since the Revolutionary War.  It has always been secondary to the major roads.  For that reason perhaps more of the older buildings have remained, in modern use but with a long history, as the link reveals.

The picture on the left was taken along the ride and seemed to be a kind blessing and omen.  Also on this day we were biking along a rural road as an MS ride was heading the other way.  It was the first major concentration of bikers we would see along the ride...and the last for quite awhile.

New Jersey Hills

May 20th proceeded with rather unpleasant biking through the towns of North New Jersey, across the Overbeck, Hackensack, and Passaic Rivers into downtown Paterson, New Jersey.

Alexander Hamilton led the charge to harness the power of the Great Falls of the Passaic to turn the region into a model late 18th century industrial town. That was in 1791. I think it worked.

But we turned just before the Great Falls to bike up the first significant hills of the trip. The next couple of hours testing our souls ...and legs. These were some of the toughest hills we were to ride since our legs were not yet strong and the roads were not too concerned with grades. The roads were narrow and the traffic heavy. It made for difficult pedals up two ridges, including the Ramapo Mountains along Skyline Drive.

The region is marked by a number of lakes formed by dams.  The result are lakes that can become playgrounds or stagnant waters.  As we past the southern end of Lake Greenwood there was a boat race.  Theses races were a tradition that came to the end early in the 21st century.  

The plan was to bike and camp in the Lake Wawayanda/Ramapo Mountain area.  But the ride was tough and the traffic as stressful, despite the calm weather we decided to search for lodging with a roof.  We ended up at the Willow Brook Inn.  A fairly expensive bed & breakfast on the Warwick Turnpike near the New York border. 

The evening was quiet despite the traffic flowing by on the road in front of the house.  A young kitten was curious about my helmet and was playing with it and we relaxed, excited that we have left metropolitan New York,  and its traffic, behind.

Thomas Paine

Thomas Paine was with the Continental Army, under the leadership of George Washington, in 1776 while it was retreating across New Jersey after the fall of Fort Washington and Fort Lee on the Hudson River.  While he was not much of a soldier he was an inspiring writer.  During this retreat he wrote "The Crisis", including this entry 

December 23, 1776

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but "to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

"These are the times that try men's souls" was a phrase we would use in jest many times over the next few months. 

Exxon Valdez

In the New York Times Saturday morning, May 20th was a story about the testy National Transportation Surface Board regarding the Exxon Valdez oil spill.  It remained the environmental story of the summer of 1989. 

Sadly the outcry and anger over the accident had little impact on our habits.  Even George Bush Junior admitted that we were still addicted to oil during his reign.  While the accident led Congress to required that all tankers must be double-hulled (By 2015 by the way so they are not all yet spill proof) we are unable to change our way of life in response to environmental disasters in a distant shoreline of our country.

Exxon Valdez would remain an issue throughout the ensuing the twenty years.  In fact it was only in the 2008 Supreme Court term that the Justices made a final weak-kneed decision relaxing the punitive damages on ExxonMobil.  The original jury felt the accident, and the corporate response, deserved a fone equal to one years profit.  As oil corporation profits grew over the twenty years, the Judicial system authority to impose punitive damages on corporation lessoned.

Two counterbalances viewpoints on the impact of the Exxon Valdez spill after twenty years:

Exxon's 

Sympathetic to the Native Alaskans  

Hudson, Grant and Washington

Riverside Park was a respite from the pressure of school and work and the chaos of living in the City. Memories of walking and biking along the Hudson River are among the strongest from those three years.

Those rides played a critical role in my next twenty years as they helped to inspire me in my work, that included helping to create and manage the growth of the Friends of the Riverfront in Pittsburgh.

But mine was only one of the infinite personal stories of individual connections to water and rivers.  European connection to the Hudson River started in 1609 with Henry Hudson journey on behalf of the Dutch East India Company.  Twenty years after we started our bike ride by heading upriver on the banks of the Hudson, New York City would celebrate the 400th anniversary of this trip with many events and exhibits, including the New York Public Library's exhibition of images of the Hudson River itself.

Shortly after leaving the apartment and heading north we passed Grant's Tomb and the Riverside Church.  I learned almost twenty years later as I delved into family history that I had at least four great-great uncles that fought for General Grant (perhaps I should only say three as sadly one Uncle died in 1862 at the Seven DAys Battle outside of Richmond Virginia, before Ulysses Grant was the General) and I had a Great Aunt who worked at the Presbytery housed at the Church.  But those are storeis for another blog someday.  

We crossed the Hudson on the George Washington Bridge located at the approximate site that General Washington built forts in 1776 in the futile effort to hold the British army within Hudson Bay.   It can also be noted that Alexander Hamilton meant his demise in a duel on the New Jersey shoreline below the Palisades in a duel with Aaron Burr.  

Tom's Diner

I lived across Broadway from Tom's Restaurant. The food was really awful but it is a landmark of popular culture. It was first the title of one of the most popular a capella songs of all time...Tom's Diner by Suzanne Vega. She actually worked there in the early 80s.

Then it became the site of the diner scenes from Seinfield.

But to me it is the diner that was at the street corner where a journey to discover america and oneself began...with many better diners to follow.