Natural History
Hartley Park is blessed with a rich natural history that allows us to approach education about our own landscape from a variety of perspectives. While there is a great deal to learn from the present state of the forests and fields surrounding us, we at Hartley Nature Center frequently look to the history of the land, both in its interactions with humans and its independent, longer-term natural processes, to learn more about how and why the landscape acts and reacts the way it does today. It is only with a solid understanding of the natural history of a place that we can begin to interpret what its events and signs are telling us, for it is only though an historical lens that the meaning and scope of these processes can be fully understood in either current or historical contexts.
Click HERE to return to the Hartley History page.
Views from Rock Knob
Today's Hartley Park Weather: (& building energy systems) by Brimson Labs(brimson.com)
Timeline of Natural History at Hartley Park:
(click on a bulleted item to see images and learn more)
GEOLOGY
- 1,100,000 Years Ago - A splitting continent poured out a solid bedrock foundation for Hartley Park and Lake Superior.
- 10,000 Years Ago - The most recent glaciation that sculpted the landscape of Hartley Park and the Lake Superior basin came to an end.
- 10,000 Years Ago to 1896 - West Tischer Creek Valley filled up
ECOLOGY
- Pre-1895 - A blanket forest thrived before Europeans settled in the park area.
- 1896 - Allandale Farm cleared the forest for the first time.
- 1918 - Allandale Farm and dairy pasture had expanded to full capacity.
- 1940 - Hartley Field had burned extensively before this time.
- 1972 - Hartley pond drained out through an earth dam washout.
- 1981 - Three beaver dams created a huge pond, flooding old vegetable fields.
Click a link: Our Focus: Natural History, Stewardship, Sustainability. About Us: HNC staff & farm history
E-Mail us at info@hartleynature.org |
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