Let’s Talk About Parks: Naturalist Educator Talks About Their Love Of Parks

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Take a moment and think back to the first time you felt at home in a natural place. Maybe it was in a yard, at a playground, in the wilderness or at a national park.

For me it happened in Frick Park, the largest regional park in Pittsburgh, encompassing 644 acres, entirely within the city limits. I and many other Pittsburghers have been lucky enough to grow up with Frick Park in our backyards, and as a child I spent nearly every day in the park walking and biking to school, exploring and playing. I was astounded when I learned that Frick Park draws people in from all over the region and the world.

But I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised. Frick Park has hosted nationally acclaimed educational programs for nearly its entire existence. Connecting people to nature is the very reason the park was created. Helen Frick asked her father, Henry, to give Frick Park to the city so that Pittsburgh’s children could play in the woods and learn about nature... Read the full article here.