Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty announced the award on Sept. 18; it is one of numerous statewide Growing Greener grants to help local conservation organizations finance their efforts.

As part of the redesign plan, staff members at the Arboretum will address erosion on the banks of the Duck Pond and the streams that flow through the southern part of campus. They will replant the areas with“native plant” materials, plants normally found in such a landscape, including American beech, tulip trees, and several types of oaks. They will also use“green-type” construction to repair the slopes of the stream banks, involving bio-logs and wood-timber cribbing.

Arboretum Manager Bill Astifan reports that the redesign actually began last year, but he was unhappy with the“hard-engineering” look, dominated by concrete and stone.“We're changing our approach to focus on an environmentally friendly design,” he says. This will help preserve the wooded surroundings of the streams and protect the natural habitats of the campus wildlife.

None of the Duck Pond's feathered residents will be ejected from their homes during the redesign. The project is also weather-independent, and will continue through unexpected bouts of heavy rain and snow.“It all deals with water and earth, so there won't be a problem,” says Astifan.

The new design should be completed in the fall of 2006. One of the ultimate goals of the project is to establish educational stations to teach the Haverford community and the public about stream banks and restoration.