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Letters to the Herald

Wouldn’t it be better to mow towpath less?

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As residents of Upper Bucks County and frequent users of the Delaware Canal towpath, we are thrilled to have access to such a wonderful trail and state park right here in our backyard.

Nonetheless, we can’t help but wonder why the park maintenance crews insist on summertime mowing of the canal embankment right down to the waterline? In our area it is essentially scalped almost to bare ground! This destroys the abundant native wildflowers along the canal (milkweed, joe-pye weed, wingstem, and many others) at the peak of the summer pollination season, and makes the embankment more prone to erosion and slope failure when the inevitable next flood occurs.

In our view, it sets a rather poor example of land stewardship and conservation for PA DCNR, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Wouldn’t it actually save taxpayer money and be more ecologically sound as well as aesthetically pleasing to simply mow the top of the canal embankment and a 3-foot strip along each side and leave the rest to nature?

Dave and Kate Brandes, Riegelsville


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