On Poison Ivy and Culverts

Poison ivy and culverts have nothing in common except that I had to deal with both in the last two weeks.

I'll answer your first question right away: a culvert is a structure used for crossings generally under 12 feet instead of constructing a bridge. In practice a culvert basically looks like a huge pipe that allows running water to continue along it's natural path. The Pumpkinvine has one such culvert in Shipshewana, for crossing Mather's Ditch, which collapsed a few weeks ago after years of erosion caused by heavy rain.

I have gotten poison ivy twice in the past two weeks and I am scratching the rash on my arms as I type this post. Here's the thing though, poison ivy is meant to be here. Culverts are not.

Poison ivy is a nuisance to humans, and it is generally acceptable to remove this plant despite it's role in the local ecosystem as bird food. Culverts are not naturally occurring, but people utilize them to make nature more human friendly.

So if the Pumpkinvine is a nature trail, what is the efficacy of manipulating the environment in the name of human enjoyment and not ecosystem restoration?

I don't have a good answer for this. The town of Shipshewana had to spend around $12,000 to install a new, more resilient, culvert. We changed nature to better suit our needs.

So shouldn't we reciprocate?

Interning Along the Pumpkinvine

Hey Pumpkinvine Blog!

My name is Isabela Torres, and I am interning with the Friends of the Pumpkinvine this summer. I was raised in Goshen and graduated from GHS in 2015. I've been attending Amherst College in Massachusetts where I've majored in Environmental Studies. I'm excited to get to learn about the ecology of Northern Indiana and the opportunity to use that knowledge to contribute to the management and future success of the nature surrounding the trail.

I will be doing a variety of things with the Friends this summer, and you will probably see me out on the trail, posting on the Facebook page, or volunteering at the annual bike ride (for which registration is still open!). I'm super interested in learning more about the history and politics of the trail, along with how management styles have changed as the parks departments became more involved over time.

In summary: I'll try to contribute to this blog consistently throughout the summer for anyone interested in seeing what I've been up to. Thanks for reading!

--Isabela Torres

PS. Here is what I look like so if you see me digging up plants along the trail you'll know I'm supposed to be doing that -- if you see me around in Goshen (or at Los Primos where I work in the evenings) feel free to stop me and say hi!