Bucks County Herald
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Reposted with permission article written by Andy Holtzman for Bucks County Herald published 29 September 2025
Tinicum Conservancy Resource Protection Manager Kelly Germann describes the underappreciated benefits of Boneset, Eupatorium perfoliatum, a native plant that hosts 42 different species of butterfly and moth. Photo credit: Andy Holtzman
The Tinicum Conservancy welcomed more than 150 enthusiastic area residents to a stunningly warm and pleasant afternoon celebration Saturday on the 64-acre campus of rural summer Camp Galil in Ottsville.
The event highlighted the venerable Conservancy’s community-based conservation efforts, including its just-completed summer partnership with Camp Galil campers and staff, which focused on educating via hands-on creek-side habitat restoration.
Attendees enjoyed a bounty of food, drink and informative educational activities centered around the ecological health of the local Tinicum watershed.
The celebration kicked off with a tour led by Conservancy Resource Protection Manager Kelly Germann. Guests explored the campus’ riparian floodplain, learning about the unique adaptations of native plant species and the significant threat posed by aggressive invasive plants that choke out essential new tree and shrub growth.
Following the tour, Erik Silldorff, a highly regarded area scientist who recently joined the Conservancy team as its resource protection coordinator, led an exploration of the creek’s inhabitants. Attendees got an up-close look at the myriad stream water macroinvertebrates (small organisms that lack a backbone and are large enough to be seen with the naked eye) that dwell in Tinicum Creek.
Silldorff underscored the importance of these small creatures as indicators of water quality and touted a milestone for the health of Tinicum’s water basin.
“The diversity of life we’re finding in the stream here today tells us a great deal about the success of our efforts to protect the entire watershed of Tinicum Creek,” Silldorff commented. “These communities of mayflies and caddisflies, hellgrammites and native crayfish reflect the solid ecological integrity of Tinicum Creek around Camp Galil, and reflect the greater creek-wide health we are fortunate to enjoy here in the Tinicum Creek relative to other tributaries of the Delaware River in this region of our state.”
The event culminated with remarks from Conservancy Executive Director Eric Anderson, who is also celebrating the end of his first year at the helm or the organization.
Anderson emphasized that the organization’s new strategic plan is focused on seriously broadening community engagement within its conservation work.
“Our new strategic plan is all about opening our doors wider. It creates fresh opportunities for everyone to deepen their commitment and help the Conservancy protect the natural resources we love and depend on,” Anderson stated.
He continued, “Whether we are 80 or 8 years old, whether we are hikers or hunters, fishers or farmers, whether we live on ten acres or a tenth of an acre, we can all be involved in amplifying the local conservation process.”
Anderson said he drew inspiration at the end of his first year from a recent conversation he had about the successful summer project with Camp Galil.
“Someone in Doylestown had read about our partnership with Camp Galil in the Herald, and she said to me, ‘Wow, I feel like this is the year of Tinicum!’.”
“I said to her, ‘yes, but I think we’re only at the beginning of a real local movement.’ There is opportunity for us all to participate in this work to benefit everyone in our community, and we’re assembling the pieces and the plan to help facilitate that.”
Anderson concluded with a rallying cry for more local environmental action: “Together, let’s indeed make this the year of Tinicum, the year of Bridgeton, the year of Nockamixon, the year of all our northern Bucks watersheds.”
