{{Short description|Pennsylvania state park in Brady Township, Butler County}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}} {{Infobox park | name = Jennings Environmental Education Center | image = Jennings Environmental Education Center.jpg | image_caption = One of the few prairies in Pennsylvania is found at Jennings Environmental Education Center | image_alt = Prairie | image_size = 280 | location = [[Brady Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania]], United States | coordinates = {{coord|41.00925|-80.00359|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coords_ref = <ref name="jenningseec"/> | area = {{convert|333.92|acre|abbr=on}}<ref name="forrey"/> | elevation = {{convert|1197|ft}} | established = 1979 | administrator = [[Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources]] | free_label = Named for | free_data = Dr. Otto Emery Jennings | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | visitation_ref = | website = {{Official website}} | module = {{Infobox protected area | map = USA Pennsylvania#USA | label = Jennings Environmental Education Center | label_position = | map_caption = Location in Pennsylvania | relief = 1 | module = [[List of Pennsylvania state parks|Pennsylvania State Parks]] }} }} [[File:Jenningsbloom.jpg|thumb|270px|Wildflowers bloom on the Jennings prairie in late July and early August.]] '''Jennings Environmental Education Center''' is a {{convert|334|acre|adj=on|0}} [[List of Pennsylvania state parks|Pennsylvania state park]] in [[Brady Township, Butler County, Pennsylvania|Brady Township]], [[Butler County, Pennsylvania|Butler County]], [[Pennsylvania]] in the United States. It is {{convert|12|mi}} north of [[Butler, Pennsylvania|Butler]] at the intersection of [[Pennsylvania Route 8]] and [[Pennsylvania Route 528]]. The center contains a [[relict]] [[prairie]] of {{convert|20|acre}}, the only publicly protected prairie ecosystem in Pennsylvania. Big Run, a tributary of [[Slippery Rock Creek]], flows through Jennings Environmental Education Center, and it shares a border with [[Moraine State Park]] to the south.
Jennings Environmental Education Center was chosen by the [[Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources]] (DCNR) and its Bureau of Parks as one of "25 Must-See Pennsylvania State Parks".<ref name =mustsee>{{cite web| url = http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/index.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110926163600/http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/findapark/index.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = September 26, 2011 | title = Find a Park: 25 Must-see Parks | access-date = May 26, 2015 | publisher = Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources}}</ref>
==Environmental education== The main purpose of Jennings Environmental Education Center is to provide [[environmental education]] for the citizens of Pennsylvania and specifically the students of the nearby [[elementary school]]s, [[high school]]s, [[college]]s, and [[university|universities]]. Jennings stays busy offering hands on opportunities to students and teachers with a "discovery and problem solving" approach. Jennings offers numerous programs to the public throughout the year, many of which are free. Some, such as the [[National Public Lands Day]] volunteer project, require pre-registration. The annual Celebrate the Bloom festival, occurring when the [[liatris|blazing star]] is in peak bloom, began in 2013. <ref name="jenningseec">{{cite web |url=https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/where-to-go/state-parks/find-a-park/jennings-environmental-education-center |title=Jennings Environmental Education Center |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |access-date=2026-01-02}}</ref>
==Prairie== Prairies are extremely rare in Pennsylvania. They are usually found further to the west in [[Ohio]], [[Indiana]] and across the midwest to the [[Rocky Mountains]]. The prairie at Jennings Environmental Education Center is the only protected prairie ecosystem in Pennsylvania. It provides a [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]] for plants that are unique to prairie and the endangered [[massasauga rattlesnake]]. Jennings Environmental Education Center was the first state park established to protect an endangered plant, the blazing star.<ref name="jenningseec"/>
==History== This first humans arrived in the Jennings Environmental Education Area nearly 15,000 years ago. These [[paleo-Indian]]s followed the receding [[glacier]]s at the end of the ice age in pursuit of [[woolly mammoth]]s and [[giant ground sloth]]s. It is believed that overhunting the mammoths and sloths lead to their eventual [[extinct]]ion.<ref name="jenningseec"/>
The [[Iroquois]] settled in the area and began to [[farm]] the land by the end of the 16th century. They used fire to open areas for farming. This may have helped to sustain the prairie environment that is currently at Jennings Environmental Education Center.<ref name="jenningseec"/>
European pioneers from the [[Thirteen Colonies]] and [[New France]] passed through the area and used the [[Venango Path]] an Indian trail, portions of which have since been paved over by Pennsylvania Route 528. The trail extended from [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] to [[Franklin, Pennsylvania|Franklin]]. It was used by historical figures such as [[Tecumseh]], [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de La Fayette|Marquis de LaFayette]] and [[George Washington]].<ref name="jenningseec"/>
The area was not heavily settled until the 1800s. The first settlers cleared the land of its standing trees and began farming. The land was not ideal for farming and soon people looked for other uses of the land. They discovered [[coal]] and the [[coal mine|mining]] of coal became a booming industry in Western Pennsylvania.<ref name="jenningseec"/>
Jennings Environmental Education Center is named for Dr. Otto Emery Jennings. He was a renowned [[botanist]] who searched throughout Pennsylvania for unique plant species. He discovered the Prairie in 1905 and was instrumental in the purchase and protection of the area by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. Jennings ensured that the area would be protected for the enjoyment and future education of many generations of Pennsylvanians. It became a nature reserve in 1952. Jennings Environmental Education Center was established in 1979.<ref name="jenningseec"/>
Directly across Route 8 from the park is the Old Stone House which is owned and operated by [[Slippery Rock University]]. The house served as a tavern and inn from 1822 until the mid-1800s. [[George Washington]] and [[Christopher Gist]] also traveled through the vicinity in 1753 while on their historic mission to [[Fort LeBoeuf]] prior to the [[French and Indian War]]. Interpretive signs and information regarding Washington's Trail are located in Jennings and at the Old Stone House. The Old Stone House is open on weekends and tours and programs take place regularly throughout the year. The neighboring Foltz [[One-room school|Schoolhouse]] is located on Jennings property and is in the process of being restored.
==References== {{reflist|refs= <ref name="forrey">{{cite web |url=http://paconservationheritage.org/wp-content/uploads/2015-history-of-state-parks-forrey.pdf |title=History of Pennsylvania’s State Parks 1984 to 2015 |author=William C. Forrey |publisher=Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources |page=64, 66, 72 |date=2017 |access-date=2023-01-03}}</ref> }}
==External links== {{commons category|Jennings Environmental Education Center}} {{portal|Pennsylvania}} *[https://www.pa.gov/agencies/dcnr/recreation/where-to-go/state-parks/find-a-park/jennings-environmental-education-center Jennings Environmental Education Center] Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
{{Protected Areas of Pennsylvania}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Parks in Greater Pittsburgh]] [[Category:State parks of Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Protected areas established in 1979]] [[Category:Parks in Butler County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Education in Butler County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Nature centers in Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Protected areas of Butler County, Pennsylvania]]