Paul Douglas Valentine on New Haven’s News Channel 8’s Positively Connecticut (May 3, 1999)
"On almost any day, sunny or rainy, hikers at West Rock are likely to run into Paul Valentine, even in the middle of a snowstorm.
Paul Valentine: "All of New Haven was brought to a standstill, and it was almost like I could hear the silence, and if I was ever at any time close to God it was then."
Paul spends hours every day walking the trails and taking care of them.
Valentine: "Students would come up here and just ride their bikes, and not care that this is a main tap root and finally I thought well it doesn't seem like anybody is going to be doing anything about this, so I fenced off both ends and planted grass and flowers and various trees."
Paul doesn't get paid, and he calculates he has spent about $9,000 of his own money on everything from top soil, to grass seed, to flowers and trees that he plants here. That's why he's been called the 'Guardian of The Rock.’
Mike Barker, Chief of Parks Security: "It's a good name for him. As long as I have known him he's been coming up and working on the trails, dealing with the erosion problems and he's cleared it all with the state and he's always cleared it with us as to what he's doing and so forth."
Some people have called Paul Valentine a big man with a big heart. That doesn't mean he can't be tough. Ask any of the hikers he's caught abusing nature.
He's scolded people he finds littering, and warned people not to ride their bikes over tender plants and tree roots. He's covered over their graffiti, and picked up their cigarette butts. He knows the city and state which jointly own the park can't afford much on upkeep, so he's hoping to encourage other volunteers.
"It doesn't take much. Come up here with a bag of grass seed, spread some seed. If you see some big rocks in the middle of the trail have been moved, put em back."
Some people mail seeds to Paul, and friends at nurseries save plants they can't sell.
"At first they just thought I was a nut case who had no life whatsoever, but then they saw photos of what I have been doing, and heard through word of mouth that its looking really good, and I've had people come up to me and say, here's a ten spot, buy a tree."
Paul Valentine discovered West Rock Park when he first came to Connecticut about 15 years ago.
Valentine: "Saw West Rock and just fell in love with the place, and I am a hard core Connecticut fanatic now. If I draw my last breath here I'll go a happy man."
A happy man who's heart is in a park that's Positively Connecticut. "
Clinton vandals should think about the actions of hero of West Rock (July 10, 1999)
A New Haven Register editorial.
To the benefit of all, a Wallingford man tends West Rock State Park. He finds spiritual rewards in the process.
To the detriment of all, unidentified vandals leave a vile, disgusting mess at a Clinton park. And we wonder what possible reward they might have found.
The hero is Paul Valentine, 43, who has toiled to improve West Rock in his spare time for 16 years. He's hauled soil, shrubs, flowers, even water to help plants during drought, onto the ridge, often lugging them over walking trails.
The state has given him permission to do his work, which he estimates has cost him about $9,000 in addition to his labor and love.
Valentine wants to revive the park's ecosystem so more native animals will return. He already has encountered foxes, rattlesnakes and a bobcat there.
"What is my goal? I want to get people to show more respect for this place," Valentine explains.
He recalls times in the park that were "like a religious epiphany. I've never felt so close to God."
There was no such feeling at Clinton's Ethel Peters Recreation Complex recently. Perhaps the vandals thought it funny to jam the toilets and smear with excrement the walls and ceilings in two small restrooms during an annual soccer tournament that attracted 70 teams from around the state. Everyone surely agrees it's a laugh riot to damage public property, give the town a bad name, and deny 70 teams and their fans decent sanitation, right?
Stupid destruction is nothing new. And sadly, it seems society almost expects it from teen-agers; "just a kid's prank," "a part of growing up", and excuses it.
It's time some answers were found concerning such irrational malice. Most vandals do grow out of it, and yes, many kids do not ever get involved, so it would seem to be a fascinating subject for concerted scientific investigation.
Studying such irrational behavior could well give us some insights into destructive ignorance at work. Finding ways to encourage reasoning can benefit everyone.
And finding a lesson from the spirituality possessed by Paul Valentine won't hurt either.
Mediate fence tiff at West Rock (September 16, 1999)
A New Haven Register editorial.
A New Haven Register editorial.
The dispute between a volunteer park friend and a ranger at West Rock State Park should be resolved simply and quickly.
The state needs more people like the extraordinary volunteer, Paul Valentine, who has spent 16 years of his life and money restoring and preserving the park's beauty.
Valentine has devoted himself to planting native shrubs and protecting plants and trees. He is appalled by the litter thrown from the summit, the damage from dirt bikes to walking trails and the vandalism to plantings.
He has worked closely with both city and state officials. But, he has recently found himself in a disagreement with a state park supervisor, Alexander Sokolow. Sokolow wants him to take down 25 feet of fencing erected to protect trees from erosion and damage to their roots from dirt bikes.
The state's park official is the first to say Valentine's heart is in the right place. The underfunded state parks could use 100 more volunteers with such a deep love for a park.
Some quick mediation is needed from someone higher up in the state Department of Environmental Protection. Valentine loves West Rock too much to forsake it over a disputed fence; and West Rock needs the love and tender care Valentine has invested there.
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