Rachael Stark grew up in Wyoming, PA. She was a slow starter – a “little nerd” in her own words. By high school, she had discovered the Key Club and an affinity for community service. Around the same time, she joined the Boy Scouts of America’s co-ed Venturing program. And it wasn’t long before she would discover what would become a lifelong passion for everything outdoors.

She graduated from Wyoming Area and moved on to King’s College, where she earned a degree in Environmental Studies. Her first real, post-college gig brought her back to the Scouts – a job that took her snorkeling in the Florida Keys and pretty much kept her outdoors all the time. From there, she tried a corporate job. She lasted three months. And if she learned anything, it was that she needed to be in the nonprofit sector.

In between, she took on a few side quests — Leadership Northeast Class of 2019, Master’s in Forest Resources and Conservation from the University of Florida. Oh, and a personal challenge to visit all 63 U.S. National Parks before her 30th birthday. So far, she’s knocked about 40 off her list. In 2021, Rachael joined the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC) as their Northeastern Pennsylvania Program Coordinator, spearheading popular initiatives like NEPA Tail on the Trail and Keep NEPA Beautiful.

We joined Rachael at Nesbitt Park in Kingston on a windy Monday, where she paid tribute to all things NEPA, all things nature and took on some of our toughest queries, like Why NEPA?

How long have you lived in Northeastern Pennsylvania?

My whole life.

What do you love about your town?

I actually moved to Wilkes-Barre two and a half years ago, and I’ve loved it since the day I moved in. It’s so easy to escape into Nesbitt Park or Kirby Park to go do an environmental excursion. It’s definitely a really unique landscape with a lot of different opportunities.

I have a beautiful view of the Cross Valley, which you wouldn’t normally think of as beautiful, but on a quiet, snowy day it is the most serene thing in the entire world — looking down that hill, over the Cross Valley with the snow falling, it’s just peace and quiet.

What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?  

I’m going to skip around a bit, because I’ve done this before. We’ve done a night where we just order the best of NEPA. We got a pizza from Shelley’s in Luzerne, some wings from Sizzle-Pi, some French fries with cooper cheese from Market Street Burgers, and then we’re getting some birria tacos and street corn from El Rey Azteca. And then, if we’re talking ice cream, it’s Josie’s. Love the salted caramel truffle Italian ice.

What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?

To be outside, of course. You know, Frances Slocum, I could go there every single day and be happy. But it’s awesome that we have so many different hiking and biking trails and just the opportunity to be out in nature.

This time of year, is obviously wonderful, but honestly, I love hiking in the winter time. Everyone always associates the winter with gray and death and dark, but if you go out for a hike on a winter day and you see a bug, it’s like the most exciting thing ever because that bug is out (laughs). Or you might see something sprouting out of the ground. There’s green everywhere if you know what you’re looking for. And there is a lot of life out there.

What’s next for you?

I’m definitely going to get to all the national parks before I hit 30 (laughs). I know I’m running out of time, but we’re working our way there. Plans are in motion.

Also, I started teaching at Misericordia this semester. And I love it. I feel like a lot of people are always knocking the next generation and their challenges and stuff, but I’m in the process of grading their midterm papers right now and it’s really inspiring. Even amidst all of the chaos of the world, they are still really stubborn towards a positive future. And I would really like to continue to be involved in that and do what I can to not create more chaos or negativity. There’s more hope in saying, you know, look at that park we have across the river. That was not here a couple decades ago. Or look at these 100-year-old Sycamore trees that are being cared for here in Nesbitt Park. I want them to see that there’s a lot of good, positive change happening in Northeastern Pennsylvania. And I hope they stay and continue to be a part of that too.

Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?

I truly believe it’s becoming a destination. We do a lot of work at PEC with making NEPA an outdoor recreation destination. But even just in general, if you get out on trails or go to events, you know, at the Kirby Center or in Pittston or anywhere, there are a lot of people coming here from out of town. And maybe they’ve never heard of NEPA before or they’ve heard of us from The Office or whatever. But we’re getting them to come back because we’re putting in murals and opening new restaurants and new cool things to do like art spaces and places like The Hatchet Factory and all kinds of cool, niche things that people can participate in. And that’s amidst all of the outdoor recreation that we have. I definitely think tourism and recreation are going to be booming within the next decade or so.

Why NEPA?

I think there’s a lot of potential. For me, personally, on the environmental side of things, there’s a lot that I’ve already done to make greater change. And, of course, there’s a lot more that I could do, but look at these trees over here. We just planted them this spring. And I can’t wait to come back in 25 years and show people that I got to be a part of planting those trees. You know, to be able to actually see through that change that you’re implementing is something that a lot of people tend to overlook. Or they’re just not patient enough to see it through. And I have seen the way that NEPA has transitioned just in the last 20 years or so. I’ve seen the way Pittston has transitioned, or the way Wilkes-Barre has grown and changed. There’s a lot of positive change happening here. And I just want to continue to be a part of that and, and really immerse myself in it. And I want to continue to do the good things to carry on the legacy of everyone before me.