WARREN – A symposium held in Warren on Wednesday provided a full
day of informative speakers that spoke to the question of whether
or not Allegheny National Forest management could “anchor a healthy
ecosystem and local economy in the future.”
The event was sponsored by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
along with several co-sponsors.
The first act was a welcome from Western Pennsylvania
Conservancy President Dennis McGrath who said the goal of the day’s
meeting was to “shed light on topics and to provide additional
information that may spark new viewpoints.
“To create new thinking and create a forum starting point with a
broad range of interests outside and inside this region – we have a
forest of opportunity,” he added. “We will discuss the High
Allegheny Plateau as a place of opportunity.”
Mark Anderson, director of conservation science for the Eastern
U.S. Conservation Region, The Nature Conservancy, started his Power
Point presentation discussing the importance of the biodiversity in
forest areas and added that each area, including the eastern U.S.
has species specific to that area.
“What makes a complete forest ecosystem?” he asked. “The
structure of the physical arrangements of trees, dead debris for
developing soils, the composition of shrubs … amphibians, all are
necessary to keep the system working.
He talked of the necessity of taking into consideration the
context of the landscape, cutting practices, natural disturbances
such as pests and ice storms and just realizing the forest cover is
responsible for a lot of things.
Beth Brokaw of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy went back in
her presentation to the days of the Indians and their practices
using fires in the state of Pennsylvania to propagate animals for
food sources and to maintain oak regeneration.
Then she discussed the massive clearcutting and market hunting
that occurred in the region with railroads taking logs out of the
area and the fact the white tail deer was almost eradicated until
the Game Commission was developed, and the change that happened in
the forest again with an overabundance of deer browsing.
She also said size matters when it comes to different species
living on the forest. Brokaw identified an example of an oak forest
and the species that rely on it, including mammals such as the
black bear and raccoon; a conifer forest that relies on the
northern goshawk; and a riparian area of the forest (water regions)
which holds the highest diversity of any other area on the
forest.
In his presentation, Jim Finley, professor of forest resources
assistant director for extension, Penn State Forest Resources
Extension, talked of practices that have been learned while
learning forest management.
He said harvesting trees helps the growth of the forest.
“Public agencies are showing how to work in the forest and
regenerate with forest management practices while communicating,”
said Finley. “You need to communicate and practice regeneration.
Some management decisions have been pretty good and some have been
pretty bad. You need to talk to the public so they know what is
happening on that forest – it takes collaboration and
research.”
Charles Williams, associate professor of biology at Clarion
University, talked about ecosystems and how they work or don’t work
when there are only fragmented areas on the forest.
“The ANF is not fragmented in the classic sense but it is roaded
extensively,” he said Wednesday, adding that human to animal
encounters have increased and could change animal behaviors,
reproductive processes and cause disruption of soil compaction.
Other speakers included Don Masisak, director of the North
Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission
Enterprise/Economic Development, who talked about key industries
and their impacts on the forest, and Tom Hanes from the Recreation
Section of the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural
Resources Bureau of Forestry, who talked about recreation and
special areas.
In group panels were the landowners and land managers, which
included Gary Frank, district forester for the Bureau of Forestry;
Rich Cramer, Gameland Management Group supervisor for the
Pennsylvania Game Commission; Blaine Puller, forest manager for
Kane Hardwoods; and Dave Straub, vice president of the Pennsylvania
General Energy Co.
Each presented what their companies or organizations represented
and some talked of how they impact the forest.
Frank said the Bureau of Forestry manages 2.1 million acres of
forest land working from a five year plan; Cramer said the Game
Commission’s objective is to manage wild birds and animals based on
mandates on how they should manage them; Puller said Kane Hardwoods
uses forest management practices that allow them to be successful
with regeneration, but did admit that not all of their lands are
productive all of the time; and Straub reminded those in attendance
that they (of the Pennsylvania General Energy Co.) and others have
owned the mineral rights more than 100 years ago- before the forest
was established.
“We inherited the situation, we didn’t create it,” he said
speaking to several comments made previously by other speakers.
“Not that we have intentionally turned down leases we have been
offered by privately held resources …”
He also said in the next 100 years he would guess the activity
in oil and gas would be “no more, the world is running out – it is
a finite commodity.”
Another panel held a presentation from forest officials and
allowed them time to answer questions from people in attendance.
There were more than 100 people at the symposium on Wednesday.
Other sponsors of the event included the Allegheny Hardwoods
Utilization Group, the national forest, Friends of Allegheny
Wilderness, Pennsylvania DCNR Bureau of Forestry, Penn State Forest
Resources Extension, The Nature Conservancy, and U.S. Forest
Service Northern Research Station.
