KANE — The Roach-Bauer Forestry Forum will host two speakers on Oct. 5 at the Kane Country Club.
Speakers will present the latest information on an invasive fruit fly that is disrupting berry production in northern forests, and the effects of West Nile Virus on grouse populations and other birds.
Lisa Williams is the ruffed grouse and webless migratory game bird biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission and has been assessing the effects of West Nile Virus on grouse and other birds. West Nile Virus was initially confirmed in Pennsylvania in the early 2000s. Dr. Scott Stoleson is a research wildlife biologist at the Forestry Sciences Lab, Northern Research Station, in Irvine. He and his cohorts first recognized the impacts of the spotted wing drosophila fruit fly on forest wild berry production last year — although it was a known problem in fruit orchards — and have since confirmed some new information about the fruit fly, called Drosophila suzukii. The spotted wing drosophila is from southeast Asia and affects soft fruit from shrubs and tree fruit crops.
Together, their presentations will touch upon the latest research in West Nile Virus in Pennsylvania and New York and the effects on forest birds, and the latest information on the fruit fly and its expected potential impact on berry production that our forest wildlife depend upon for a fall food source. Bears, birds, foxes and coyotes, deer, rabbits, mice, chipmunks, etc., all depend upon berries for part of their food source in the late summer and fall.
This panel discussion may be of interest to forest managers, landowners, berry-pickers, hunters and recreationists enjoying the northern forests.
The Kane Country Club is located on U.S. Route 6, about three miles east of Kane.
Preceding the talk will be a no-host social hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and dinner at 6:30 p.m. The program will start immediately after dinner.
Reservations are required. Early reservations received on or before Sept. 22 will be $25. Reservations received after Sept. 22 will be $30. No reservations will be accepted after Sept. 30. The cost for full-time students pursuing a natural resource degree is $10.
For reservations, contact the Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group in Kane by phone at 814-837-8550, by fax at 814-837-4950 or by email at hardwood@penn.com.
Williams received her Bachelor of Science degree in ecology/environmental studies at Juniata College in Huntingdon and her Master of Science degree in wildlife and fisheries sciences at Penn State University. A longtime biologist with the PA Game Commission, she spent decades in the Threatened and Endangered Species program, coordinating the development of Pennsylvania’s first statewide Wildlife Action Plan and Pennsylvania’s response to the devastating emergence of White Nose Syndrome among bats.
Since 2010, Williams has been the Game Commission biologist for ruffed grouse and webless migratory game birds. Her particular interest lies in the restoration and management of young forests and other early succession habitats because of the critical role of this habitat to many declining species. Her love of young forests extends beyond the professional in the joyful hours she spends hunting and foraging in these fascinating habitats.
In addition to his research at the Northern Research Station, Stoleson is also a research associate of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Jamestown, N.Y. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in biological sciences from Dartmouth College and his Master of Science and doctorate degrees in wildlife ecology from Yale University. He has published more than 60 scientific papers, as well as book chapters on avian biology and conservation based on research in Pennsylvania, the western U.S., Mexico, Costa Rica, Venezuela and Ecuador, and has led natural history tours to the Caribbean and Latin America. He has long been an advocate for the value of young forests to wildlife.
