KANE — The Oct. 2 Roach-Bauer Forestry Forum announced that Emily Boyd, Small Game Mammal Specialist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC), will be the keynote speaker.

Boyd graduated from Juniata College in 2010 with a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation and from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 2013 with a M.S. degree in Wildlife Management and Ecology. In addition to PGC, Boyd previously worked for Delaware Fish & Wildlife, and Pheasants Forever. She started her career with PGC during a summer internship in 2008.

She held various PGC positions over the years and started in the permanent Small Game Mammal Specialist position in 2019. In this position, she spends most of her time focused on three species of greatest conservation need identified in the 2025-2035 State Wildlife Action Plan. Appalachian cottontails and snowshoe hares are a focal point of her work with research projects in recent years using hunter cooperator groups, surveys, field cameras, genetic analysis, and monitoring survival and habitat use of collared individuals. The majority of these projects have been focused on habitat; what habitats retain these species across Pennsylvania’s diverse landscape, how these species respond to habitat management activities, and how habitat management can be improved to benefit them.

She is perhaps best known by small game hunters for starting the popular newsletter “Hare Tracks” in 2022. The purpose of the hare newsletter is to provide hunters and conservationists better information about ranges, harvest, research, and habitat management of the elusive snowshoe hare, often called the “gray ghost of Pennsylvania.”

Boyd said, “Small game mammals have historically received relatively little attention, perhaps because the species group includes some of the most common and familiar wildlife species in Pennsylvania. However, snowshoe hares and Appalachian cottontails face significant conservation concerns. Habitat management is the Commonwealth’s best hope of conserving these unique species.”

Her presentation will be of interest to all forest managers, hunters, and conservationists that recognize the importance of wildlife research in advancing forest management across the Allegheny Plateau Region. Society of American Foresters’ Continuing Forestry Education credits will be applied for this presentation.The Forum will be held at the Wilcox Community Building (also called the Jones Township Community Center) at 320 Faries St, downtown Wilcox, Pa., 15870. Preceding the talk will be a no-host social hour from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., and dinner at 5:30 p.m. The program will start immediately after dinner. Reservations are required. No reservations will be accepted after Thursday, Sept. 25. For reservations, contact the Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group, PO Box 133, Kane, Pa., 16735, at 814-837-8550, or e-mail ashields@ahug.com.