Pennsylvania Game News - January 2010 - 15

More than 1,900 acres of early successional habitat on Game Lands were improved through warmseason grass establishment, aspen regeneration and scrub oak management, through the federal Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program. Pheasants Forever donated food plot and grassland seed valued at $26,000. The agency’s Howard Nursery produced and distributed 2,376,300 tree and shrub seedlings for wildlife FOREST inventory plots catalog habitat types on food and cover. Most were used on State Game Lands, and the data will be used for Game Lands and distributed to public access cooperators. More than a long-range forest management. million were sold to the public. The Howard Nursery wood shop produced and shipped 13,900 bluebird boxes/kits, 732 wood duck boxes/kits, 992 other wildlife nest boxes, 4,165 bulletin boards and backboards for use on Game Lands and cooperative access properties, and 212 wooden signs. In partnership with the Wildlife for Everyone Foundation, with financial support from Waste Management, Pheasants Forever and Mealey’s Furniture, the “Seedling for Schools” Program, in just its second year, distributed more than 95,000 seedlings to 526 schools in Pennsylvania. The Forest Inventory and Analysis Program is in its fourth season of data collection, and 645 permanent assessment plots have been established. The goal is to have 875 by next year. Then, on a 5-year cycle, the plots will be reevaluated to determine changes in growth, health and species composition of Game Lands forest habitats, which will provide valuable habitat planning information. A system for monitoring habitat conditions before and after prescribed burning is also being developed. Nearly 104,000 acres of forest habitats on Game Lands were impacted by gypsy moth defoliation in 2008, and approximately 22,700 acres were sprayed, due to their habitat values, at a cost of nearly $800,000. Because the gypsy moth population collapsed in 2009 no spraying is anticipated this year. With the reduction of deer, we are beginning to see improvements to forest habitats, but some areas still need deer exclosures. Contractors erected 8-foot-high woven wire fences around 190 acres of recently harvested forests to protect the susceptible new growth from excessive browsing. On the other hand, 776 acres of fencing will be removed this year. Staff inspected six high hazard dams for annual DEP-Dam Safety requirements, and coordinated efforts of 10 PGC crews in facility maintenance projects with a budget of $111,500. Staff also: • Completed 14 bridge projects, including 8 bridge replacements and 6 abutment/ deck repair projects. • Removed two dams that were no longer needed. • Completed repair projects on four dams. • Completed one road repair project. • Constructed nine new brooder houses at the North Central Game Farm. • Completed the renovation of the HVAC system at the PGC headquarters. • Completed upgrade projects at two shooting ranges. JANUARY 2010 15

Pennsylvania Game News - January 2010

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