Pennsylvania Game News - June 2020 - 24

expected. In the process, lands for wildlife conservation grew, further rehabilitating Penn's Woods.
Pennsylvania's deer were mounting a
comeback as young forestland repopulated chop-offs and stump fields. But
they were mostly a northern-tier forest
commodity in the 1940s and '50s. As
forestland returned in other locales, deer
reclaimed more of their former range.
Through the 1960s, '70s and early
'80s, deer and their managers found
themselves up against serious resourcemanagement issues.
So much of Penn's Woods was in pole
timber, which provided limited whitetail
cover and winter food, that deer were
struggling. And conservative game managers, supported by hunters who always
wanted more deer, neglected to do what
was needed.
During this struggle, forestry evolved
as a science, using silvicultural techniques more effectively to establish a
habitat foundation for not only deer, but
all forest wildlife. The progression didn't
happen overnight. Hardly. It spanned
decades.
But by the time the dust settled, Pennsylvania forests on public land were on
a path to becoming more ecologically
sound. Forestlands began offering more
habitat diversity, which promoted greater
biodiversity. In essence, most public
forestland today is managed with an eye
toward biodiversity and sustainability
goals.
The key distinction here is the phrase
"public land." Elsewhere, our forests
grow older and older, or are managed for
goals other than wildlife-oriented objectives. Many small-woodlot landowners
prefer the majesty of big trees. Others
sell big trees or simply let their forestland
sit idle.
24

But most private industrial forests
are managed as intensively for timber as
public-land forests. That's apparent with
a look at Pennsylvania forest product
production, Roth added.
"Over the last few decades, Pennsylvania has led the nation in total hardwood
lumber production," Roth explained.
"Lumber and forest products generate a
roughly $19 billion statewide economic
impact annually."
The lumber industry, Roth emphasized, has learned from mistakes made
in the past.
"We will likely never return to the
short-sighted practices of the 19th and
early 20th centuries," Roth noted.
Today, about 60 percent of Pennsylvania remains forested, and a lot of those
woods are 80 to 120 years old. It provides
the surroundings many hunters prefer -
explaining why it's rarely managed more
efficiently. But if you're a hunter, you
surely could choose places with higher
success rates.
Most game prefers habitat diversity:
young forest, brushy understory, toppled
trees, small clearings, edges of varying
habitat. Such vegetative mixes offer more
of everything, which increases their critter
magnetism.
The influence of exotic fungi, insects,
competitive plants and diseases on
American forests also has kept foresters
on guard. So many native trees are under
siege. And almost every forestry operation
requires a specialized plan to ensure native
trees usurp their foreign competition.
That's why the necessity of silviculture, never can be overstated. It's rooted
in the habitat diversity wildlife - and even
some trees - must have to prosper.
So, in essence, the ax will always have
a place in forest management.
It's an undeniable necessity.
Pennsylvania Game News - June 2020

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