Pennsylvania Game News - August 2022 - 52

HABITAT & IMPROVEMENTS
About one-quarter of State Game Lands 127, or 5,722 acres,
is comprised of one kind of wetland or another. Those areas
provide critical and unique habitat - not to mention abundant
blueberries - for a variety of wildlife.
The rest of this glaciated game lands, meanwhile, is mostly
forested. Forests on State Game Lands 127 are managed with
the goal of maintaining a diversity of age classes, forest structure
and tree species composition. The management plan for this
game lands has identified a significant need for additional young
forest habitat. Since 2010, 838 acres of mature forest have been cut and successfully turned into highquality
early successional northern hardwood forest habitat. Another 1,465 acres are headed that way.
They've been partially cut, to give new seedlings time to take hold before the entire canopy is removed.
These stands have received various cutting treatments and/or herbicide applications aimed at
removing invasive vegetation and promoting the regeneration of desirable tree seedlings. There's more
to come, too. Nine additional forest habitat enhancement projects totaling 1,501 acres are planned
for 2022-2024 to create additional young forest, and improve middle-aged and mature forest stands.
HISTORY
In the late 1800s, Brady's Lake
and Warnertown were home to
large-scale ice harvesting operations.
The ice was hauled away for
refrigeration in cities and towns up
and down the East Coast.
A portion of the game lands was
once part of Tobyhanna Military
Reservation. In World War I, the
U.S. Army used the reservation for
tank and ambulance corps training.
Later, the National Guard and West
Point cadets did artillery training
here. From 2013-2020, the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers removed
thousands of pounds of unexploded
ordinance from the site.
HUNTING, TRAPPING & MORE
Hunters on this game lands can pursue white-tailed deer,
bears, turkeys, grouse, squirrels, rabbits and waterfowl.
Furtaking opportunities include beavers, raccoons, gray
foxes, coyotes, and minks.
Hunters and trappers here can often do their thing with
little chance of bumping into others. State Game Lands 127
is not only big, but in many places remote. Though there are
35 miles of interior administrative roads and many miles of
foot trails, nearly 8,000 acres of this game lands lie more
than 1 mile from any public access or parking lot.
This game lands also is located within Important
Mammal Area 36 - state-threatened northern flying squirrels
have been recorded here - and within Important Bird
Area 63. Bird species known to breed here include American
woodcocks, bald eagles and ospreys. Yellow-bellied flycatchers,
northern saw-whet owls, and an array of northern
boreal forest birds have been observed, too.
To further explore
state game lands
visit the Mapping
Center at
www.pgc.pa.gov
RANGES & MORE
State Game Lands 127 has 12 firing
points on its 50- and 100-yard rifle
range, and 12 more firing points on its
10- and 25-yard pistol range. Both are
very popular with vacationers visiting
the Pocono Region.
Brady's Lake, meanwhile, provides
non-motorized boating and fishing
opportunities, and many game lands roads are popular with bikers in summer
and cross-country skiers and snowshoers in winter.
52

http://www.pgc.pa.gov

Pennsylvania Game News - August 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - August 2022