Stewardship

July 8, 2024

Habitat rehabilitation partnership in Allegheny National Forest is a win for wildlife

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service recently partnered with multiple organizations to rehabilitate and enhance existing wildlife habitat in the Allegheny National Forest. On Saturday, June 1, 2024, three dozen participants worked in the Farnsworth watershed to improve wildlife habitat by restoring fencing, installing bird boxes, and planting trees and shrubs.

July 5, 2024

The rare beauty of synchronous fireflies and the PA Firefly Festival

Imagine this: as you’re camping in the middle of a dark forest, you spot something unusual - a series of twinkling lights that are all in sync with one another, appearing like a string of Christmas lights or an eerie almost-sentient creature flashing out a message. As strange as it might seem, this is the Photinus Carolinus firefly, a type of Synchronous Firefly. Synchronous species of fireflies are rare, so rare that they can only be seen in a handful of places around the world… including the Pennsylvania Wilds.

May 31, 2024

Forest Fridays: Cicadas

The appearance of the periodical cicada (genus Magicicada) is an extraordinary event that can evoke feelings of wonder. Their choruses that dominate the soundscape certainly remind us to pay attention to our oft-ignored six-legged neighbors. Endemic to eastern North America, these cicadas occur in distinct broods with 13-year or 17-year life cycles. As if by magic, periodical cicadas suddenly materialize in a synchronous mass emergence, take flight on glittering, orange-veined wings, and sing in an exuberant ensemble just before a final disappearing act. Except for the occasional straggler, they are not heard again for well over a decade.

May 21, 2024

Urban Connections – Allegheny National Forest offers overnight backpacking experiences

For those who live in places like Pittsburgh or Philadelphia, the Allegheny National Forest can be a daunting place to take a first backpacking trip. The forest is a far cry from city life… trees as tall as buildings, the constant songs of birds or chittering of squirrels, roots and rocks for your feet to navigate, and inky-black darkness at night. The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service offered its first Urban Connections backpacking program at Allegheny National Forest in 2023, and they plan to offer several more similar programs in 2024. 

May 9, 2024

Volunteers stop the spread of invasive garlic mustard in Allegheny National Forest

Community volunteers helped with the  successful removal of invasive plants from the Allegheny National Forest with help, says the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. On Thursday, April 25, 2024, a group of seven volunteers removed 24 lawn bags full of garlic mustard from the Buckaloons Recreation Area at the forest’s annual garlic mustard pull.

April 30, 2024

BIRD LORE: You can help birds, just by looking around

Maybe you don’t think of yourself as a “birder,” but you enjoy noticing birds. Perhaps you’ve even used something like the Merlin App to help you figure out what bird woke you up with his raucous song outside your window at 5:30 am. I’d like to invite you to join a vast group of citizen scientists, from experts in the field of ornithology to everyday folks who just enjoy watching birds, as we assess the breeding populations of birds in Pennsylvania.

April 26, 2024

Forest Fridays: Not-so-common wildflowers in Tioga State Forest

My favorite common spring ephemeral wildflowers—hepaticas, can easily be identified by the unusual, leathery lobed leaves and the variably colored flowers. With closer inspection, photographs, and a bit of botanical knowledge, it is possible to document some remarkable diversity of this common species. Recently, a population of sharp-lobed hepatica with double flowers growing along a road in Tioga State Forest caught the attention of botanists.

April 19, 2024

Forest Fridays: Willow world

My first memory of a willow tree is the pussy willow that existed between the garage and our dog’s house on the property of my childhood home. I vividly remember stopping to admire its velvety catkins each spring. A few miles away into town, a local streambank is still lined with weeping willows. I can remember how they first caught my eye, their cascading foliage swaying gracefully in the wind. 

April 12, 2024

Forest Fridays: The promise of spring

Our recent March and early April “yo-yo” weather pattern has me admittedly yearning for brighter, warmer days. Like the emerging leaves, I must be patient; jumping the gun won’t work out in the long run. A prime example is the magnolia in the side yard, whose blooms almost always get zapped by frost. Timing is everything, so they say.

April 10, 2024

Is it ever okay to take a souvenir from nature?

You're on a walk, and you see a beautiful empty robin’s blue eggshell. The bird has already hatched, and the shell is just sitting on the forest floor. You're a gatherer of beautiful things, and this pretty eggshell would be perfect for your collection. The question is, is it really harmful to take just one object from nature? Let’s find out together, exploring what the 7 Principles of Leave No Trace say about removing things from where you found them in nature.