 |
Northern Tier Coalition of Townships
Susquehanna County, PA
|
Coalition
Members
Apolacon Twp..
Bridgewater Twp.
Choconut Twp.
Forest Lake Twp.
Franklin Twp.
Jessup Twp.
Liberty Twp.
Middletown Twp.
Rush Twp.
Silver Lake Twp
Friendsville
Little Meadows
Montrose
VEGETATION & FOREST
Susquehanna County, like the rest of the Northeastern United States, was originally covered with virgin forest. As settlers arrived, they cleared land for farms, and used the wood to build and heat their homes. The region gradually became deforested, reaching a low point around 1900. Soon after, the commonwealth of Pennsylvania began acquiring forestlands for preserves and had accumulated 11,555 acres in Susquehanna County by 1945, which was approximately 2% of the total land area. By 1968, this number had increased to 32,237 acres, or 5.5% of the total land area. By that time, the County’s forests had recovered significantly and comprised 67.5% of total land area. Since that time, vegetative cover has not changed significantly, and today, according to the Mulispectral Resolution Land Cover (MRLC) for the area, shown in Figure 2.15, the Coalition area is approximately 65% forested, of which most is deciduous forest, a smaller amount is mixed conifer and deciduous forest, and an even smaller amount is conifer or evergreen forest. The remainder of the landscape is divided into agriculture lands, successional/shrubby woodland and other developed areas (quarries & pavement)
The forest in Susquehanna County is a part of the Laurentian Ecological Forest Type. This type consists of largely the Northern Mesic Forest species, e.g. maple (sugar, red & striped), oak (black, red & white), birch (black, grey, white & yellow), ash, basswood, black cherry, white pine and hemlock among others. The authors of the Soil Survey (USDA Soil Conservation Service et al. 1973) identified two common forest types in Susquehanna County, sugar maple-beech-yellow birch, and hemlock. The sugar maple-beechyellow birch type is a very broad type, and may contain any of the other non-colonizing species mentioned in this article as sub-dominant or associated species. Hemlock type forests may occur as pure stands of hemlock, but any species other than the oaks may be present as associates. A third type, aspen-birch is referred to as rare. According to Jim Kessler, County Forester, however, Susquehanna County is host to four forest types. Consistent with Soil Conservation Service, the majority of forest land is maple-beech-birch, followed by oak-hickory, aspen-birch and white pine. The oak-hickory forest is more likely to be found on southerly facing slopes in the southern part of the Northern Tier area. In the northern part of the Coalition area, oak stands are unusual and should be the subject of conservation and the best forestry management practices. Within the dominant maple-beech-birch forest, there are also small stands of hemlock forest proximate to wetlands and lakes, and along creek ravine. These forest patches are critical to the overall wildlife biodiversity in the area.
From an economic perspective, the forests of Susquehanna County have valuable trees, especially the oaks (black, red & white), black cherry, sugar maple, hickories (fairly rare), and walnut (once relatively rare, but increasingly abundant). Black cherry and walnut are the two most valuable timber trees. Other than those species, few species are valuable enough to warrant transporting them many miles to distant furniture factories, but there are two local saw mills and at least one furniture shop that work with local timber. Each of the species mentioned have unique requirements for growth, and so the composition of forests from one lot to another often varies tremendously.
Today, much of the farmland that once dominated the landscape of the Northern Tier Coalition has reverted to forest. Commonly, the first trees to invade abandoned farmlands in the area are red maple, ash, white pine and aspen. As time passes, more competitive, shade tolerant, and long-lived trees replace the short-lived aspen. In 1973, the authors of the Soil Survey (USDA Soil Conservation Service et al. 1973) documented an aspen-gray birch forest type in 8% of the woodlands in the county. Aspen (poplar, quaking aspen) and gray birch dominated forests are no longer common in the county (personal observation). This is probably due to the passage of time and the natural succession of vegetative communities, which results in the exclusion of colonizing, short-lived, and poor competing species like aspen and gray birch. Because clear-cutting, as a forestry practice, has not been used for some time in these townships, there are rarely broad open fields for colonizing species to invade and dominate. In 1973, 78% of the county was covered in the sugar maple-beechyellow birch type, while hemlock dominated stands accounted for only 6% (SUDA Soil Conservation Service et al. 1973). This pattern is comparable to today’s forest composition.
WILDLIFE & BIODIVERSITY
The townships of the Northern Tier Coalition contain a mixture of open and forested land, abundant wetlands and stream and lake habitats common to many northeastern rural areas. This diversity of habitat types supports a variety of wildlife species. Opportunities for hunting and fishing, as well as non-consumptive activities such as bird watching are many. Deer are overabundant and have been since at least 1969 (Northern Tier Regional Planning Commission 1969). Wild turkey and bear are also plentiful and are hunted in the area. Other common forest wildlife species include ruffed grouse, raccoon, squirrels, and other typical forest inhabitants. Waterfowl is abundant in wetland areas, ponds and lakes. Beaver, muskrat, and mink populations are excellent throughout the county. Red fox and gray fox are also present. Other predators include bobcats and coyotes. Jim Kessler, the County Forester has heard reports of mountain lions and wolves, but there has be no confirmed sightings. A variety of songbirds inhabit the Northern Tier Coalition area (Appendix 1) including robins, blue jays, woodpeckers, grosbeaks, bluebirds, cedar waxwings, indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, cardinals, and a variety of warblers. Information on birds present in the study area was taken from the Pennsylvania Spatial Data Access (PASDA) website () which contains Breeding Bird Atlas data (Brauning and Gill 1983-1989) collected from 1983- 1989. The Breeding Bird Atlas, a volunteer effort to field survey each county in Pennsylvania and document breeding birds, is a valuable tool in determining the bird species present in an area. Each topographic quadrangle is divided into six equal blocks and data indicated the number of each bird species found to be breeding in each block. Figure 2.17 shows bird species according to the breeding bird atlas for the blocks in the NTC area.
Rare or unique species are listed and mapped by the Pennsylvania Natural Diversity Program (‘PNDI”), which is jointly overseen by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (“DCNR”) and the Pennsylvania Chapter of the Nature Conservancy (“TNC”). The PNDI shows an important Great Heron Rookery in the wetland areas on the border between Jessup and Bridgewater Townships. It also shows two rare dragon flies living respectively on Silver Lake and Cranberry Lake. Other Species of Concern found in the area include the Northern Harrier and the Eastern Hellbender Salamandar.
The Pennsylvania Gap Analysis Program (“GAP”) has created a map of wildlife diversity of throughout Pennsylvania and the degree to which their habitat is protected. This map is based on a model of where different species are likely to be found in the landscape, based on several landscape features (soils, topography, vegetation, proximity to water, and level of human disturbance). The level of human disturbance depends on the level of permanent human presence, ranging from commercial/ industrial development to agriculture. In Figure 2.19 the GAP model suggests that the southern part of Bridgewater is likely to contain more overall diversity of wildlife than other parts of the Coalition area. In the Coalition area, species diversity for birds ranges from 62 species to 137 species. For mammals the range is 19 to 49 species. For fish: 17 to 38, for amphibians: 0 to 20, for turtles: 0 to 6, and for snakes and lizards: 0 to 13. Figures 2.20 to 2.25 show the GAP models for distribution of these groups of species in the NTC area. The binder and paper by Kristi Sullivan in Appendix C has more detail on biodiversity and different species found in the Coalition area. Unfortunately, there have been few recent field wildlife inventories in Susquehanna County, so much remains unknown about local biodiversity. The GAP maps are good indicators of species location and diversity, but not the final word.
Planning for the conservation of wildlife diversity is beneficial not only for wildlife, however. A number of other values are conserved in the process from water quality and forest health to scenic quality and amenity value. Biodiversity is essential to healthy and functional ecosystems; and a healthy and functional ecosystem is essential to a long term sustainable and thriving economy. Important to maintaining diversity are critical wildlife corridors and core patches. Wildlife corridors are connectors between core patches, e.g. one large forest area to another. An example out west is the Buffalo Commons, in which a string of Public Parks, Preserves and Public Range Land is being stitched together through targeted conservation planning by local planners and private groups to provide an area of continuous movement for the last herds of buffalo. In many instances, these follow hydrologic corridors, and so planning for the conservation of forested stream buffers not only protects water quality, but also bio-diversity. Important core patches to consider for wildlife include wetlands and lakes discussed above, large tracts of forest (250 acres or greater), large areas of open grasslands or pasture (70 acres or greater), and areas of shrub and evergreen forest habitat. Figure 2.27 shows the distribution of the highest quality of these patches in the Northern Tier Coalition landscape.
The combined “patchwork quilt” of these different kinds of habitats is a called a mosaic. A diverse mosaic is important for maintaining long term diversity. Ironically, if the landscape were to revert completely to forest and residential uses, diversity would be much less than the existing farm, woodlot, house/lawn and forest landscape. Currently, throughout the northeast grassland and shrubland habitats are becoming less common as agricultural use of fields is intensified, or is abandoned and subsequently reverts to forest. Maintaining a mosaic of open agricultural or field patches and forest patches of different types is critical to maintaining the long term overall wild life diversity. It is also very important to maintaining viable hunting populations of wild turkey, grouse and deer. In other words, ensuring the long term viability of farming may be the key to conserving wildlife diversity.
SUMMARY:INGREDIENTS FOR CONSERVATION & PLANNING
Figures 27 and 28 are summary maps of important ingredients for the comprehensive planning process. Figure 27 is primary conservation areas where development should limited: wetlands, slopes more than 12%, floodplains, ripanan buffer zones, locales of listed or endangered species and soils that are unsound for development. Figure 28 adds in prime habitat areas for field, upland deciduous forest and evergreen forest as secondary conservation areas.
