Tree planting along AT in Pennsylvania

[Game Warden]

Kudos to the members of the Susquehanna Appalachian Trail Club and Blue Mountain Eagle Climbing Clubs, who planted about 1500 white pine seedlings along the AT on State Game Lands in Dauphin and Lebanon counties. This is the third year that these clubs have planted seedlings, focusing on areas where hemlock trees are dying from the wooly adelgid. Trout Unlimited and Game Commission officers also planted seedlings along the AT in Clarks Creek. You'll notice the young pines if you look for them. Thanks to all the volunteers who made this possible.

[bamboo bob]

What a good idea. No new rules just seedlings. All good.

[WILLIAM HAYES]

glad to see this happening kudos to everyone involved in this effort

[icemanat95]

I wish they planted a little more variety, but any (native) tree is a good tree.

Monocultures tend to create problems when pathogens enter the ecosystem. The Asian Longhorn Beetle in Massachusetts is a serious issue because many towns are heavily planted with maples, birches and other host species. Whole neighborhoods in Worcester were cleared of trees because they only had maples planted roadside (mostly Norways, which are garbage trees and highly invasive).

That said, I always like to see trees being planted.

[rocketsocks]

"One generation plants the tree, another gets the shade"~author Unknown to me, but I always liked it.:sun

[Game Warden]

The best time to plant a tree is ten years ago. The second best time is today.

[fiddlehead]

"One generation plants the tree, another gets the shade"~author Unknown to me, but I always liked it.:sun
Or another generation gets to log it and reap the benefits.
The Game Commission logged the top of the Blue Mt in Schuylkill and Berks counties (near Eagles nest shelter) about 15 years ago.
Kudos to the hiking club to plant more, but I wouldn't expect the greed to pass on those trees 50 years from now.

[Game Warden]

No good deed goes without some snark in the world of the internet. The PGC cuts 1 percent of our harvestable timber each year, whereas commercial foresters cut 10 percent. We also only cut timber where it will benefit wildlife; if a certain patch of woods has marketable timber but but also a good mix of species and age groups for wildlife, with good mixed growth regeneration, we leave it as is. We use block cuts or selective cuts where they can increase the sunlight hitting the forest floor, and thus increase regeneration. Treetops and cuttings left behind protect seedlings from deer and provide habitat for wildlife.

It's comments such as the three above that remind me of Teddy Roosevelt's famous maxim about the man in the arena vs. the critic. Google it.

Greed has nothing to do with it. Come out to the tree planting next year--bring a shovel--and we can chat in person.
Mike Doherty,

[Game Warden]

And these seedlings did result in new rules. Last year I planted about 100 seedlings in a popular unlawful riparian camping spot where the AT crosses Rt 325, in an attempt to stabilize the stream bank. I thought, surely any person who sees 18" pines planted in a checkerboard fashion 5' apart will see that somebody spent a lot of time and effort here and camp elsewhere. I was wrong; people camped and even built fires directly atop the seedlings I planted. Most of them didn't survive the summer. This year I replanted the site and strung red tape and nasty RESTRICTED AREA KEEP OUT signs around the site.

[Game Warden]

Just an update: the seedlings are thriving; the sandy streambank is becoming forest loam, and people are respecting my nasty signs and tape. This will improve the forest for wildlife, fish and people. If you pass this spot take a moment to notice it.

[saltysack]

Hats off to you....Thx for your efforts


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[Jeff]

Appreciate your efforts....and the update.

[MisterQ]

I hiked the Duncannon to Swatara section two weekends ago. At the Peters Mountain Shelter I ran into a hiker named Pig Pen who had the Guthook's app on her phone. I was debating my camping options and looking at the vicinity of 325 as an end point. She looked up the 325 waypoint and found a comment "good campsites both sides of road." Thus emboldened, I pressed on to 325. I passed up a small site on the south side, crossed the road, and found...nothing but a large area cordoned off with red tape. I now know who to blame for the extra .8 miles tacked on to find a suitable site.


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[MisterQ]

Seriously though, the area is directly beside the creek and is much more suitable for trees than a campsite. Thank you for your restoration efforts- I think.


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[Game Warden]

You're welcome, I think.

[Game Warden]

You're welcome, I think. Also, if you proceed about a hundred yards trail-north past my forest regeneration project, you will find several good and lawful sites. Take a moment to notice all the dead and dying hemlocks, a result of the wooly adelgid, a parasite that arrived in pallets from China. The once-green tunnel is now a gray haze. We're planting white pines to attempt to fulfill the ecological niche performed by the hemlocks.

[Emerson Bigills]

I appreciate the tireless and thankless work that the hiking clubs and maintainers do to provide the great trail experience for folks like myself.