From the Big Woods of the Allegheny Plateau and the Wilds of Pennsylvania
Presents
UPDATE
on
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
This article was first printed in the October 2019 issue of
the american beagler
magazine.
and
the November 2019 issue of the
THE RABBIT HUNTER
magazine
This article is reprinted here under the authority of the author for your reading pleasure.
Written and
photographed
by
Joe Ewing
High HareMan
Big Woods Hare
Hunters of the Allegheny
NOW INCLUDING A STUDY
High on the Allegheny, deep in the heart of paradise.
In the distance can be seen the ruins of the Kinzua Viaduct, now called the Kinzua Sky Walk. The bridge at one time was the highest railroad viaduct in the world and spanned the entire 2052-foot Kinzua Creek valley.
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A couple of
months back I presented my opinion in this publication and I labelled the
article, “TROUBLE IN PARADISE”. I listed the difficulties cottontail rabbits,
snowshoe hare, turkey and ruffed grouse are having finding suitable nesting and
escape cover on the Allegheny High Plateau and, possibly, in all the forests of
Pennsylvania. In my article I declared, “Hard times for the magnificent
snowshoe hare and other small game animals like the ruffed grouse and eastern
cottontail rabbits are here, now, on the Allegheny and no one is doing anything
about it”. Wild game everywhere is suffering from lack of suitable habitat
whether it’s from over development caused by the persistent incursion of civilization
or from modern farming practises.
I’m proud to report there is someone doing something about
the problem and they are working hard. The Ruffed Grouse Society (RGS) is improving
habitat for grouse in many places in the United States and in doing so they are
helping other small creatures. The Allegheny Chapter of the RGS has taken on
the challenge on the Allegheny Plateau.
I blamed the problem on the lack of suitable forest
management. I also stated, “In the twentieth
century, white-tailed deer emerged as one of the greatest threats to
Pennsylvania’s forests. Pennsylvania’s deer population exploded devastating the
state’s forests. Escape cover, nesting cover, and food sources became severely
limited for the snowshoe hare as well as ruffed grouse, woodcock, cottontail,
turkey and many non-game species including songbirds”.
We are headlong into the twenty-first century now and I
believe my statement could not be truer. The over population of whitetail deer is
the principal cause of Pennsylvania’s loss of forest biodiversity. The massive
deer herd is a major hazard to food sources, escape cover and nesting cover for
all small animals.
I monitor
the information, including misinformation, from road-roaming, tree-sitting,
deer slayers crying, “there are no deer in Pennsylvania”. If you believe there
are no deer in PA just ask Allstate® auto insurance company, timber industry foresters
or, especially, a beagler with a deer chasing hound. The whitetail deer has
completely and irrevocably devastated the forests of PA. The majority of big
game hunters do not care about small animals; however, it’s about the balance
of nature, the ecosystem, stupid!
I’m pleased to reveal other voices are in agreement with my
statements on the subject. A retired Allegheny National Forest (ANF) biologist named
Mary Hosmer, of Ridgway, Pennsylvania, a member of the
Allegheny Chapter of the RGS, and a member of the Rolfe Beagle Club in
Johnsonburg submitted an article on a once very important piece of plant life on the high
plateau of the Allegheny called “hobblebush”.
Never heard of hobblebush? Nor had I and I was born and raised high atop the
northern mountains of PA.
Ms. Hosmer’s article (July 5th, 2019 issue of the PENNSYLVANIA Outdoor News) asserts hobblebush as an incredibly important food source for animals “up until the early 20th century”, Hosmer declares, “Hobblebush has almost vanished from the landscape here in northern Pennsylvania.” Hosmer asserts, “The once plentiful shrub with beautiful white flowers and high-energy berries disappeared once the deer herd exploded and overwhelmed their habitat.”
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Rolfe Beagle Club member, Mary Hosmer and the High Hareman.
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I’ve been monitoring Ms.
Hosmer’s exceptional efforts since 2014 when she was
named a “Field & Stream Hero of Conservation”. A Field & Stream
(the magazine) Hero of Conservation is someone who spends his or her own time
working to create, improve, or restore fish and wildlife habitat. Hosmer is
leading a 10-year project to restore and manage 1,500 acres of private
industrial timberland, which are open to hunting, and her efforts are helping
improve conditions for ruffed grouse, woodcock, deer, and snowshoe hares.
Hosmer is leading an effort to reestablish a once
very important piece of vegetation on the high plateau of the Allegheny. Hobblebush
(Viburnum lantanoides), also called witch-hobble, alder-hobble, alder-leaved
viburnum, American wayfaring tree and moosewood, may grow to 12 feet high with overhanging
branches that take root where they touch the ground. These embedded branches
form obstacles which easily trip walkers and hobble horses, hence the common
name. The understory shrub forms large clusters of white to pink flowers in May
to June. The fruit is red and transforms to black when ripe. Animals and birds,
both large and small, feed on the fruit, twigs and leaves.
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Pictures: Courtesy of Bing pictures.
Hobblebush, leaves and flowers.
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Hosmer writes, “Like all of
nature, if you take out or remove one piece you have the capacity to create
unplanned havoc elsewhere. Hobblebush is a perfect example of the unraveling of
an entire ecosystem across northern Pennsylvania. And once the deer decimated
the hobblebush across Pennsylvania, the hungry animals wiped out other
beneficial understory shrubs such as dogwoods, viburnums, grapes, berries and
turned the once-thriving forest into a biological desert. Small wildlife had no
place left to hide.”
The Allegheny Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society
has a fencing project planned for this summer in McKean County, Pennsylvania to
prevent deer from devouring hobblebush plants. The RGS chapter is fencing an
acre of hobblebush seedlings to keep the deer out and allow the hobblebush to
grow, produce flowers and berries for future wildlife. The plan is: birds will re-establish
hobblebush seedlings across the landscape.
I have pointed out numerous times the advantages of
deer exclosure fences. In the case of hobblebush, RGS’s fence will be a
“hobblebush enclosure”. In Hosmer’s article she declares, “Enter some
enlightened biologists and conservationists that discovered the beneficial
aspects of deer fencing to protect habitat for other wildlife. Despite the high
cost at almost $3 a linear foot to buy and install, some forward-thinking
organizations and agencies are using this conservation technique to shelter
these rare hobblebush plants as they find them in today’s forests.”
The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny applauds
the members of the Allegheny Chapter of the Ruffed Grouse Society and Mary
Hosmer for their dedicated conservation work on the Allegheny Plateau. They
have become an inspiration to many.
In another article in the same newspaper titled, “Habitat
growing focus for turkey management” writer Kyle Hey comments on the deterioration
of adequate wild turkey habitat. Hey writes that while the wild turkey has made
a remarkable comeback from near destruction, “The deterioration of adequate
wild turkey habitat has magnified the impacts of increased predation, extreme
weather, and hunting pressure – causing a precipitous decline in Pennsylvania’s
turkey population since its peak in 2002.”
Writer Kyle Hey, from Mechanicsburg, PA, a history
teacher by trade, wears many hats in the great outdoors which includes managing
a facebook page and a blog/website called, RELEVANT OUTDOORS (http://relevantoutdoors.blogspot.com/). He is a board member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers
Association (POWA) and an award-winning author. He told me, “My writing
passions are conservation/habitat, whitetail hunting, and turkey hunting.” Hey
also belongs to Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as well as Quality Deer
Management Association (QDMA), “because of their habitat and public access
emphasis”. Hey’s complete article on turkey habitat can found on his blog.
Hey quotes the chief forester for the PGC, David
Gustafson, “Well thought-out timber harvests that change forest age classes and
create different structures are beneficial for turkeys. We make sure we are
looking at the entire life cycle of a turkey and all the different forest
components. That sunlight also stimulates the growth of numerous grasses and
forbes that turkeys feed on, as well as supporting more diverse and abundant
insect life.”
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| Two hens and their broods quickly disappear into the cover on the Allegheny. |
In his enlightening and informative article Hey
quotes PGC biologists, foresters and PGC managers on what they think is needed,
what is beneficial and what they plan on doing about the problem, but, Hey
states, “Unfortunately, much of the state is dominated by single age class forests
and other monocultures of habitat.” Hey goes on, “Robust turkey habitat
requires diversity. The interspersion of different habitat types, such as young
forests, thermal cover, old-growth forests, and herbaceous openings, work in
concert to meet the diverse needs of wild turkeys throughout the year.”
The Big Woods Hare Hunters of the Allegheny are
confident the statements Hey makes are true for wild turkey as well as ruffed
grouse, cottontail rabbits, snowshoe hare and all types of small beings.
Nowhere in Hey’s article does he or the PGC mention the ever-present
competition from whitetail deer.
Hey finishes his article by
saying, “As the scope of the impact of predation, disease and other factors
continues to become evident, proper habitat management will become increasingly
crucial to stabilize wild turkey populations.”
The Big Woods Hare Hunters of
the Allegheny interpret the “other factors” Hey eludes to as being the
whitetail deer herd and the “proper habitat management” which he claims is becoming
“increasingly crucial” as being a reduction in the deer herd.
The PGC manages 1.5 million acres of state game
lands in Pennsylvania (more acreage than the state of Delaware) of which, the
article states, are 93% covered in trees. We feel if the game commission could only
recognize the impact of the over populated deer herd and massive single age
class forests all species, including deer, would be far better off.
As I stated in my previous
articles, “Our public forests are in desperate need of improved
management. More trees need cut. Selective-cutting does not work. Selective-cutting
or 'selection cutting' moves a forest towards an uneven-aged or all-aged
condition. Trees are a crop that require harvesting in a timely manner.
Clear-cutting small patches of timber every few years creates a mixed age
forest. The forests need timber harvests that change forest age classes."
In
Pennsylvania whitetail is king and I fully understand deer hunting is a near religious
experience and it may be severely perilous, even blasphemy, to speak out
against whitetail deer; however, it’s about the ecosystem and the balance of
nature.
I am just an
old snowshoe hare hunter who sometimes doesn’t know up from down, however, the
writing is on the tree, sorta speak. We must let our public officials know what
we perceive, expect and what the snowshoe hare and other small game animals require
to survive. It’s time we get serious about small animals and the ecosystem. The
rhetoric must stop and action is essential.
The eastern
forests of North America were once a perfectly balanced ecosystem. One day our
forests will return to their once divine state, but this will be a thousand
years after humans disappear from the face of the Earth.
Thanks for
listening.
