A significant young forest restoration project continues to expand on the 25,000-acre Clermont Tract in northern Pennsylvania’s McKean County. With guidance from the Wildlife Management Institute and funding from the Wildlife For Everyone Endowment Foundation, conservationists planted 12,400 seedlings in 2015, the project’s sixth year. The planting is part of an ongoing effort to improve wildlife habitat and to monitor wildlife populations, including the American woodcock and other young forest species. Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) recently acquired the 27-square-mile property, which will be added to the adjacent Elk State Forest. The Clermont Tract represents the largest
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The U.S. Forest Service today launched the updated version of the increasingly popular, free software i-Tree. This version includes a major new function that simulates future tree population totals, canopy cover, tree diversity and tree values by species based on user information. i-Tree and its growing suite of tools make it possible for anyone to analyze individual trees, parcels, neighborhoods, cities or an entire state. “The i-Tree enhancements will provide the public with helpful scientific information about the trees across the U.S.,” said U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Tidwell. “With i-Tree you won’t have to imagine how trees enhance your communities
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Collisions with glass windows kill hundreds of millions of birds each year in the United States, but thanks to American Bird Conservancy’s new Bird-Smart Glass Program, a list of 18 tested, proven products is now available to help homeowners and architects identify simple but effective solutions to stop birds from hitting windows. Over the last six years, ABC has led testing efforts to identify a range of products that are scientifically proven to minimize the frequency with which birds collide with windows—but are also affordable and aesthetically suitable. The result, to date, is 18 products found to be effective in significantly reducing
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In the last decade, the hemlock woolly adelgid, a tiny sap-sucking insect native to Japan, has swept through southern Appalachian forests, leaving dead hemlocks in its wake. Hemlock branches no longer shade streams or tower over shrubs, and their loss has affected streamside, or riparian, forests. “Without hemlock, more sunlight reaches the forest floor,” says U.S. Forest Service scientist Chelcy Ford Miniat. The species that has benefited the most from the increased light is an evergreen shrub, rosebay rhododendron (Rhododendron maximum), which is now growing twice as fast as expected. Although rhododendron’s showy flowers are appreciated by nature-lovers, its unchecked
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The U.S. Forest Service has increased the pace and scale of forest restoration by nine percent since 2011, according to a report released today. The significant progress comes in the face of mounting challenges to the agency including record droughts, longer wildfire seasons and the increasing percentage of the agency’s budget spent fighting wildland fires. Despite the gains, at least 65 million National Forest System acres are still in need of restoration work. The rising cost of wildfire suppression, as fires have become more intense and more expensive to fight in recent years, has taken funding away from restoration, watershed
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The following guest blog by Hannah Ryan of Intermountain West Joint Venture and Matt Cimitile of Appalachian Mountain Joint Venture highlights key partnerships that work with farmers and ranchers to conserve habitat for the benefit of birds, other wildlife and people. The 2014 Farm Bill Field Guide to Fish and Wildlife Conservation is a collaborative effort by conservation partners that provides a new tool for those who work with private landowners and agricultural producers in adopting conservation practices included in the 2014 Farm Bill. It provides biologists, range conservationists, foresters, and others with a road map to help navigate Farm Bill programs
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Click here to view and download the 2023 AMJV Partnership Year in Review!
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The 2023 AMJV Impact Report is now available for downloading and sharing! Starting in 2022, this beautiful report has been designed annually by Liz Brewer (AMJV Outreach Specialist) to…
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by Liz Brewer, AMJV Outreach Specialist Appalachian Mountains Joint Venture (AMJV), in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS), and the West Virginia…
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