Here's a list of up-coming habitat tours.  Hope you will all make an effort to attend one of these (family friendly) habitat tours.  By doing so, you will be able to see first hand what is happening in PA's forests, how it is being addressed, and what the issues for the deer management program are really about.  If you can't make one of these, let me know, and we'll work with you to get one set up in your area. 
 
Hope to see you there!
Melody
 
Sunday - May 27th, 2007 - 1:00 PM
GAME   LANDS  Habitat &  DEER MANAGEMENT   TOUR
Elk County State Game Lands # 44
This will be a tour of habitat work and various projects that profile deer
management issues in the state and the local areas.
The tour is free and open to the public .
Wear clothing and boots suitable for short walks in the woods and fields.
Jackets or rain gear may be needed dependant upon the weather conditions.
High clearance vehicles are preferred, though four-wheel drive is not
needed, as you use your vehicle to travel to various locations on the game
lands.
The tour starts at 1:00 PM at the Old CCC Camps in Carmen, site of the
present day Game Commission Food & Cover Crew Headquarters, located on Game Commission Road.
Take Route 949 South out of Ridgway for approx. 8 miles - just prior to the
twin bridges that cross over the railroad tracks and Toby Creek turn left
onto Game Commission Road. This is approx. 1 mile north of Portland Mills
on Rt. 949.
 
June 9, 2007
Habitat Tour - Schuylkill Co.
 
Location SGL 257, West Penn Township Schuylkill County
 
Meeting location: Parking lot on the east end of the Game Lands.  A map of SGL 257 is available on the agency web site. 
 
Directions are as follows:
AT the intersection of State Route 309 and Route 443 is a traffic light and Leiby's Restaurant.  Depending on the direction of travel, one needs to follow Dairy Road in a easterly direction.  (From Tamaqua traveling south on Route 309 one would turn left on Dairy Road.  From Allentown traveling north on Route 309 one would turn right on Dairy Road.  If traveling east on Route 443 from New Ringgold one would need to go straight through the intersection)  Travel on Dairy road for approximately 2 miles to a stop sign.  At the stop sign turn left on Wash Creek Road and travel about 1 mile to the parking lot on the left side.  I will hang orange flagging at the road entrance along Wash Creek Road. 
 
Focus of the Habitat Tour:
Explain the forest habitat management program of the agency.  We will tour the site of a recently completed timber harvest for wildlife on the Game Lands.  Planned sites to be examined will include: a an aspen regeneration harvest with a fence to allow for the growth of the regeneration, an adjacent regeneration harvest block, a timber stand improvement block, border edge cuts along the service road, a regeneration harvest with tremendous oak regeneration, road improvements and sale clean-up (seeding of landings), the most recent harvest block that is in the first year of growth and an adjacent site which shows the resurgence of white pine in the understory as deer numbers have been decreased. The program will begin with a discussion of the PA Game Commissions forest management program along with the program goals, a brief dendrology program and then a tour of the sites with a walking tour and discussion at each location.  I will plan on having several handouts for all who wish to have them.
 
If possible, please let us know if you are planning to attend.  The vehicle tour will require car pooling to make this a more efficient tour as we will be traveling about 4 miles of service road on the eastern portion of the game lands.  We will send out a press release to announce and promote the habitat tour.  I expect the release to be out in the next couple of weeks. 
 
One item I wish to caution all who will be attending is this tour will focus on habitat improvement work and results in the forest of this State Game Lands, conversely this is not a tour to discuss/debate policy and direction of deer and deer management.  Those type of discussions must be addressed with the agencies Board of Commissioners.
 
Thank you for help with arranging this tour
Dave Henry
 
 
June 23, 2007
Habitat Tour - Clear Creek State Park
Jefferson Co.
The United Bowhunters of PA will again be sponsoring this nature educational event. You do not have to be a member to attend. Mr. Gary Gilmore, PA DCNR Forestry division, has volunteered to lead us this year.
The event will be held June 23, 2007 this year.  We will meet at Clear Creek SP Amphitheater at 9 AM.  Some of us will be camping at Clear Creek State Park. Clear Creek SP is located right next to the Clarion River. It is one of the most scenic parks in PA. If you have canoes, it is a float of 10 miles to Cook Forest. There is easy road access to the river in many areas.
This state park is close to the Clear Creek State Forest where most of the research we will be looking at will take place. One of these research issues is oak regeneration. We will also share/show the group some large American chestnut and discuss the efforts to get it back into the woods of PA as dominate, mast producing timber trees.
We will look into the deer census being conducted in the state forest for the past six years and share the results.
We plan a cook out at the conclusion of the day.
There is a local flint knapping/primitive archer who would be willing to demonstrate if we wanted.
http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/clearcreek.aspx
For information, contact Mark Hogan at 724-643-6935 or mhogan6935@comcast.net.