Western Pennsylvania Conservancy's e-CONSERVE Quarterly Newsletter

Establishing forestland protection measures

The conservation of Pennsylvania’s forests requires diligent management to sustain its many benefits. Our forests face several threats and are disappearing or being degraded at increasing rates. In the Conservation Blueprint, the WPC recognized three largely-forested landscapes that include forest patches greater than 15,000 acres in size that are important for the conservation of species, communities and habitats: the Middle Allegheny forests, the West Branch Susquehanna forests and the Laurel Highlands.

Of particular concern in these landscapes are interior forest patches, unbroken forests that lie at least 300 feet from habitat edges, such as roads or other developments. Although there are a number of other patches of interior forest, they are somewhat fragmented by urban areas, farms and rights-of-way. Conservation or restoration of corridors that facilitate animal movement, plant dispersal and ecological processes are important to maintaining the biodiversity of the area over time.

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In 2005, WPC began a statewide analysis using Geographic Information Systems (GIS ) to identify the landscapes needed for conservation of wildlife movement based on specific needs of species, such as bobcat, black bear, river otter, fisher, bat species, birds of prey and forest interior song birds. GIS technology gives scientists the ability to construct maps while in the field.

The resulting corridors, such as the corridor between forests on Chestnut Ridge and Laurel Ridge along the Conemaugh River, will help the WPC enhance conservation of large forest landscapes identified in the WPC’s Conservation Blueprint.