Protecting Biodiversity

VOLUME

LXXVI

•

WINTER

2023

Preserving Biodiversity

CONTENTS 3

Biodiversity: The variety of natural life and habitats on Earth

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Creating Thriving Urban Garden Ecosystems

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Partnering for Stream Recovery Leads to Aquatic Diversity

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Observe PA’s Natural Symbols at Bear Run Nature Reserve

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Old-Growth Forests: Natural Laboratories

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New Checklist for Ancient Species Builds Biodiversity Knowledge

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Controlling Invasive Species that Threaten Biodiversity

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Field Notes: We Are Nature?

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It's Our Nature: Protect Western PA's Wild Places and Green Spaces

Message from the President I’m pleased to share this issue of Conserve, which highlights not only the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy’s commitment to protecting Western Pennsylvania’s most ecologically important places, but also our work to protect the region's special biodiversity, especially in the face of climate change and habitat loss.

Across each of our program areas we are advancing projects that protect the unique biodiversity of our region.

Our land conservation, conservation science and watershed staff work to inventory, monitor and protect rare, threatened and endangered species and the habitats on which they depend for their survival.

Our land stewardship staff restores and manages our preserves and advances sustainable forest management practices at our preserves like our Bennett Branch Forest, a demonstration forest in Elk and Clearfield counties. At that site, ongoing restoration and forest management practices are important for sustaining the biodiversity of the hemlock, northern hardwood and oak forests.

Our community greening and forestry staff plants trees and gardens in our local communities. These green spaces create habitat for pollinators and migratory birds, sequester carbon and reduce stormwater runoff.

At Fallingwater, we work to protect biodiversity at our 5,100-acre Bear Run Nature Reserve, with its lush forests and pristine mountain springs.

Our watershed scientists assess local streams and rivers for the presence of aquatic species, and restore degraded streams across our region. And they work on removing culverts, dams and other barriers to reconnect in-stream habitats and encourage passage of aquatic species.

Cover Photo: Ancient bryophytes have new life on rocks at Bear Run Nature Reserve in Fayette County, Pa.

We value your support as a Conservancy member and could not advance our biodiversity work across our programs without your generosity.

Wishing you and your family a happy, safe and joyful holiday season.

For information on WPC & Fallingwater membership: 412-288-2777 Toll Free: 1-866-564-6972 info@paconserve.org WaterLandLife.org Fallingwater.org

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy protects and restores exceptional places to provide our region with clean waters and healthy forests, wildlife and natural areas for the benefit of present and future generations. To date, the Conservancy has permanently protected more than 265,000 acres of natural lands. The Conservancy also creates green spaces and gardens, contributing to the vitality of our cities and towns, and preserves Fallingwater, a symbol of people living in harmony with nature.

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Thomas D. Saunders PRESIDENT AND CEO

OFFICERS

Debra H. Dermody Geoffrey P. Dunn Daniel S. Nydick Bala Kumar

Chair Vice Chair Treasurer Secretary

PRESIDENT AND CEO

Thomas D. Saunders

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Alfred Barbour David Barensfeld Franklin Blackstone, Jr.* Barbara H. Bott E. Michael Boyle Marie Cosgrove-Davies Beverlynn Elliott Donna J. Fisher Susan Fitzsimmons

Paula A. Foradora Dan B. Frankel Dennis Fredericks Felix G. Fukui Caryle R. Glosser Carolyn Hendricks Candace Hillyard Thomas Kavanaugh Robert T. McDowell

Paul J. Mooney Stephen G. Robinson Samuel H. Smith Alexander C. Speyer III K. William Stout Megan Turnbull Joshua C. Whetzel III Gina Winstead * Emeritus Director

WPC’s Bear Run Nature Reserve hosts numerous animals, more than 500 plant species and tall hemlocks in its forested habitats.

Biodiversity: The variety of natural life and habitats on Earth Imagine being at your favorite restaurant, among hundreds of other

most essential and beneficial natural functions of nature.

people. Different chefs prepare your favorite mouthwatering local cuisine, while mixologists offer a plentiful variety of hot and cold specialty beverages. Various smells and colors stimulate your senses.

A choice of seating options allows for vibrant conversation with people of diverse backgrounds and life experiences. Almost everyone is getting along and there is cohesion.

Biodiversity is the type, variety and mix of plant and animal species that have been associated with each other for eons in a given location, or habitat. The beneficial, interconnected, symbiotic interactions between these plant and animal species create the ecosystem. And the higher the number and variety of healthy, native species found in a habitat, the better that ecosystem functions.

Now imagine you are a spotted salamander and the restaurant is the forest floor. You have various foods to eat, things to drink and interactions with other living things—all happily coexisting and depending on each other. Hopefully this nonscientific explanation of biodiversity and how ecosystems function helps explain one of the

Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all aspects of life on Earth for plants, animals and humans alike. Without a wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms, then clean air, water, soil, food, medicines, natural areas and healthy ecosystems would not exist. Nature thrives through a large diversity of plants and animals.

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This native milkweed hosts a monarch butterfly caterpillar at WPC’s Bear Run Nature Reserve in Fayette and Somerset counties.

Forests are one of the most important natural habitats to support biodiversity. A flourishing forest provides food, shelter and clean air and water to support a wide range of species.

perpetuity improves water quality in local rivers and streams, and provides opportunities for fishing, hiking, birding, hunting and other recreational activities for all.

However, a recent study from Queen's University in Ireland found almost half of Earth’s species are currently undergoing declines in their population sizes due to global erosion of biodiversity and habitat loss due to human industrialization.

Of the more-than 265,000 acres the Conservancy has protected, 200,000 have become part of state parks, forests and game lands. Those, combined with the 14,000 we own and manage as nature preserves, not only provide great recreational opportunities, but also host a variety of habitats such as meadows, wetlands, peatlands and forests. Plus, the 40,000 acres we hold in conservation easements, a legal agreement with a private landowner to limit development, are mainly forested.

Despite all the efforts to protect land, habitat loss remains one of the primary threats to biodiversity globally and statewide.

The decrease in biodiversity, the study says, is one of the most pressing challenges to humanity for the coming decades, threatening the functioning of ecosystems, food production, the global economy and the spread of diseases.

Land Conservation Protects Local Biodiversity

After European settlers arrived at the shores of the “New World” “Many species depend on these and made their way west, they found habitats for their survival,” says Shaun a wilderness (now Pennsylvania) Fenlon, the Conservancy’s vice president thriving with Indigenous peoples who of land conservation. “That’s why land were living along streams and off the land. conservation is so important and why we They also encountered more than 28 million strategically protect ecologically acres of forests. Today, those important human important areas in order to retain, populations have been displaced and only a The plants and natural features show varied and hopefully increase, levels of biodiversity in this 35-acre wetland in the French fraction of the state’s forestland—4.6 million biodiversity within these habitats.”

Creek watershed in Erie County. acres of public forests and 12 million in private One of those significant places is ownership—remains.

French Creek, one of the most biologically diverse streams in the Our decades-long land conservation efforts are helping to save forestland and wildlife habitats for a diverse range of native, rare, threatened and endangered species. Plus, the protection of land in 4

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Northeastern United States. It is a perfect example of the importance of biodiversity and the protection of the land and streams within its watershed. The French Creek watershed hosts six species of

federally endangered and threatened freshwater mussels, numerous fish species of greatest conservation need and rare plants. Many migratory bird species rely on the watershed for their survival.

Conservancy Senior Director of Conservation Science Charles Bier says French Creek and other glacial lakes provide us with special and unique habitats that support species that are found nowhere else in our region, he explains. “Not only is it one of my favorite habitats in the state, but it is also one of the places in our region where species, genetic and ecosystem diversity matter most. History has shown us that we are often unaware of all of the functions and values of biodiversity, and this is one of the reasons to maintain it for future study,” he shares.

Biodiversity Considerations Essential to Climate Change Solutions There are nearly 50 scientists and professional staff who work for the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, a partnership between the Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and Pennsylvania Game Commission in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Natural heritage refers to the collective biological diversity of plants and animals, and the habitats and ecosystems of which they are a part. PNHP’s scientists gather and provide information on the location and status of these important species and ecological resources in Pennsylvania. Many of their projects have a climate change focus.

“The pace of climate change is now accelerating at a rate unseen by science. Our surveys and assessments of species populations and conditions will always be important, but we also need to encourage active conservation,” says Jeff Wagner, PNHP’s senior director at the Conservancy. “We are all working with a strategic focus to understand species distributions, habitat loss and conditions, and the response of species to a changing climate. Our research guides us.”

PNHP is advancing effective management strategies that include maintaining and/or enhancing genetic diversity within specific populations of species, preserving connected landscapes, and improving the quality and extent of contiguous habitat.

These considerations are essential in supporting land and water conservation efforts and projects.

As the climate warms, some edge-of-range species, such as those found in some wetland habitats in Northern Pennsylvania and several terrestrial species in southern portions of Pennsylvania, face the highest vulnerability to changing climate conditions, because they don’t have other suitable habitats to which to move.

Jeff says that some of the rarest plant and animal communities, such as those associated with limestone and unique geologies, will need very targeted conservation approaches in the face of climate change. For those species with more general requirements, connection of natural habitat may be the key to conservation. “In addition to conserving rare habitats, we must maintain healthy forests, forested buffers along streams, and preserve healthy, functional watersheds, especially those supporting vulnerable wetlands.”

Snow drapes eastern hemlocks and a stream at the biodiverse Allegheny National Forest in Northwestern Pennsylvania, where WPC has worked extensively for decades. Photo courtesy of U.S. Forest Service

To learn more and see examples of habitats and species affected by climate change, scan this QR code to view a chart on Pages 10-11 in the Summer/ Fall 2022 issue of Conserve magazine, which highlights some of our climate change work.

You Can: Help Biodiversity You can help biodiversity by volunteering to be a community scientist! Using iMapInvasives, an online reporting and data management tool used to track invasive species, is a way to report where you found an invader to our native habitats. Also, apps such as eBird and iNaturalist transform your smartphone into an effective community conservation tool that supports conservation decisions locally, regionally and nationally.

Enjoying nature and abiding by leave-no-trace rules or volunteering to remove invasive plants on our preserves are ways you can help, too. Visit WaterLandLife.org to sign up for volunteer events, watch past webinars or learn where to find a Conservancy-owned preserve near you. And becoming a Conservancy member helps fund efforts that support nature for current and future generations.

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Creating Thriving Urban Garden Ecosystems Our pollinator garden at Grant Street and First Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh provides food and shelter for a variety of butterflies, bees and other beneficial insects.

When Tom Hoffman had a large, diseased oak tree in his yard

removed, the Conservancy member and volunteer realized a substantial part of his front lawn now received six-plus hours of sunshine daily. He knew WPC and other organizations were raising awareness of the crisis facing pollinator species, so he decided to turn 1,500 square feet of what he called his “great green desert” into a great green dessert…a buffet for bees, butterflies and birds.

He read, planned and invested time and money in his garden, eventually planting spirea, coneflowers, Shasta daisies, salvia, agastache, yarrow, zinnia, allium, tall sedum, bee balm and many more flowers. They’re visited by hummingbirds and finches, bees, butterflies and moths. “I thought I was doing great attracting two or three types of bees,” he recalls, “but, as I learned from a WPC webinar, ‘Pollinator Habitat: Build It and They Will Come,’ Pennsylvania has hundreds of bee species! Who knew?”

Providing a variety of plants for pollinators in any garden is important, says Betsy Leppo, invertebrate zoologist with the Conservancy’s Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. “The habitat, plants and the insects are all supporting each other.” Every habitat—forests, wetlands, meadows and suburban yards—has its own bees that use it, she explains. Providing different flowers that bloom in large masses through the growing seasons helps bees and other pollinators find food sources. “Note what is growing in the natural areas near you. If you grow the native plants pollinators search for in nature, they will spend less energy finding the food they need.”

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Earth’s warming climate is bringing increased heat spikes and flooding, especially in cities, which are notorious heat reservoirs and have high levels of stormwater runoff from large amounts of paved surfaces. High temperatures and drought can also kill or weaken some plants, meaning fewer sources for foraging bees and butterflies, Betsy says. “Providing patches of shade and a water source in your urban garden or lawn can help offset these issues,” she notes. “Blueberries, dogwoods, willows, viburnums and redbud trees all provide nectar and pollen in the spring and shade in the summer for pollinators.”

A changing climate is also allowing new pathogens to thrive in Pennsylvania’s climate, which can adversely affect native plants and pollinators, Betsy says. “Heat weakens some species, such as many bees, or makes them susceptible to disease. It affects their ability to forage, reproduce, and build and maintain their colony.”

People can support pollinators even in an urban setting, Betsy says. Communities throughout the region, including Pittsburgh’s many neighborhoods, have diverse greenspaces that are perfect spots for pollinators to thrive, including hillsides, parks and along rivers and streams. Recognizing this, the Conservancy has been transitioning sections of some of its 130 community flower gardens to pollinator friendly beds.

“Since 2022, we've added native pollinating species to 40 gardens. Two of those, Penn Hills and Beaver Falls, are new to our program. We converted the Grant Street and First Avenue garden in downtown Pittsburgh to 100 percent native perennials and added

Before: WPC member Tom Hoffman’s yard in May 2022 after preparation for planting a pollinator garden. After: Part of Tom’s pollinator garden one year later.

table and much more. Native gardens were also installed at Laurel Valley Elementary in New Florence, Westmoreland County.

Conservancy community greening staff and volunteers are installing and caring for more drought-tolerant native plants that require less water. “Native perennials such as coneflower, sneezeweed and black-eyed Susan mitigate stormwater runoff and the heat island effect,” Art continues. “Organic waste is composted by the communities where the gardens grow, reducing landfill. We use eco-friendly tools such as rechargeable batterypowered weed trimmers and a robotic mower.”

Through the TreeVitalize program, of which WPC is managing partner, and the Pittsburgh Redbud Project, staff, volunteers and partners have planted nearly 40,000 trees in 73 City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods and 57 municipalities in Allegheny County since 2008. Native trees such as redbud and American hophornbeam provide shade, food for pollinators and shelter for wildlife.

educational signage,” says Art Demeo, WPC’s director of community greenspace services. Plans include adding native perennial beds to all gardens and redesigning some with a focus on pollinator habitat.

“In some communities that experience flooding due to stormwater runoff, we’ve installed bioswales and rain gardens,” he adds. Two bioswales in Millvale help to mitigate flooding in the Girty’s Run watershed. In Pittsburgh’s Hill District, a 585-linear-foot garden bioswale intercepts 882,800 gallons of stormwater per year from entering the combined sewer overflow. In the city’s Larimer neighborhood, a rain garden installed in an existing community garden mitigates runoff, feeds pollinators and provides an outdoor classroom for students at neighboring Pittsburgh Public School’s Lincoln K-5.

Even schools are greening areas once covered in pavement and improving pollinator habitat. Since 2008 we’ve added green features to grounds at more than 65 schools. For example, this year Conservancy staff worked with staff and students at Pittsburgh Public School’s Chartiers Early Childhood Learning Center to transform an 18,000-square-foot asphalt parking lot into a safe, green space for children to play and learn and pollinators to feast. Funded by PNC Foundation, the space includes nearly 100 native trees, shrubs and perennials and features ADA-accessible pathways, stepping stones, birdhouses, chalkboards, a nature

Pollinators can use all the help they can get, whether it’s from community gardens tended by volunteers, or small to moderate home gardens like Tom’s. “I wasn’t a gardener before I started my project,” Tom says. “But I was inspired by the work WPC and others were doing to help pollinators, and I took a chance.” He thinks his garden has been a success so far. “It’s hard to overstate the great feeling I get knowing that I am making a small contribution to the natural environment. If I can do it, so can you.”

You Can: Attract Diverse Pollinators Anyone can support a diverse array of pollinators. No yard? No problem. Plant native perennials in pots to attract butterflies, birds, bees, ants and beetles. Have a bigger space? There are plants for any type of soil or amount of sun.

• Plant a variety of plants that bloom in masses at different times of year.

• Keep a messy yard for winter stem nesters. Don’t cut it down until late in the spring.

• Leave some sandy or patchy bare soil for bees that burrow.

• Replicate native plants that grow in natural areas near you.

• Use fewer or no pesticides.

For more resources and tips, watch our free webinar, “Pollinator Habitat: Build It and They Will Come.”

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Before: A culvert on a tributary to Laurel Hill Creek in Somerset County was narrow and dilapidated. After: A timber deck bridge allows water to flow under the bridge, providing safe passage of vehicles on the road and aquatic organisms in the stream.

Partnering for Stream Recovery Leads to Aquatic Diversity The brook trout in Fayette County’s Glade Run had

disappeared. Decades of pollution from acid mine drainage led to low pH levels, rendering the stream nearly bereft of life. By 1998, when the Chestnut Ridge Trout Unlimited Chapter #670 in Uniontown and graduate students at California University of Pennsylvania began biologically assessing the stream, not even insects skimmed its surface.

The group knew that improving Glade Run, a tributary to Dunbar Creek, which flows through Pennsylvania state game lands to the Youghiogheny River, would help Dunbar Creek reach its full potential as a trout stream, says Ben Moyer, CRTU president. “It was too beautiful a stream on public land to not have trout.”

Ben says now-retired Western Pennsylvania Conservancy staff member Mark Killar, who continues to volunteer with WPC’s watershed conservation team, helped with technical consulting, devising a treatment using alkaline sand, a fine grade of crushed limestone, to raise pH levels. “He determined how much material we’d need based on the watershed size and the chemical improvement we wanted to achieve.”

The organization has received multiple grants, including a WPC Watershed Mini Grant. Twice annually, CRTU members place alkaline sand on stream embankments on three sites 8

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on Glade Run headwaters. The sites are on state game land and were developed with the help of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. “Since 1998, CRTU volunteers have placed 500 tons of alkaline sand annually at our three treatment sites on Glade Run headwaters,” Ben says. Graduate students from the PennWest California (formerly CUP) reassessed the waters, and after brook trout from Dunbar creek were transplanted to Glade Run, he says. “They documented brook trout reproduction and a vast improvement in the diversity and abundance of aquatic insects.”

WPC has also constructed three permanent passive treatment systems on Glade Run, which Ben says should eventually allow CRTU to discontinue the sand treatment.

Many other partners, including but not limited to the PGC, local townships, conservation districts and clubs, have worked together on the project. “This is a tremendous partnership toward a common goal,” he says. That success has spurred a similar joint project, in the planning stage, to restore Jonathan Run, at one time a stocked, exceptional value stream that flows through Ohiopyle State Park into the Youghiogheny, but which currently contains no trout, having been degraded by mining.

The Conservancy’s collaboration with CRTU, PGC and other organizations is an excellent example of partnerships that

protect the biodiversity of streams and rivers across the region, says the Conservancy’s Senior Director of Aquatic Science, Eric Chapman.

He credits partners, volunteers and workers on the ground– and in the creek–for improving the region’s water quality. In addition to the CRTU partnership to improve water quality in the Youghiogheny watershed, another great example of a partnership is that of 10 watershed groups that have been doing AMD work in the Kiski-Conemaugh Valley. Their efforts are resulting in a massive cumulative, positive effect in the Kiskiminetas River and the health of freshwater mussels there.

“The Kiski is the poster child for recovery,” Eric says. “At the turn of this century it was completely dead, destroyed from AMD, mills, tanneries.” Today, 12 species of freshwater mussels live and reproduce there. “The Kiski has no dams, so there is a direct connection to the Allegheny River, and fish can naturally repopulate the Kiski,” he explains. Fish and mussels have a symbiotic relationship; female mussels deposit larvae on the gills of fish, which transport them throughout the river.

“In my opinion, this is a result of the Clean Water Act of 1972, which changed the way water was viewed and protected,” Eric says. “The CWA resulted in the protections to waterways from huge pollution events like sewage, mining and other industrial effluents being dumped straight into the Kiski and other streams and rivers around the U.S.” WPC’s work with municipalities and other organizations to improve infrastructure such as culverts and bridges, and to remove barriers such as undersized culverts and dams, allow stream dwellers to move freely up and downstream. These aquatic organism passage improvements, along with WPC’s other stream restoration activities, will continue to be important.

The changing climate brings larger, more intense storms, says Eric, noting Superstorm Sandy in 2012 spurred a big uptick in culvert assessments when communities saw how flooding will become a big problem. “When roads wash out, EMS vehicles can’t get through,” he says. “We’ll improve infrastructure for humans, but it will affect other species, too.”

For example, large turtles that can’t get through small pipes cross roads instead. “But when we make a stream passage wider, those turtles can use it and not get squashed by traffic.”

Eric says climate change is already affecting aquatic populations that need cold water, such as brook trout. Any proactive work to increase passage for them is positive. “Adding infrastructure, such as timber deck bridges or larger culverts, takes at least a year, including the time to apply for permits, fundraise and complete construction.” Warmwater species mussels and hellbenders won’t see impacts as dramatically because they already live in warmer systems. Increased sedimentation will be their biggest threat.

The Conservancy is collaborating with the PGC to replace at least 50 aquatic organism passage barriers in the next three years on state game lands and in underserved areas, where anyone can recreate or fish, says Eric, noting, “That’s a lot of reconnected habitat.”

WPC watershed conservation staff found eight species of freshwater mussels upon surveying the Kiski River in 2020.

Since then we have identified a total of 12 species in this recovering system.

You Can: Improve Stream Health You don’t have to be a scientist or a watershed professional doing big projects to improve the health of watersheds. Small things add up to big, cumulative impacts.

• Install a rain barrel to reduce runoff and flooding.

• Work with your municipality to improve local waterways.

• Volunteer with a local watershed organization.

• Do you own property with a stream on it? » Plant five or 10 native riparian trees or shrubs along your stream. » Don’t mow up right up to your stream. Leave some vegetation to catch runoff, reduce erosion and provide wildlife habitat.

If you find a mussel shell, or want information about improving water quality and aquatic organism passage, contact WPC’s watershed conservation office at 724-471-7202 or water@paconserve.org.

Scan this QR code to read “AOPs: Giving

Stream Dwellers a Pass Helps Species Survive,” an article about aquatic organism passage.

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Observe PA’s Natural Symbols Mountain laurel’s pink, cup-shaped flowers, a white-

tailed deer’s fluffy upturned tail, a hellbender’s grin… you can see these and other Pennsylvania natural state symbols at or near Fallingwater and the Conservancy’s Bear Run Nature Reserve in Fayette County.

“Bear Run Nature Reserve is 5,118 acres, but is also a part of a connected landscape of protected land totaling more than 100,000 acres, including Ohiopyle and Laurel Ridge state parks, Forbes State Forest and State Game Lands 51 and 111,” says Ephraim Zimmerman, the Conservancy’s director of science with the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. “A diversity of habitats and ecosystems, from Youghiogheny Scour to upland oak forest to rich coves with wildflowers, and riparian habitats make this an ideal area to find all the state’s symbols.”

Off trail on the reserve’s upper slopes is one of only two old growth dry oak–heath forests that our staff has documented in the state.

In addition to the official state symbols, of course, Bear Run Nature Reserve features a diversity of wildlife including black bear, fisher and bobcat. More than 53 bird species, including several types of warbler, wood thrush, scarlet tanager, Acadian flycatcher and ovenbird, can be found there. David Yeany, WPC’s PNHP avian ecologist, and Nick Liadis, executive director of Bird Lab, recently discovered first proof of Swainson’s warbler breeding in Pennsylvania at the preserve.

With 20 miles of hiking trails, plus meadows and coldwater streams, the preserve offers opportunities to see the state symbols depicted here. (Incidentally, Fallingwater is a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Treasure, and in the 1950s, the Kaufmanns’ dairy herd produced milk, the state beverage.)

When you tour Fallingwater and its landscape, or hike the trails at BRNR, try to spot the symbols and other wildlife.

Pennsylvania’s natural symbols are tracked in iNaturalist, where a GIS map of Bear Run Nature Reserve features data from that area.

Scan the QR code or visit iNaturalist.org to check out the map and report your findings in iNat!

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State Tree: Eastern Hemlock The area below Fallingwater, near the iconic view, has some very old hemlock trees. To see a healthy hemlock stand on the other side of Bear Run Nature Reserve, hike the Orange, Red and Black trail loops between trail markers 6 and 7. One important reason we manage for invasive hemlock wooly adelgid is to maintain the health of the trees for other species, including Swainson’s warbler. A shy bird with a rich, musical song, it prefers the canopy, dense understory and extensive leaf litter found in areas featuring rhododendron, laurel and hemlock.

State Amphibian: Eastern Hellbender Our watershed conservation and PNHP staff, with the PA Fish and Boat Commission, monitor statewide hellbender populations. The long-lived species is an important indicator of water quality and resides downstream of Bear Run in the Youghiogheny River. Our protection of the Bear Run watershed helps sustain life in the Yough by providing clean water and habitat upstream for many of the species hellbenders eat.

at Bear Run Nature Reserve State Fish: Brook Trout This fish can only thrive in cool, exceptionally clean water. It is found in Bear Run upslope of State Route 381, where WPC’s watershed program, in partnership with American Rivers, removed a dam in 2019 to reconnect streams and allow fish and other species passage.

State Bird: Ruffed Grouse Photo credit: Glenn01, iNaturalist The state bird is often found in the same habitats as white-tailed deer. However, populations have decreased due to West Nile Virus and other factors. The Conservancy partners with the PA Game Commission to conserve and manage ruffed grouse. Restoring abandoned farm pastures can be beneficial for the bird.

State Flower: Mountain Laurel Hike any trail at Bear Run Nature Reserve in May or June and you’ll know why the greater region is called the Laurel Highlands. An understory shrub featuring beautiful pink and white blooms resembling tiny umbrellas, the state flower appears almost everywhere on the preserve but especially on dryer acidic areas under oak canopies.

State Insect: Firefly If you’re camping at Bear Run Nature Reserve on warm summer evenings, watch for the flashing lights of fireflies (or lightning bugs, depending on your favorite nickname). Or visit Fallingwater for a summertime Forest to Table Dinner or other evening event and watch for their ritual flashing near the stream. It’s not known if the official state species, Photuris pensylvanica, inhabits the preserve, but other species do live there.

State Animal: White-tailed Deer This lean and graceful animal is found across the entire reserve but most often around forest edges and in woodland areas and old fields. A native species, it is important to Pennsylvania economically and recreationally. However, it is also the subject of extreme concern because of its impact on our forests and plants from overbrowsing.

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OLD-GROWTH FORESTS: NATURAL LABORATORIES

the Tionesta Scenic and Research Natural Areas, where some of the hemlocks are more than 400 years old. It's known as one of the best examples in our region of what our forests used to look like and what happens when a forest is not disturbed by human impact for hundreds of years. Most old-growth areas in the state are less than 100 acres and exist because the area was too steep for 19th-century timbering, or protected for hunting or conservation.

Understanding Old-Growth Forests Jaci Braund, an ecologist with the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program at the Conservancy, has spent the better part of the last two years trekking across Western Pennsylvania's forests and looking up…way up. She’s been assessing tall trees, some more than 170 feet in height, and paying close attention to the many natural characteristics surrounding them.

With a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of Forestry, Jaci is doing research on old-growth forests in Pennsylvania to understand where they exist, how many there are and the universal characteristics of these special habitats.

“When people think about old-growth forests, there is a misunderstanding that it is all about the old, large trees. One aspect of my study is to better understand these forest types and raise awareness of these special habitats,” says Jaci.

WPC Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program Ecologist Jaci Braund sits at the base of an old-growth white oak at Ricketts Glen State Park in Luzerne County.

Pennsylvania, home to approximately 4.6 million acres of

protected public forests in 49 of the state’s 67 counties, is a mosaic of forest types. For example, oak-hickory forests are common in some southern regions, while hemlock-white pine northern hardwood forests prevail in the northern part of the state. Beech-maple forests are more common in northwest Pennsylvania.

Forests are multifaceted environmental workhorses and biodiversity hotspots that support a variety of diverse plant life and animal species while providing essential ecological services, such as improving water and air quality. And when you leave these areas undisturbed from development, extraction and timbering, the biodiversity and environmental benefits only increase over time.

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This year, Jaci completed the second year of this first-of-itskind, four-year study, called Pennsylvania Old Growth Forest Characterization and Rapid Assessment Development. Much of the work so far has consisted of visiting old-growth sites in protected natural areas to better understand wildlife and plant species and associated plant communities. She also researched old-growth characteristics relevant to Pennsylvania to better identify old-growth areas and forests. She visited several sites across the state known to have pristine forests, including Ricketts Glen State Park, Forbes State Forest, WPC’s Bear Run Nature Reserve and the Allegheny National Forest.

In Pennsylvania, old-growth forests are described as forests that have attained great age by not experiencing significant industrial or other disturbance. Old-growth forests host a variety of wildlife species and miles of pristine streams, and hold more carbon dioxide than any other natural habitat on land.

To aid the process, she created an old-growth rapid assessment survey that included guidelines for tree height and width, and species identification protocols. “It’s all interesting and important work. I’m hopeful that this leads to better protections and management considerations that create more old growth in the future.”

One of the largest remaining old-growth forests in Pennsylvania is a remote 4,000-acre area in the Allegheny National Forest called

Over the course of the next year, Jaci will continue her assessments and also explore how old-growth forests benefit

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carbon sequestration. According to the U.S. Forest Service, the amount of carbon stored in a particular ecosystem is called a “stock” or “pool.” Forests capture carbon through photosynthesis, and this carbon is subsequently allocated above and below ground, contributing to the global forest stock.

plants and animals. Forests on protected lands, including the 14,000 acres the Conservancy owns, will eventually mature into old-growth habitats. This will afford generations of visitors to experience and benefit from massive trees that are hundreds of years old.

“I’m trying to determine which of our plant communities and forest types are best at sequestering carbon and how Pennsylvania’s forests can play a more significant role in the future.” She’s encouraged by her early findings and what’s still yet to be discovered.

One of those WPC properties is Tryon-Weber Woods in Crawford County. This 108-acre beech-maple forest was protected in 1976. It is ecologically significant for its 40-acre oldgrowth forest, with some trees as old as 120 years. Often used for biological study, Tryon-Weber Woods was recognized in 2016 as an exemplary forest “There’s a lot of looking up and down in my future, but it’s by the Old-Growth all worth it to understand how these magnificent trees and Forest Network.

“There’s a lot of looking up and down in my future, associated flora and fauna are contributing to biodiversity but it’s all worth it In a forest that has to understand how not been disturbed and mitigating climate change.” — Jaci Braund these magnificent by human impacts trees and associated flora and fauna are contributing to for hundreds of years, natural features not found in other forest biodiversity and mitigating climate change,” Jaci says. types, such as hollow cavities in trees or extensive bryophyte plant communities, become commonplace. Also, large dead and fallen Conserving Forestland trees are familiar sights in old-growth forests.

The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy has been protecting land since 1945, so that it stays natural and can be enjoyed by all. Our first land protection, 1,000 scenic forested acres along Slippery Rock Creek gorge and the historic gristmill 78 years ago, established McConnells Mill State Park. Most of the morethan 265,000 acres protected by the Conservancy to date is forestland.

“One of the main reasons we protect land and ecologically important places in our region is to protect biodiversity,” says Shaun Fenlon, the Conservancy’s vice president of land protection. Forestland provides unique and diverse habitats for many species, including for endangered and threatened

“‘Dead’ trees still have a place in biodiversity by storing decades of carbon captured when the tree was alive and creating more habitat for an abundance of different plants, animals, insects and fungi to thrive,” Shaun explains.

Over time, the Conservancy has protected and conveyed nearly 100,000 acres to the state forest system, including contributing 10,000 acres to Sproul State Forest, the state’s largest forest, located in western Clinton and northern Centre counties, and 17,000 acres to Elk State Forest in the PA Wilds. In addition, Buchanan, Forbes, Gallitzin, Michaux, Moshannon, Susquehannock, Tioga and Tuscarora state forests have all benefited from the Conservancy’s legacy of land protection work.

Visitors to WPC’s Tryon-Weber Woods Natural Area in Crawford County can experience a 40-acre beech-sugar-maple old-growth forest via a new trail.

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Liverworts can mainly be found in damp shaded habitats across Pennsylvania, such as this type of leafy liverwort (Geocalyx graveolens).

This snakeskin liverwort (Conocephalum salebrosum) has prominent air pores on its surface and prefers shady rocks by rivers and streams.

New Checklist for Ancient Species Builds Biodiversity Knowledge

Mosses, such as this smooth-capsuled dry rock moss (Grimmia laevigata) shown here covering river rocks, are part of a group of ancient plants, known as bryophytes, that can grow in a wide range of habitats across the state.

The next time you’re out for a walk or

hike, whether in the woods or on a local street, look down and you’ll likely see moss creeping up the trunk of a tree or rising through a concrete crack. You can thank mosses, too, for providing some of the only natural green groundcover you’ll see during a snowy Western Pennsylvania winter.

Mosses, liverworts and hornworts are part of a group of ancient plants known as bryophytes, which are among the most highly evolved plants on Earth. They have been around for approximately 500 million years, so millions of years before and after dinosaurs roamed and pounced.

Comprised of about 25,000 different species, these small, flowerless land plants use sunlight for energy and can be found in various habitats on every continent.

Bryophytes are the second largest group of land plants after flowering plants.

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Currently, only three species of hornworts are found in Pennsylvania. This hornwort species (Phaeoceros carolinianus) is currently only found in Erie County mainly on lake and river bluffs and in soil along creeks and streams.

In Pennsylvania, there are currently 547 different bryophyte species, which include three hornworts, 118 liverworts and 426 mosses. Bryophytes are essential to the biodiversity of a healthy ecosystem. They occupy soils and absorb nutrients and water from the atmosphere, and slowly release them back into the soil and air to help other plants to grow. They are also vital resources for birds, mammals and fungi, and good shelter for many insects, worms and arachnids.

There is a long history of assessing and collecting data on the types and locations of bryophyte species in Pennsylvania.

Some of the first studies, dating back to the 1740s, were conducted in the eastern half of the state and by the mid-19th century, numerous collectors had begun a statewide survey that culminated in the publication of Thomas Porter’s Catalogue

of Bryophytes and Pteridophytes, published in 1904.

The early 20th century marked a significant increase in interest in bryophytes statewide, including from renowned botanist Dr. Otto Emery Jennings, who published several papers and manuals to create checklists on Western Pennsylvania’s mosses. Since then, other ecological and geographical information has been added to these existing reports.

Although there was a myriad of bryophyte species information available, botanists were still experiencing research challenges, says Dr. Scott Schuette, a bryologist and botany program manager for the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program at the Conservancy.

“There wasn’t a single publication that we could reference as a complete statewide

repository of all 547 moss, liverwort and hornwort species,” he states. “Knowing and having access to this information is the baseline for understanding their current conditions and making conservation considerations. So, I knew it was critically important to fix this."

Over the past 12 years, Scott, with the help of other WPC and Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program staff and interns, has been working to create a “one-stopshop checklist of all things bryophyte,” he explains. This checklist is now complete, thanks to grant funding from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Wild Resources Conservation Fund and the generosity of Conservancy member Trudy Gerlach.

This new checklist provides an understanding of where mosses, liverworts and hornworts are located in the state and includes a habitat summary, life history strategies and, with the help of Conservancy GIS Specialist Molly Moore, county-level distribution maps. The work provides a first-time, comprehensive understating of where these species are located and thriving in Pennsylvania, especially in natural habitats.

“It builds on the scientific information gathered over the past centuries. It was a complete honor and privilege to use the work of some of my botany heroes,” says Scott, who has been working on this project since he started at the Conservancy 12 years ago. The updated checklist also includes state conservation ranks to provide a more complete understanding of what bryophytes are rare and where they grow in Pennsylvania while providing the foundation for future assessments.

Through root-like growths called rhizoids that anchor them to the soil surface, bryophytes are essential to the formation of healthy soils, which have an important role in capturing vast amounts of carbon, thus mitigating climate change.

“By having a better understanding of where these important plants are, we can help protect and make better conservation considerations, especially in the face of climate change. These ancient plants have evolved and survived other climate fluctuations throughout history, and will help inform us with our current climate crisis,” Scott explains.

Due to their sensitivity to pollutants, bryophytes are also indicator species of low levels of air pollution and help control soil erosion. Still, there is much to learn about bryophytes in Pennsylvania,

Dr. Scott Schuette in his natural element: In a forest among bryophytes. He’s the botany program manager for the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program at WPC.

including their evolving role in our region’s biodiversity.

“More work and studies are needed regarding what makes these fascinating organisms so unique and resilient,” Scott shares. “We now have a comprehensive

checklist of Pennsylvania bryophytes that will soon be available to the public. It’s important for us to continue increasing awareness about these important plants to help promote the conservation of them and their habitats.”

You Can: Help Bryophytes Thrive If you see hornworts, liverworts or mosses on your next hike or in your backyard garden, take a photo and submit your observation through the smartphone app, iNaturalist. By downloading and submitting your observations through iNaturalist, you are sharing important data to help the science community find and use your data. “Even if you are unsure of the species, take a photo anyway and submit it. iNaturalist is community science at its best and a great way to help inform biodiversity regionally and statewide,” says Scott.

Scan this QR code to learn more and contribute photos and info to the Pennsylvania Bryophyte and Lichen Biodiversity Project on iNaturalist.

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near the trailhead, says Andy Zadnik, WPC’s director of land stewardship. A decade and a half later, there is progress, he says. “We’re now addressing a larger area with the same amount of effort, and I’ve seen West Virginia white there, so it tells me we’re having a positive effect.”

Garlic mustard also displaces the butterfly’s host plants and nectar sources. And with the changing climate, Andy notes, plants are coming out of dormancy earlier, which could disrupt the timing for the insects to find food sources. “Everything has to line up. The butterflies require diverse, abundant wildflowers, and they have to be flying when the flowers are in bloom or they won’t have enough nectar.”

When controlling invasive species on our preserves, staff begins with a specific part of the site. “Exotic invasives are so widespread everywhere that you have to pick your battles,” Andy says. “If we can have an impact that is sustainable based on our capacity, then we can take on a slightly larger area.”

The rare butterfly is just one of Pennsylvania’s many native species threatened by invasive species, which aggressively compete for space and resources, says Brian Daggs, invasive plant ecologist with the Conservancy’s Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. “When an invasive plant finds itself in our native habitat, it is set free from its natural competitors, pests, The endangered West Virginia white butterfly often lays its eggs on invasive garlic predators and pathogens,” Brian explains. “So mustard (inset photo), a poisonous decoy plant that kills the caterpillars. now it has the competitive edge to reproduce or grow vigorously, and compete with native species.”

Invasive species are one of the leading causes of biodiversity loss worldwide, after habitat loss, and are capable of causing the extinction of native plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms.

Sometimes an exotic species resembles a native species so closely that it’s difficult to identify them by sight. Staying up to date on current science and technology is key, Andy says, noting that the Natural Heritage staff takes an active role in assessing threats by invasives. For example, thanks to genetic testing technology unavailable 20-plus years ago, staff recently sent watermilfoil samples from Lake Pleasant to a testing lab in Montana to determine whether they were the exotic species, the native species or a hybrid.

“Fantastic news! The samples were native northern watermilfoil,” A delicate, rare butterfly native to Pennsylvania, the West Virginia Andy says. But the concern remains that invasive Eurasian white, flies for just one month each spring. Once ranging through watermilfoil will make its way to the lake. “That’s one reason we’re northern and western Pennsylvania, with some records in southeastern grateful that motorboats are not allowed in the lake. Exotic invasive counties, its populations have decreased, mostly due to the spread of plants can get chopped up and stick to a motor, boat or trailer...a exotic invasive garlic mustard—a toxic decoy to the butterfly’s main major way those species are spread from one waterbody to another.” source of nourishment, the native two-leaved toothwort, also in the Collaboration is extremely important when managing invasive mustard family. When the butterflies become confused and lay their species. For example, Andy explains, “At our Toms Run Nature eggs on garlic mustard, their caterpillars always die.

Reserve, we’ll be removing an area of invasive plants to prepare for a At the Conservancy’s Wolf Creek Narrows Natural Area in Butler TreeVitalize spring tree planting. In addition to our regular volunteers, County, dedicated volunteers and staff began controlling garlic we’re partnering with a crew from the Student Conservation mustard 13 years ago in an effort to protect the West Virginia white Association.” and native wildflower populations.

The planting and removal are part of a larger project of the Allegheny It has been the Conservancy’s longest and most consistent Bird Conservation Alliance, a partnership between multiple local invasive species control effort, and it began when we removed 10 and national conservation organizations. David Yeany, WPC’s PNHP large bags of garlic mustard from just the small area of floodplain

Controlling Invasive Species that Threaten Biodiversity

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Before: Volunteers take on the labor-intensive task of removing invasive barberry at Bear Run Nature Reserve. After: After a day’s work, a small area is cleared of invasive barberry.

You Can: Help Control Invasives

In Northwest Pennsylvania, WPC Ecologist Noah Yawn, left, maps invasives on a variety of properties and WPC Seasonal Ecologist Mitchell Meuser, right, maps invasives on state game lands.

avian ecologist, conducted bird surveys at Toms Run Nature Reserve and other preserves, while Ephraim Zimmerman, WPC’s PNHP science director, did habitat assessments. “We’ll remove invasive plants and enhance habitat conditions at some of the spots David identified as significant for having high bird activity,” Andy explains.

Unfortunately, invasive species are entrenched in our region’s habitats, and the goal is not eliminating them as much as controlling their reach and damage. Climate change is just one more factor that makes that task so difficult.

For example, “The warming climate is allowing invasives to outcompete other species by leafing out earlier and dying off later,” says Conservancy Director of Natural Heritage Program Jeff Wagner. “And when invasive insects such as ash borer kill off trees, invasive plants can fill the open forest space.”

However, Brian points out, there’s a bit of a lag between climatic changes and their impacts on plants. “There are several species that are concerning,” he says. “It’s something to watch for as we’re out in the field in coming years.”

Scan this QR code for more information on the Conservancy’s multi-pronged approach to controlling invasive species.

Invasive species are a major threat to Pennsylvania’s native plants and animals. Introduced to an area outside their native range, invasive species compete with native species for space and resources. They can alter habitats, impact the economy and introduce disease. Amy Jewitt, WPC’s iMapInvasives program coordinator with the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, shares tips for controlling invasive species. For links to resources marked with *, please scan the QR code to view this article online.

• Challenge yourself to learn about invasive species, even the ones that aren’t yet in our state. Check out the Invader Watchlist on WaterLandLife.org.* • Contribute to iMapInvasives, a free online database used for tracking invasive species. Create an account at paimapinvasives. org, record data through a mobile app or use a public report form.* • Learn to identify invasive species before buying plants or removing them from your property. PA DCNR and Penn State Extension have excellent identification and control resources.* • Plant native plants in your yard or garden containers. Our native wildlife and insects have evolved to require native plants. Watch “Green Isn’t Always Good,” a free recorded webinar about identifying invasives and planting natives.* • Ask local greenhouses to stock specific natives and take invasives out of circulation.

• Before purchasing container plants at a greenhouse or swapping a plant with a friend, check the plants’ soil for signs of invasive species, such as jumping worms.

• After camping or hiking, clean your shoes, socks, pantlegs, bike tires and equipment with a small brush. Some parks provide boot brushes at trailheads. Clean pets too.

• Wipe down boats and equipment with a dry rag after boating.

Remove plant fragments.

• Share your knowledge, and teach children about invasive plants and animals so identification becomes second nature.

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more breadth and depth, including that haunting question: “We are nature, aren’t we?” Frankly, I often feel some angst in wanting to belong, and feel some inadequacy in being able to; I feel rather alienated. Something is missing in the relationship. After all, the recognition that we are nature is not enough, is it? We need to act like we are.

nia ennsylva ative to P x turtle, n o b rn e st a A male e

We Are Nature?

As the severed vegetation falls away, I look down and realize that I have done a terrible thing. At my feet, amidst the thatch of loose stems and leaves of the invasive multiflora rose shrub that I have just cut down, I can make out a pattern of charcoal, browns and rich yellow that I recognize as the carapace of an eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina). Given the dense thorny vegetation that I had been vigorously attacking, its beautiful shell was previously hidden from me. Now my fear is confirmed as I reach down to inspect how seriously I nicked its shell with the steel blade of my gas-powered brush cutter. As I do so, I shudder. This is not supposed to be the outcome of “naturalist meets turtle”–and a veteran naturalist at that. As I carefully pick up the box turtle, I see his red eye and understand that he, also, is a male. Is this all we have in common?

Recently, I experienced an exhibit at Carnegie Museum of Natural History titled “We Are Nature.” This display treated the concept, which is sort of a movement underway, that humans are not separate from, but rather are clearly part of, nature. I was very interested in exploring the messages within the exhibit and I learned much. However, for a long time now—most of my life—I have been pondering a related question and quandary: We are nature, aren’t we?

If nothing else, I have endeavored to develop myself into a naturalist: someone who studies nature. In addition to respecting science, I also value education and go out of my way to ask questions and share whatever naturalist’s insight I have: What species is this one, or that one, and what are its ecological ramifications?, etc. I encourage others to become naturalists, too, or to become better ones. Along the way in my attempts to define what a naturalist is, I also seek

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For example, among other philosophical responses, this inadequacy has been at the root of my desire to create, and recommend to others to create, something more natural and ecologically beneficial than the conventional grass lawn. Creating more natural landscaping has been just another opportunity to express and act upon the “We Are Nature” concept. However, it also resulted in nearly getting me kicked out of town, when I lived at the Rachel Carson Homestead in Springdale, Pa. I am sure that Ms. Carson would have approved of my seemingly unkempt groundsmanagement scheme there, even though my neighbors did not; but alas, I digress.

Well, of course humans are nature, but we do not always see ourselves as an integral part, nor stop to ask my probing question. This lack of relationship recognition has been the root of many environmental and biodiversity problems.

And even though we are an inextricable cog in nature’s systems, sometimes we still find ourselves in conflict and pit ourselves and our responsibilities in maintaining Earth’s natural qualities against human-centric needs (e.g. jobs versus the environment, our environment). Hmmm, is that what my turtle friend does as well? Yes, I think so, but in a different way. Every species strives to be successful, but as it turns out, the human species is too good at the game—at least momentarily…in geologic time.

Upon closer inspection, I count the growth rings on the shell plates of the box turtle and discover that he and I are roughly the same age. Furthermore, as species we actually have similar individual lifespans. However, paleontologists tell us that as two species in this place, the box turtle has lived in North America for more than 10 million years; whereas for my species, it has been roughly a mere 25,000 years. Nature’s experience of each of our species on this continent has been remarkably different. The box turtle’s story has been very successful; the outcome of ours is yet unknown.

In the case of humans, we started out, anthropologists say, on the savannahs of Africa. Then we began striving to tame the wilderness from which we emerged, and with a perseverance not to just survive by the laws and confines of nature, but eventually to determine that we must seemingly go beyond those—and to Mars, if we can get there before Mother Earth becomes uninhabitable for us. Sometimes it seems like we have we been looking for a divorce. But the fact is, we are nature, like it or not. And with our brilliance, surely, we can develop a better perspective, a refined philosophy for this relationship and write positive

Wilson charts part of the path we must take: Set aside, protect and manage a large percentage of Earth’s habitats. In short, the concept of “We Are Nature” means we must think and function sustainably and with an appreciation of the services and support that nature provides by maintaining biodiversity, continuing evolution, sequestering carbon and myriad other services.

ion Conservat.

Pleasant ty PC's Lakes due to biodiversi W at t, an Lake Pleas Erie County, thrive Area in

later chapters to our story. The story has a lot of biodiversity involved, with the human as one of millions in the cast of species—the biodiversity of Earth.

Humans are carrying a lot of baggage, eh? Or, at least I am. So, if we are nature, I do believe that we need to think and act like nature. That is what it will take to write these next chapters. We are told that we are in the midst of the “Sixth Great Extinction” of Earth’s species. Extinctions are natural processes, and the fossil record shows us that levels of biodiversity have fluctuated throughout Earth’s history.

But this human-generated extinction event is so extensive and rapid that it is like no other. And remarkably, this one is actually being caused by one of the species!

Biodiversity—something we cherish and that is key to our health, if not our existence—is nearly in freefall in nature’s time scale. But we are smart enough to devise a solution to the catastrophe. For example, sustainability is a critical natural principle that we have to incorporate into human systems, and as part of that, there is something for us conservationists to do.

In one of his last books, Half-Earth (2016), biologist E.O.

Thank you, Charles!

Charles Bier, the Conservancy’s senior director of conservation science, is retiring on December 31, 2023, after 43 years. He started his career with WPC in 1981, alongside his wife, Terry, as a caretaker, nature steward and naturalist educator at Fallingwater and Bear Run Nature Reserve.

A year later, he was hired to work out of the Pittsburgh office as a botanist, zoologist, ecologist and data processor and was one of the first staff that established the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. Over the years, Charles devoted time, attention and expertise to studying, caring for and interpreting our region’s natural history, biodiversity, conservation needs and the impacts of climate change on native flora and fauna.

Although I cherish the decades of my career toiling over, defining and helping to track biodiversity through my work in the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, it is WPC’s mission of land protection that I always feel is the critical key.

Of that protection, the wild and natural areas have always been my real love and, like Wilson, where I think some of our solutions are to be found. Without these areas, we can’t maintain the richness of biodiversity, not to mention the general functioning of Earth’s biosphere. The more-than a quarter million acres of protection that describes the history of WPC’s efforts is, in some ways, just the beginning. There is much more to do and our staff is addressing the challenge every day. I encourage you to experience some of the lands we still hold and steward, as well as the thousands of acres that WPC originally protected and are now public parks, natural areas, forests and game lands. Thank you for supporting this work, and I hope that we all will keep it up!

So, let’s go back to my box turtle friend. It struck me that here was one invasive species (represented by me), trying to control another invasive species (a non-native, habitatdegrading plant that was, in fact, introduced to the continent by the first species), and whose actions in doing so impacted a native species (the box turtle). Ha, the mind wanders! In any case, the wound on the turtle’s shell was minor (a few scute plates chipped), and I did not hurt him as much as my pride was damaged. I held him overnight and replaced him in his “improved” habitat the next morning. In some way, I explain to myself, “we”—the box turtle and me—are together part of nature, but some of us have to keep working to improve our end of the relationship, and the story.

“The Conservancy is honored to have been the beneficiary of Charles’ contribution of time, thought, research, expertise and everything else he’s brought to the organization over the years,” says Tom Saunders, the Conservancy’s president and CEO. "Charles’ long-term devotion to and focus on nature has helped us become a deeper-thinking and better organization.”

We’re not ready to say a final goodbye to Charles just yet!

Fortunately, he plans to continue his involvement, albeit at a reduced level, as a WPC volunteer. So, look out for more Field Notes from him in the future!

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note to printer: FSC placement

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