PENNSYLVANIA HABITAT HAPPENINGS
DU Peaks at an All-Time-High in the Commonwealth
partnerships with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service,
County Conservation Districts, California University, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Western Pennsylvania
Watershed Protection Program, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.DU + TNC + FWS = Bog
Turtles and Ducks!
The Nature Conservancy and Ducks Unlimited are teaming up with the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore bog turtle habitat in Eastern Pennsylvania while also providing waterfowl habitat. With the help of the FWS, TNC first located the preferred habitat of this endangered species and then protected the property with a permanent conservation easement. Bog turtles require wetlands that offer a mix of both wet and dry areas. Ducks Unlimited and USFWS were then responsible for restoring open wet meadows, shallow water marshes, spring seeps, and flood plains on the property. Wet meadow areas consist of grasses and sedges, which are often used as marginal pastures. Ducks Unlimited provided stream bank fencing that enables these areas to be grazed periodically. Fencing protects the stream bank and improves water quality, and cattle control the woody vegetation. This year DU and partners will restore over 30 acres of bog turtle habitat, which is also good nesting and brood habitat for waterfowl!
CREP & DU Make a DifferenceThe USDA Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) has completed its second year in Pennsylvania, boasting a dramatic increase in participation and projects from the previous year. In 2001, DU delivered 89 projects that restored 210 acres of wetland and 355 acres of forested riparian buffers. CREP is a program that allows landowners to set aside land that has been cropped 2 out of the past 5 years. This program targets landowners with highly erodible soils and marginal pasturelands that are located in the 20 southern counties of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The success of CREP can he attributed to partnerships and commitments among the PA Game Commission, USDA Farm Service Agency and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. DU and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation played a significant role in CREP by offering cost-share dollars on wetland restoration and forested riparian buffers as well as lending technical assistance and participating on the advisory committee.
