EMPORIUM – Staff members at the Elk State Forest have and will continue to do habitat work throughout the district.
This year staff members planted White Pine, White Spruce, Arborvitae, Nannyberry Viburnum, Gobbler Sawtooth Oak, American Sweet Crabapple, Assorted Standard Pear, Assorted Standard Apple, Streamco Willow, and Staghorn Sumac.
Staff members will be planting four acres of food plots with clovers, rye and brassica. Staff members had 16 tons of lime spread on about eight acres of food plots.
In the East Branch Dam area, the pipeline and road planting projects for this spring were to establish trees through contract planting on areas that have recently been cleared for pipeline right-of-ways and storm water retention structures to act as both visual and esthetic breaks in the pipeline corridor and add much needed conifer cover for wildlife.
In these areas, a mix of Red Oak and Hawthorn (in tree tubes) and a few scattered White Pines were planted to mimic an “old field” habitat and provide for diverse mast food for wildlife.
In addition to the work, staff members are doing on the lands, the Pennsylvania Game Commission will be doing the following work on the Elk State Forest:
- Food plots to be sprayed, no-till seeded, and fertilized = 81 acres
- Food plots to be mowed, may be once or twice = 450 acres
- Food plots to be limed = 46 acres
- Vegetated roads to be mowed = 18 miles
- Apple trees to be pruned = 10
- Wood duck nesting boxes maintained = 6
- Acres to be cut in the winter for aspen regeneration = 15 acres, this will also result in releasing about 1000 fruit-producing shrubs and creating about 100 small brush piles.
If you would like to contact staff members for more information, please call the District Office at 814-486-3353. You can visit s online at www.dcnr.state.pa.us or on Facebook.