When
PPL built an electric generating station at Shamokin Dam in the 1920s/1930s it
acquired an archipelago of six islands in the Susquehanna River. PPL needed the
islands to anchor a dam designed to provide cooling water for its power plant.
Many years later, PPL decided to divest itself of the islands and donate them
to NPC.
Scott, a volunteer witht he Susquehanna River Trail Association, visits Byers Island several times a year to check on the campsite’s condition.
NPC
transferred ownership of the islands to DCNR’s Bureau of Forestry. The Bureau
of Forestry is managing the islands as part of the Susquehanna River Water
Trail.
There
are 3 primitive camping areas for canoeists using the River. On the Susquehanna
River Water Trail – Middle Section map they’re sites 121, 120a and 120b. The
Susquehanna River Trail Association’s volunteers maintain this section of the
Trail, including the campsites. The photo in this post is by one of those
volunteers, Scott, at site 120b.
The
islands are also part of a study area Susquehanna University’s researchers are
examining to understand the River’s chemistry and how the West Branch
Susquehanna mixes with the main stem of the River. Public ownership of the
islands is allowing this research to continue and canoeists to enjoy some
“island time.”
When I find Nodding Ladies’ Tresses, it makes me want to
twist and shout! In thanks for the plant being there, growing
– AND – in honor of a very special movement each little white
flower on the stem has to make in order to bloom.
The labellum or lip which is attached above, actually
twists down and around so that it is now below the other petals as it opens!
This action provides a landing place for visiting insects and may also allow
the lip to get more sunlight, showing patterns and nectar guides better.
Orchid flowers that do the twist are called
“resupinate”. Yes, this plant is an orchid, native to Eastern North
America. While it is not an uncommon plant, it is picky about where it lives
and with whom. I found these in partial shade, along a dirt road where
the soil was wet and acidic.
Nodding Ladies’ Tresses will spread slowly by underground rhizomes to form colonies. They can reproduce by seed, too, but their seeds lack the store of starch and nutrients necessary for successful germination. Therefore, they require the help of mycorrhizal fungi to provide fixed carbon and mineral nutrients for the growth of seedlings…a specific species of fungus. Picky!
Look for them. They will keep blooming until the first
frost. The single stem, about sixteen inches tall, holds a six-inch flower
spike with a coiled spiral of white or ivory flowers, each one being held
by a bulbous bract that is green and covered with minute hairs that spread
about halfway down the stem. You may find two or three really thin leaves
tightly clasping the lower stem. A basal rosette of leaves will be gone by the
time the plant blooms. The tongue-shaped lower lips of the flowers are thin and
lacy.
At least ten species in the genus Spiranthes can
be found in Pennsylvania in various forms and locations.
Affectionately referred to at the LT, the Loyalsock Trail was laid out and built by volunteers. Over the years the Alpine Club of Williamsport extended the Trail, has relocated sections, and has taken on maintenance.
The Trail is on footpaths, old logging roads, and abandoned railroad grades as it travels 59.2 miles from Route 87 north of Montoursville to Mead Road off US Route 220 near Laporte. While there are moderate sections, there are also difficult sections, so do some research before you head out on the LT.
One of the priorities for NPC in acquiring the Flynn property in the early 1990s was concern about needing to re-route the LT. When NPC acquired the property at auction and then conveyed it to the Bureau of Forestry it allowed the LT to stay on the route it was on. No re-routing was necessary.
The acquisition also allowed for some trails to be added. This photo shows the Loyalsock Trail at its intersection with the Flynn Trail. Yep, the same Flynn as in Flynn property. The yellow discs with the red “LT” are the markers for the LT, and the yellow blazes (rectangles) are the Flynn Trail.
For more information on the Loyalsock Trail visit the Alpine Club’s website: https://alpineclubofwilliamsport.com
2020 was NPC’s 30th anniversary, but we couldn’t
celebrate in person. We re-grouped. Join in celebrating NPC’s 30+1 Anniversary!
September 15, 2021 5pm cash bar 6pm dinner Herman & Luther’s (787 State Route 87, Montoursville, PA) Cocktail hour, live music, and a buffet style dinner. Cost is $45 per person with reservations due by September 7, 2021
Thank you to our sponsors: Kase Law Dwight Lewis Lumber Co., Inc. Evergreen Wealth Solutions McCormick Law Firm PPL C&N Pennsylvania American Water Wayne Township Landfill Woodlands Bank
What an enjoyable afternoon we had at the top of Highland
Mountain, gazing toward the horizon across Sullivan County and being serenaded
by American Towhees with their “Drink your tea” songs! If that wasn’t
great enough, looking across the clearing, I spied lots of small yellow flowers
on squat shrubby-looking bushes. A new plant to explore…one whose name I did
not know. It is Yellow Wild Indigo, with the scientific name of Baptisia
tinctoria, from Latin verbs baptiso
(to dip or dye) and tingo (to soak in dye).
Check out the bluish foliage
I had met its cousin before, the true “of
India” Indigo, the well-known dye plant in the same Pea Family, FABACEAE.
Here was a plant, native to Pennsylvania, used by Native Americans and
colonists as a blue dye plant, as well as for medicine. The inch and a half
long pea-like flowers were being pollinated by bees. Pods created by that
interaction will look like short, fat peapods that turn brown as they mature.
The leaves attached to the stem are in groups of three like clover, another
relative. The bluish-green color of the young bushes sets them apart visually
from the other greens of the field. The whole plant will turn black rapidly as
it dries out, making it a stand-out among the fall colors, too.
See how their clover-like leaves turn black when dried.
I was happy to discover Yellow Wild Indigo is a host
plant to some of our native butterflies…they evolved together! Check out
Clouded and Orange Sulphurs, the Eastern Tailed-Blue, and, most especially, the
Wild Indigo Dusky Wing – its own very special butterfly!
A quote we use frequently is from Margaret Mead
– “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change
the world. Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” It reflects the many
board members who over the years have helped the Northcentral Pennsylvania
Conservancy along the way.
At the June annual membership meeting we said
goodbye to four long time board members and welcomed four new board members.
Thank you Gail Zimmerman, Carl Barlett, Phyllis Reynolds, and Roy Siefert for
all your help!! (although, we will still be asking you for help) Welcome Mary
Blondy, Chris Kenyon, Stephanie Radulski, and Julie Weaver!!
Getting a forkful at Forksville this week, afforded me
the opportunity to visit several of my favorite Sycamores, AKA Planetrees. that
live along Loyalsock Creek.
In Pennsylvania, some have matured to absolutely huge
proportions when left alone to keep growing: one in Philadelphia County is over
149 feet tall; Delaware County has one 404 years old; one in Chester County has
a circumference at breast height of over 30 feet. Amazing – see why I love
Sycamore Trees – such potential!
As they grow, their less than elastic bark cracks and
sloughs off to reveal lighter under-bark creating an easy to identify blotchy
camouflage pattern of gray, brown, cream and tan that any hunter would be proud
to wear. These native trees are common along waterways and low woods, where
once established, they appear to be drought-resistant.
American Sycamores along Loyalsock Creek
Sycamores’ leaves may resemble maple leaves, but they are
much bigger – five to nine inches
across, with prominent yellow veins, and furry undersides. And, they are not
related to maples at all, but are members of the Planetree Family (Platanaceae)
that has only eight known living species in the world. The family has been
around for over one hundred million years, making some paleobotanists consider
our modern Sycamores to be living fossils.
Reproduction takes place in the spring when inconspicuous
male and female flowers in hanging bunches are pollinated by the wind, just
about the time the leaves begin to sprout. The seeds develop in round spikey
balls, green turning to brown, that hang on for about a year before falling to
the ground. Pick one up and pull it apart to find the individual seeds
surrounded by long hairs – they float in the air and on the water, a second
dispersal mechanism. No wonder they are so successful!
American Sycamores pushing up through the rocks along Loyalsock Creek
These elegant-looking perennial ferns, preferring acid soil and partial shade, are likely to be found on wooded slopes and ravine bottoms that are moist. They “brown-up” early in summer when they are too dry. Northern Maidenhair Fern or Adantium pedatum is the Eastern North American native of this genus growing world-wide that has nearly two hundred different species in it. I love looking for their circular patterns of horizontal fronds and bright green leaflets divided into little fan shapes! They are lacy and delicate. The shiny black stems holding them all together are a great clue when trying to identify Maidenhair Fern, and thus, the name. And they are tough! They were used by Native Americans in their basket-making. With many other ferns, there is an observable difference between fertile fronds carrying spores and non-fertile fronds without them. Not so with Maidenhair! Their foliage looks the same until you turn one over and find little sori curled up on underside edges behind the vein tips of the leaflet. Though tiny and tucked away, wind will disperse the spores to grow into heart-shaped gametophytes responsible for sexual reproduction and creation of the next generation of ferns. Over time, they will grow into colonies, spread by their underground rhizomes. In spring, look for the pinkish-brown crosiers or shepherd’s crooks pushing up. Return trips are a must…to see them gracefully unfurl!
The Pennsylvania Department of
Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) Secretary Cindy Adams joined the
Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC) and local supporters for a
dedication ceremony at the Phelps Mills Canoe Launch on Pine Creek in the
Tiadaghton State Forest in Pine Creek Township, Clinton County just across the Creek
from the borough of Jersey Shore.
The moment the ribbon was cut! (photo credit: Wesley Robinson)
“The story of the Phelps Mills
Canoe Launch is a testament to the power of collaboration and the impact it can
have providing recreational opportunities in our communities,” Dunn said.
“Thank you to NPC, its volunteers, George and Shirley Durrwachter, and everyone
who helped make this project a reality.”
The ceremony formally welcomed
Phelps Mill Canoe Launch on Pine Creek under the Bureau of Forestry umbrella.
Although the canoe launch has been a managed as a part of Tiadaghton State
Forest since late 2019 when DCNR purchased the property from NPC, the obeservance
on June 25, 2021 allowed the project partners to come together and celebrate
what they achieved.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the project possible and came out to celebrate! (photo credit: Wesley Robinson)
NPC was able to purchase the
property and conduct environmental assessments due to a generous donation from
Dr. George and Shirley Durrwachter.
This photo from before the improvements show the path down to Pine Creek with just a bit of the gate in the lower left corner.
“Having this boat launch available
to local residents will allow them to traverse the creek and the river to
downtown Jersey Shore,” George Durrwachter said. “Creating recreational
opportunities closer to where people live is important not only because of time
constraints but it will also reduce congestion on the highways.”
In addition to the donation from
the Durrwachters to acquire the land, NPC secured grants and support from the
Western Pennsylvania Canoe Access Fund and the Clinton County Tourism and Recreation
Fund to support improvements at the canoe launch.
The improvements were completed in
August 2020 and helped stabilize the canoe launch, improve the walking surface,
improve the parking lot, and replace the gate with a bollard to make it easier
to carry canoes and kayaks down the path.
By October 2020 the site improvements were complete and the pathway was easier to use and navigate, especially if carring a canoe or kayak.
The black lab who showed up just
as the group photo was wrapping up wasn’t planned, but was perfectly timed. The
lab had his stick and headed straight to the water, running down the improved
pathway, and launched into the Creek.
Thank you again to George and
Shirley for their support that made this possible! Thank you also to Carl
Barlett for speaking on behalf of NPC and Commissioner Jeff Snyder for his remarks
on behalf of the Clinton County Tourism and Recreation Fund and the Clinton
County Commissioners.
The unplanned black lab who demonsrated how to enjoy the Creek. (photo credit: Wesley Robinson)
We hope you enjoy rivers all summer long! If you want to check out this access, the address is 1019 E. Central Ave., Jersey Shore, PA (but you’re on the west side of the Creek/the Avis side, not the east side of the Creek/the Jersey Shore side).
I hope you are familiar with the native plant
Jack-in-the-pulpit because I would like to introduce you to Jack’s less
well-known relative in the same genus – Green Dragon. Arisaema dracontium,
also a member of the Arum Family with Jack, is a native perennial plant that
lives in the rich ground of low woods and flood plains.
The first one I ever found was along the muddy edge of
the West Branch Susquehanna River, downstream from the Ellmaker Boat Landing in
Montoursville. Green Dragons like dappled sunlight when they first appear in
the spring and then more shade later on. That had happened quite naturally as
the sycamores and silver maples leafed out over them there.
Green Dragon leaves
Each plant has a single leaf made up of five to fifteen smooth, oval leaflets and a single naked stem topped with its inflorescence or flowers, both arising from an underground tuberous corm. The unusual leaf usually grabs my eye first because it looks like the palm of a hand with too many fingers, swirling around the stem. Then I peek under it, and there is a dragon’s tongue!
The “tongue” of the Green Dragon
Start at the very tip of the “tongue” and travel down four to ten inches and you will find the flowers at its base like little greenish-yellow balls hugged by the spathe, a leaf-like bract that partially surrounds them and allows the dragon’s tongue to ascend out the top. Fungus gnats attend to pollinate them, turning the flower column into a red-orange club made up of at least a hundred pear-shaped berries containing one to three seeds…treats for wild turkeys. Don’t try them yourself – they contain enough calcium oxalate to burn your mouth and, if eaten, cause severe gastric distress and kidney damage.
A close up of the flowers on a Green Dragon
Look for the Green Dragon now. It will fly away… I mean
go dormant…soon!
