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Underfoot: BARRING THE BERRY – JAPANESE BARBERRY

By Susan Sprout
 
The PA Dept. of Agriculture has added this particular berry-making plant (Berberis thunbergii) to its noxious weed list as of October 8, 2021, banning its sale or cultivation. Nurseries and landscapers will have a two-year period to phase out its use in this state.

Japanese barberry’s widespread distribution in our forests where it can thrive anywhere from deep shade to sunny edges + the fact that in some places it has become a dominant understory plant since our large deer population appears to eat just about everything else and leaves it alone to reproduce + the research that has shown increased populations of the black-legged or deer ticks, known transmitters of Lyme disease, occur in areas where it abounds = three good reasons why this plant became a good candidate for the noxious weed list! 

Birds are great spreaders of seeds.

You can identify Japanese barberry during the winter when its red berries stand out against its brown twigs and sticks and by carefully checking for its armament.  It is armed – with single, pointed spines growing near where the leaves used to be, on opposite sides of twigs. This plant differs from another non-native species, European barberry, Berberis vulgaris, also found growing in PA, that has three-pronged spines. Our very own native American Barberry (Berberis canadensis) also has three-pronged spines – or rather – HAD three-pronged spines. It is one of about 104 species of plants that have been judged “extirpated” or no longer existing within PA.  American barberry does grow wild in West Virginia southward to Georgia, however.

Twig showing berries and single spine.

Just because barberry is considered a noxious weed in some places doesn’t mean it hasn’t had a long and interesting history of usefulness to mankind. The ancient Egyptians used it in a syrup with fennel to prevent the plague. Dried and fresh roots were used to make a colorfast yellow dye for cloth, leather, and wood. Berries were made into jams and jellies or without sweetener, provided an acidic kick to the taste of salads. Berberine, a constituent of these plants, actually fluoresces under ultraviolet light, making cells under a microscope easier to study. It is used in medicines for everything from heart failure to burns and eye infections. Can’t judge a plant wholly by its aggressiveness! 

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Land Stewardship Specialist Needed

The Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC) is a regional land trust working in 12-counties to conserve and enhance the lands and waters of northcentral Pennsylvania. This work supports the environmental well-being and recreational needs of local communities.

The Land Stewardship Specialist (LSS) ensures all of the conservation easements held by the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy are monitored annually for compliance. The LSS also reviews requests by landowners of eased properties, works with landowners interested in donating a conservation easement, and works with staff on communications.

The position is part-time and expected to be 15 to 20 hours a week. This may require evening and weekend hours. The person will report to the Executive Director and work out of the office (approximately 1/3), presently located in Williamsport, PA, but also travel extensively throughout the region (approximately 2/3) when visiting conservation easements.

Responsibilities Include but are not limited to:

Conservation Easement Monitoring

  • Develop and implement a plan for the regular monitoring of all conservation easements held by Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy
  • Contact owner’s of property under easement with the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy to schedule monitoring visit
  • Conduct monitoring of conservation easements held by Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy
  • Prepare reports and correspondence based on monitoring
  • Maintain conservation easement inspection files.

Review Requests for Approval of Conservation Easement Permitted Activities

  • Coordinate with Executive Director  to ensure all requests are processed in a timely manner
  • Review the request to determine if it’s allowed by easement
  • Evaluate the impact on the conservation values
  • Prepare a recommendation for review and discussion with the Executive Director
  • Conduct site visits, as needed, to ensure the activity is being implemented as approved, and as appropriate
  • Prepare reports and notes documenting the process and follow-up

Conservation Easement Drafting

  • Respond to landowner requests for information about conservation easements
  • Conduct site visits and undertake basic research on a property’s conservation values
  • Prepare draft documents – including, but not limited to conservation easements and baseline documentation reports

Budgeting/Planning

  • Prepare a yearly workplan
  • Assist in preparing budget figures for easement monitoring, and other projects as directed by Executive Director as requested
  • Assist Executive Director in grant writing and fundraising as requested

Communications

These tasks would be done in coordination with other staff:

  • Provide photos from site visits and text to be used on the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy’s social media accounts
  • Write at least one article quarterly for the organization’s newsletter.
  • Maintain a photo file for each project.

Qualifications:

  • A passion for the conservation of open spaces
  • Clearly demonstrated experience and skills related to the performance of the above responsibilities, such as past experience with land management including, but not limited to road building, erosion and sedimentation controls, and management plan writing
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Attention to detail.  Ability to work accurately, independently, and efficiently.
  • Ability to interact and communicate with people in one-on-one situations.
  • Experience in developing work plans, and successfully executing work plans
  • A valid driver’s license and reliable transportation
  • Ability to walk a minimum of 4 miles over rough and uneven terrain.
  • Ability to navigate or way find through unmapped terrain passion for the conservation of open spaces.
  • Ability to map locations and develop handouts showing the mapped location
  • Background in forestry, ecological restoration, wildlife management, or similar field.
  • Clearly demonstrated experience and skills related to the performance of the above responsibilities, such as past experience with land management including, but not limited to road building, erosion and sedimentation controls, and management plan writing

Compensation:

This is a part-time position. The pay range is $15.00 to $20.00 an hour based on experience with both land management and conservation easements.

To Apply:

Please send a cover letter, resume, and three references to Renee’ Carey either by email (rcarey@npcweb.org) or regular mail (Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy, PO Box 2083, Williamsport, PA  17703).

Resumes are due by January 20, 2022.

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Underfoot: Praying Mantis Facts

By, Susan Sprout

Silly me! It isn’t the season for finding a Praying Mantis in the garden, is it? Well, how about the next generation, hmm?

Late fall and winter are most excellent times to find their egg cases attached to small leafless shrubs and trees. We found some on our last hike – enough to make a certain grandpa I know, a star in the eyes of his seven-year-old bug-crazy grandson!

Gently touch to test the toughness of the egg capsule.

Praying Mantis only live for about a year. The larger female will deposit a frothy mass of eggs produced by glands in her abdomen on stems and branches before she dies. The froth hardens, making a tough, protective capsule for her progeny until they all break out at once as wingless nymphs between mid-June and early July. You should be able to recognize the egg capsules, or ootheca, if you have ever used expansion foam to fill cracks around your home. They look just like it, small with a beige color that acts to camouflage them nicely against the bark on which they are attached.

Blending in on a young oak tree.

The Praying Mantis got its name from the position of its forelegs, held up and forward, as in an attitude of prayer. Those legs are adaptations that allow them to better capture and hold the insects they eat. Carnivores that only eat live food, they stalk their prey with…slow…stealthy…movements…until… they…POUNCE – with amazing speed and precision. Should we change their name to “preying,” instead? They have a fine reputation as pest-eaters in gardens, but they show no distinction between good bugs and bad bugs and will chow down on pollinators like bees and butterflies as well!

In case you wanted a refresher on what an adult praying mantis looks like.
Thank you Wayne Township Landfill for your support!
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In your woods – January

If you are someone who likes to set goals based on the calendar year, think about what goals you could include for your woods or your yard. What one thing do you want to do in your woods or your yard this year? Are you thinking about ways to increase the habitat? Do you want to diversify the plants (native versus introduced)? Or maybe you could look at how to increase how much water will soak into the ground instead of running off?

January is a great time to start to research ideas and sketch out a calendar of action steps.

Penn State Extension is offering a series of webinars, “Woods in Your Backyard” that will help landowners learn more about woods and trees and the role they play in our lives and world. What better way to spend some cold winter nights than learning about the woods outside your window.

If you’re still implementing a goal from last year (sometimes you need a couple of growing cycles) you could look at funding sources that may be available to assist. Contact the Natural Resource Conservation Service office in the County your property is in about funding that is available. The Service Forester for the County may be able to provide technical assistance and direct you to funding. The Penn State Master Gardeners in your County are probably planning workshops and possibly a native plant sale.

Thank you to the Wayne Township Landfill for supporting the blog!
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A Visit to the Former Town of Liberty

Back in 2018 NPC helped facilitate a 400 acre addition to State Game Lands 115 (SGL). The owners generously donated the acreage and now the SGL has more acres for hunting, bird watching, hiking, and exploring local history.

The group heading up the hill from the parking area.

On Sunday, December 19, 2021 the Montour Area Recreation Commission (MARC) held a hike on the property. Van Wagner, local history buff (and musician) led the way to remnants of colliers’ huts, charcoal flats, and the town of Liberty.

Van explaining what the collier’s job was and how charcoal was made.

In the photo above Van is showing a photo of a collier at a different property next to his hut. The colliers were the woodsmen who cut trees and made the charcoal. They often lived in the woods for weeks at a time to cut wood and tend the charcoal burn.

From there the group visited a charcoal flat, found more remnants of a colliers’ hut, and then headed to where the Liberty furnace and town were. The 7.5-ish mile walk had a couple of climbs but also some great views.

MARC will be holding more historic hikes and possibly a few paddles during 2022.

Thank you Evergreen Wealth Solutions for your support of the blog!
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Underfoot: Ah, Sweet Mystery!

By, Susan Sprout

I love trees, especially this time of year, when leafless. They stand out so stark and sturdy against the sky. Sometimes, as a game, I try to identify trees by their silhouettes as we pass them by in the car. I look for hints of seeds, cones, leftover flower spikes, branch configuration.

There was no drive-by the day my cousin and I found this lovely mystery tree as we hiked Chad’s Trail at Glacial Pools. The sky was just perfect, a blue backdrop interrupted by wisps of cirrus clouds. We had to check the clues.

Clue #1 Little cone-like strobiles that hold samaras or double-winged seeds, oblong, 3/4 to 1 1/2 inches long, brownish, disintegrating.

Strobiles will gradually give way to the wind for dispersal

Clue #2 The bark – shiny, dark and smooth, not papery and peeling. Many horizontal lines crossing the trunk – lenticels – corky pores through the bark that provide direct air exchange with the tree’s internal tissues.

Smooth, cling bark with lenticular

Clue #3 The twigs – dark brown, slender, hairless. Snap a twig and sniff the broken end. Ah, the odor of wintergreen!

Perfect! Sweet Birch, Black Birch, Cherry Birch, Betula lenta. 

Sweet Birch, a native to Eastern North America, ranges from Canada to the mountains of Georgia and Alabama. A USDA Forest Survey indicates that it is most abundant in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania. It is one of the species that has replaced American Chestnut where it used to grow. Considered a pioneer species, it tends to grow quickly when young and can grow from stump sprouts if the main trunk is cut or dies. The shiny, smooth bark will become rough and in vertical flat plates as it ages and will continue a pattern of split, peel, and replace throughout the rest of its life which could be up to two hundred years! You can find them growing in cool, moist uplands with hardwoods and conifers. They like the moist , well-drained soil of stream banks as well as dry, rocky soil of ledges.

It used to take one hundred saplings and trees to manufacture just one quart of Birch oil, also called oil of wintergreen. Now chemically produced methyl salicylate is used to flavor things like medicines, candy and ice cream. Plus, you don’t have to tap the trees anymore to make Birch Beer. I like chewing on a twig as I hike along to allay my thirst. Ha. I just like the flavor! 

Thank you Evergreen Wealth Solutions for supporting conservation!
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State Game Lands 115 in Liberty Township, Montour County

When Tom and Beth Stubler wanted to spend more time fishing on the St. Lawrence River and visiting their daughters and granddaughter they decided to divest themselves of some properties they owned. This included a two-thirds interest in approximately 600 acres in Montour County on the line with Northumberland County.

Tom stopped by the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy (NPC) office one day to see if NPC would be interested in accepting a donation of their interest in the property in Liberty Township. The property adjoins State Game Lands 115, so Tom thought NPC might be able to get some of the acreage into public ownership.

The current SGL 115 map updated to show the Stublers donation.

As members of NPC Tom and Beth knew NPC works with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and Bureau of Forestry to increase the amount of land available for the public to use, and to improve access to public land to make it less difficult to use. Plus, Tom saw this as an opportunity to give back.

“As a kid, that’s all I hunted was State Game Lands,” Tom explained. “My family didn’t own any land to hunt on, so I hunted on State Game Lands and appreciated having a place to hunt. When I realized we might be able to help increase the amount of State Game Lands available it was a no-brainer. If I can give another kid a place to hunt that would be great.”

NPC’s staff reached out to the Montour Area Recreation Commission (MARC) for more information about the location and to the Pennsylvania Game Commission to determine their interest. MARC was able to provide some very helpful information in understanding how the property fit on the landscape and the local recreational needs. The Pennsylvania Game Commission was interested in looking at the property and discussing how a project could proceed.

NPC set up a site visit that included the Pennsylvania Game Commission, MARC, Tom, and NPC. After seeing the property and how it fit in with the adjoining State Game Lands the Pennsylvania Game Commission was interested in working with NPC and the Stublers to get the acreage into public ownership.

After several meetings with the owner of the remaining one-third interest, the Pennsylvania Game Commission realized it would be most efficient for them to work directly with Tom and Beth on the donation instead of NPC receiving the donation from Tom and Beth, then working with the other landowner, before finally conveying the acreage to the Pennsylvania Game Commission.

The other owner wasn’t interested in selling his interest. He wanted one-third of the actual acreage. This meant discussing and understanding what areas of the property had the most sentimental value to the one-third owner, the various types of habitat on the property, what habitat areas have the most potential for the Game Commission’s wildlife management goals, how the road system connected, and thinking through the best way to set-up public access points and parking areas. That’s a lot. Everyone agreed it made the most sense for the Pennsylvania Game Commission to work directly with the one-third owner.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission accepted the two-thirds interest from Tom and Beth Stubler and worked through the process of surveying the property and preparing for a sub-division to separate about 200 acres off the parcel for the one-third landowner.

While NPC never took title to the property, Tom and Beth are convinced the project never would have happened without NPC’s staff helping them connect with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and helping to coordinate some of the early meetings and conversations. NPC’s “matchmaking” skills helped make this project a reality.

Most of the land is a forested mix of oak, hemlock, hickory, and maple. There are of blueberry, mountain laurel, and rhododendron in the shrub understory. A small stream meanders through the property. The Game Commission has started implementing their management plans for the property and neighbors to the property tell NPC how much they are enjoying hiking the old roads on the property.

Montour Area Recreation Commission held a historic hike on the property recently.
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Underfoot: Virgin’s Bower

By, Susan Sprout

The four-petaled, pure white flowers on this perennial vine may have been responsible for the common name of this plant, along with the fact that it grows upward, winding itself over bushes and trees to form a shaded shelter or bower. Virgin’s Bower, Clematis virginiana, is a member of the Buttercup Family. There are over 250 different species of Clematis in the world; this one is a native of North America. It ranges from Manitoba to Nova Scotia southward and from New England to Georgia. There are two other native Clematis in PA. Both have purple blooms rather than white.

The cascading seed heads of Virgin’s Bower.

This time of the year, you won’t find any pretty white blossoms or three-part leaves. What remains is very recognizable, however, along roads or low areas near streams where it likes to grow. It will be sprawled over the tops of small trees and thickets that have lost most of their leaves. The female flowers have morphed by now into cascading, snowball-like clusters of silvery-gray, feathery hairs, each holding a dry, one-seeded fruit that doesn’t split open at maturity – it just hangs on and floats away in the winter wind. Of course, Virgin’s Bower has received another common name from this characteristic, Old Man’s Beard! Itchy! Scratchy! Not the beard part of the plant, but rather, the fresh green foliage, which can cause dermatitis and blistering of the skin! And that, in turn, is very strange because the early settlers used the plant to treat itch and skin diseases! 

Feathery haris each holding a single seed of Virgin’s Bower.
Thank you to Evergreen Wealth Solutions for supporting the blog!
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Trees Along Streams

NPC has been working with the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), local landowners, county conservation districts, and other partners to plant trees along streams.

Trees were planted along streams in Columbia County, Union County, and Centre County this fall.

The sign installed as part of the riparian buffer plnating project along Roaring Creek at the Southern Columbia School District’s campus

While most of the trees went in on private properties. Through outreach by Native Creations Landscape Services Southern Columbia Area School District and Berwick Area School District signed up for trees along the streams on their properties.

Southern Columbia Area School District has property along Roaring Creek. Students joined in helping with the planting and teachers are excited to have an area to take students to look at trees and learn about not just the tree species, but the “jobs” trees have.

Trees along streams aren’t just pretty. The trees roots help hold soil in place and prevent it from washing away. Think about standing in sand and wiggligng your toes. Your toes can dig down into the sand and the sand sticks between your toes. As roots grown down and out, you’ll see that they can hold soil on the streambank and help reduce the dirt/sediment washing into the creek.

Trees also provide shade over the stream. Cooler water is needed by trout and the macroinvertebrates/water bugs the trout eat. Those leaves hanging over the stream drop into the stream in the fall and provide food for macroinvertebrates.

Thank you Evergreen Welath Solutions for supporting the blog!
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Liberty Iron Furnace Hike

A couple years ago the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy facilitated a donation to the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The property in Montour County became part of State Game Lands 115. The only block of State Game Lands in the County.

Bob Stoudt (Director, Montour Area Recreation Commission) and Van Wagner (Danville-area historical expert and musician) both live close the State Game Lands and began exploring.

They are very excited to share what they’ve found. They’ve invited us to join them for a challenging seven mile hike to the historic Liberty Iron Furnace site on Montour Ridge in PA State Game Lands #115 (Liberty Township, Montour County).

We will be hiking to charcoal production sites, row home ruins where furnace workers lived, and locating huts where colliers lived beginning in the 1830’s.

This approximately seven mile-long hike will cross challenging, rocky terrain. Portions of this hike will be rugged and only experienced hikers should consider participating. This hike is not recommended for small children or those with limited mobility.

Pre-registration is not required. This event will be held regardless of weather conditions. Participants should wear sturdy footwear and weather-appropriate clothing and bring adequate water, snacks, and other supplies as may be needed for a roughly 3.5 hour-long wintertime outing.

Since Bob and Van are leading the hike please contact Bob Stoudt at RStoudt@MontourRec.com with questions or for more information. If you’re on Facebook, you can also use the link below to “follow along” and stay up to date on announcements.

https://www.facebook.com/events/432820818212525/?acontext=%7B%22event_action_history%22%3A[%7B%22surface%22%3A%22page%22%7D]%7D

Thank you to Evergreen Wealth Solutions for sponsoring the blog this month!