Forest Management Plan Written by: Mike Wolf Certified Forester Appalachian Forest Consultants (814) 893-5459 “40 Years of Forest Management” www.appalachianforestconsultants.com This forest management plan has been written for the Brush Mountain Sportsmen’s Association (BMSA), an outdoor-interest club that is situated in both Logan and Antis Townships and in Blair County, Pennsylvania. The 640 acre property lies on a western slope of Brush Mountain, a mountain ridge that “horseshoes” from Canoe Mountain in the east around to Bald Eagle Mountain in the north. To the south lies Lock Mountain and to the west is I-99, a north-south running interstate that locally connects Altoona and Tyrone. The property is unique due to its size and variety of habitat and timber types. It ranges in elevation from a little over 1,000’ to well over 2,000’. The Club itself has been active since 1945 and is made up of about 80 members. The BMSA clubhouse location is in the northwest tip of the property – just off I-99. The clubhouse is surrounded by large trees, a camp ground, a huge pavilion, numerous out-buildings, a large fishing pond and a shooting range. The rest of the property is primarily wooded, but there are several small openings including foodplots and a retired stone quarry. The lower elevation half of the property is easily accessed by a drivable road that leads to the quarry and/or a series of 4-wheeler trails. The upper elevation parts of the property can only be accessed on foot for the most part, but there is one trail (locally called “the culvert”) that extends south and east from the quarry to very near the southern boundary corner of the property. The BMSA forest has had a variety of logger entries in the past. This, along side a 1000’ elevation change, has created a variety of timber types and habitat types on the property. BMSA’s forest ownership goals are long-term and stewardship-minded. The Club wants to improve wildlife habitat (and therefore hunting and wildlife observation opportunities) and at the same time wants to sustainably manage the timber resource for today and for future generations of Club members. BMSA has designated a Habitat Committee to oversee projects related to this forest management plan as well as a recently written document titled, Wildlife Habitat Management Recommendations prepared by Jamie Flickinger, a Wildlife Diversity Biologist with the PA Game Commission. The Habitat Committee has already made great strides in seeking professional assistance and educational resources related to forest and wildlife management. The Habitat Committee has learned sound principles and communicated these important lessons to the rest of the Club. In recent years, the Habitat Committee has spearheaded many initiatives that will eventually improve the BMSA forest in terms of timber and wildlife habitat value in the future. Included in these initiatives are continuing to monitor deer populations and deer browsing affects on seedlings across the property. The Club property has traditionally carried more deer than it has been able to support. Evidence of this is abundant across every acre of the property – lack of any seedlings and an abundance of unpalatable competing plants. Along side monitoring deer numbers and damage, the Habitat Committee has attempted to increase the number of does harvested each year in an attempt to regain a balance between deer herd size and available habitat. There is still a long way to go in this endeavor, however. In fact, after many days of collecting data at sample plots all across the BMSA property, we were only able to find a handful of viable seedlings of desirable species. Because of this, it would certainly be irresponsible to “just cut trees,” as once may have been the case, in order to generate much needed funds and create wildlife habitat. In fact, if we just cut trees on the BMSA property now, we would only accelerate the growth of plants that are undesirable for future timber or wildlife value. It is imperative for the health and well-being of the BMSA property that the Habitat Committee and the general membership persevere in such initiatives as well as reach out to neighboring property owners on Brush Mountain with educational materials, field tours, picnics, etc. to begin broader range cooperation among neighbors for the betterment of the whole mountain region. Fortunately, all is not lost for the BMSA property. While it won’t be easy and it won’t come without investments of time and money, the Club can certainly accomplish its goals in the future because it has wonderful resources to draw from. The property’s natural resources are plentiful – water, timber, masting trees, and mountain laurel are abundant. Also, the Club’s human resources have been pulling together for a long time to accomplish many projects together. It is my hope that this Forest Management Plan will guide BMSA over the next 10 years or so in a targeted direction toward a healthy and diverse forest and toward sustainably managing its abundant resources for future BMSA members. |
Forest Management Plan |
