If the cool breeze and colorful grasslands of this state wildlife preserve weren't enough to attract birds both large and small, they've also got numerous dead trees to hang out on, hunt from, and hollow out.
Letting dead trees stand at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area is by design: Pennsylvania Game Commission biologists say the "snags" attract birds from hawks to woodpeckers and eventually break down into valuable soil nutrients.
And it's a message they are trying to carry to the other landowners in a state that was once entirely cleared of standing timber.
"We're trying to get people to understand the role that dead trees play in the ecosystem and to not necessarily be so quick to say, 'We've got to cut this down because it's dead,'" said commission spokesman Jerry Feaser.
People around the state who are in the business of clearing or removing trees say that, by and large, dead trees are allowed to remain in forested and rural areas as condominiums for squirrels, woodpeckers and more.
But game commission officials contend that too often, homeowners, developers and loggers will remove dead trees from a forest, backyard or wood lot, even when the tree poses no danger if it falls.
The commission doesn't have scientific figures to back up the contention, but officials point out that the numbers of bluebirds and wood ducks were in decline for years until game managers, wildlife groups and other volunteers began putting up nesting boxes. Plus, more dead trees could help the American kestrel rebound, commission spokesman Joe Kosack said.
For about two decades, the commission has tried to leave dead trees on its land, a practice begun during the energy crunch of the early 1980s when wood-burning stoves surged in popularity, creating more demand for timber.
Today, at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area, on the border between Lancaster and Lebanon counties, dead trees still stand. Some died when commission workers dammed up a nearby waterway, flooding their root systems. The branches of one huge shagbark hickory that stands alone in a field of wild grasses are largely naked following a lightning strike several years ago.
On a recent day, birds were everywhere.
Woodpeckers and wood ducks, bluebirds and swallows, red-tail hawks and great blue herons perched, swirled and swooped.
"It doesn't look real pleasant to the human eye, but it's turning into a nice nesting spot for birds," said Middle Creek manager Jim Binder, referring to a clutch of dead hardwoods that were flooded by a beaver dam.
Dead trees are considered an eyesore in urban and suburban neighborhoods and homeowners almost always want them taken down, said Doug Krusper, who owns a tree trimming business in Murrysville.
And the trees, which deteriorate over time, are also seen as a danger to children, pets and property if one falls, he said.
"Most homeowners are in agreement that dead trees need to come down," Krusper said. "It's your animal lovers and tree huggers that want the trees to stay for habitat and that stuff."
Horsham-based Toll Brothers, a leading builder of high-end houses, says it doesn't touch the woods in between the lots it clears.
Removing dead trees isn't worth the trouble of disturbing the rest of the woods, and the company is aware of the ecological benefits, said Toll Brothers' chief marketing officer Kira McCarron.
Occasionally a home buyer asks the company to clear the woods of dead trees, but the company politely explains the downside, she said.
Timber producer Keith Klingler said he saves whatever dead trees he can for squirrels and raccoons. But he also removes dead wood that impedes the space of the high-quality red oak, cherry and maple trees he grows on his 2,000 acres scattered in northwest Pennsylvania.
"There are very few timber people out there that don't leave something for wildlife," Klingler said. "Some will leave more than others, but there's very few that don't leave anything."
Without a marketing budget, the game commission does not have any grand plans to roll out an awareness campaign for dead trees. Instead, the agency will rely on its land managers and biologists to spread the word and hopes to put up a Web site addressing the benefits of dead trees along with other tips on how landowners can help wildlife.Associated Press via Philly.com
