Mill Run Natural Area
At the December 3 ceremony to initiate Mill Run Natural Area in Maryland and Klondike Ridge Natural Area (in Pennsylvania) in to the Old-Growth Forest Network, natural resources specialist Galen Scheufler delivered these remarks. OGFN values the voices of natural resources personnel who manage forests to better understand the challenges that they face in their ongoing efforts to ensure the forests’ well-being.
-Brian Kane, Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager
Galen Scheufler, Natural Resource Specialist: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Photo by Michel Sauret.
The US Army Corps of Engineers acquired this property in the 1930s and 1940s. For whatever reason, some trees around the lake were only logged once or not at all - when most forests in the area have been cut two to three times over.
John Smith once wrote that when he was traveling up the Susquehanna River in central Pennsylvania, he felt that the deep, primitive wilderness of North America was heaven on earth. Daniel Boone when venturing into western Pennsylvania, said that that the Ohio Valley was the most beautiful place he ever saw. Other early European settlers wrote about how the trees were so massive, there was a perpetual twilight in the forest. They claimed you could only see the sun at its peak in the sky. Others claimed that the forest understory was so open, almost parklike.
Native American peoples were living here long before the Europeans arrived. Through archaeological discovery, several Native American villages were found to have been present around the Youghiogheny River Lake. These villages were used by the Monongahela people. After they left the river valley, the area became a blend of Native American cultures: Lenape (Delaware), Shawnee, Iroquois, Mingo, Huron, Susquehannock, and more. When walking through some of the larger towns in the area, one would have heard as many languages being spoken as in London and Paris at that time.
These peoples’ lives revolved around these eastern forests. Their spiritual beliefs, the way they spoke, their outlook on life was influenced by the woodlands.
Today, our forests look absolutely nothing like they originally did. Even the old-growth areas around Youghiogheny Lake do not resemble what once was. Today, they face a variety of threats that are changing the forests as we know it. Invasive plants are destroying the understory by preventing our native plants from being able to regenerate. Deer populations have exploded and over browsing by deer is not allowing our new trees and shrubs to make it to maturity. Diseases and pests abound and are killing off beech trees, hemlock trees, ash, oaks, and many more. The forest you know today will not be the forest you recognize tomorrow.
We take these areas for granted. We naively believe that since we grew up with woods such as this, that our grandchildren and even their children will have the same experience as we had. Unfortunately, this is not a guarantee for them. In fact, these woods are more likely to not look this way by the time your grandchildren will be teaching their children how to hunt and roam these woods as you did.
Eastern hemlock trees that you see here today range from 70 to 150 years old. They are being threatened by hemlock woolly adelgid which has recently been estimated that 75% of these majestic trees will be dead within seven years’ time. Future generations are likely to not have the same pleasure to gaze upon these beautiful Appalachian giants like we are today.
Some may be confused by how this is considered old-growth. You may not see tons of gigantic trees here that one may expect when talking about old-growth. In fact, the definition of old-growth may mean something entirely different from one person to the next. But the meaning of old-growth goes far beyond just giant, old trees. What many ecologists are looking for are a high percentage of tree stems with advanced ages – in fact several tree samples collected here range from 70 to 150 years old.
We also look for an uneven aged forest, resulting in a multi-layered vertical structure, due to large-scale disturbances such as microbursts and other catastrophic winds. You will find single and multiple tree-fall gaps due to trees reaching their final stage of life. There will also be quite a few standing snags and lots of woody debris on the ground.
Plant species will consist of late successional species, meaning species that live a long time and are shade tolerant such as hemlocks, beeches, birch, sugar maple, and some oaks. In the understory here there’s a variety of lichens, liverworts, mosses, and fungi. The forest floor will feel almost sponge-like and always moist.
There is a variety of fungus found here, forming underground fungal networks that connect members of the same and different species. There is also tree root grafting connecting members of the same and different species. Finally, many of the larger and older trees here will be free of lower branches.
Again, these are traits that most older-aged forests exhibit and traits which Mill Run and Klondike Ridge Natural Areas both exhibit.
We are grateful to be joining the Old-Growth Forest Network and we are happy to enter into a partnership to be recognized as one of the few old-growth forests still around today. Despite all the scary and negative information I gave before regarding the possible fate of our forest, I can assure you that these areas are in good hands and we at the Youghiogheny will do everything necessary to ensure these natural areas will be around for us and future generations to come.
Is there an old-growth forest, like Mill Run Natural Area, that you think should be recognized by the Old-Growth Forest Network? Submit a nomination today!
