Deep into a Protected, Sacred Forest
By Mid-Atlantic Regional Network Manager, Brian Kane
To reach The Forrest H. Dutlinger Natural Area within Pennsylvania’s Susquehannock State Forest, you must be determined to reach this revered and long-lived stand of ancient Eastern hemlock trees. You also must learn about the work undertaken by its foresters to ensure its continued longevity.
Forrest Dutlinger boasts some of the oldest hemlock trees in the Commonwealth. A land dispute between the Lackawanna Railroad and Goodyear over a century ago that was never resolved allowed these 156 forested acres to escape the saw. Eastern hemlocks here measure over 50” in diameter and rise to incredible heights. They have overseen four centuries of life on land and in the air.
On Dutlinger forest’s initiation day - as it joined 30 other Pennsylvania forests in the Network, eight Pennsylvania forestry staff directed us to a parking pad at Trout Run Road in Lenovo. Here, we transferred into two Ford F-150’s to reach the sacred forest. Recent rains filled the trail’s depressions with a foot or more of water yet, the 150’s (and expert DCNR drivers) navigated their way through these depressions and some steep banks. The dirt path we followed barely permitted the truck’s width and branches all too often scraped their fenders and windows.
Once we reached a level area, we left the trucks and walked the remainder of the way on the Beech Bottom trail to the hemlock grove, covering about 3.5 miles point to point. En route, we witnessed five felled hemlocks from a downburst a few years ago, with root balls exposed nearly 15 feet in diameter. (photo) Our group walked to the sloped heart of the forest. There, we stood on a ridge that sloped hundreds of feet down and overlooked these hemlocks, maple, beech and oaks. (photo). Silence prevailed, save the call of birds, and the wind brushing the needs of the hemlock branches high above.
In our one-hour trek into the old-growth area, I learned of the work of the foresters who take careful measures to protect the hemlocks from decimation from the wooly adelgid. Given the difficult terrain and journey into this grove, the foresters employ a method in which Core Tect tablets are driven into the ground at the base of the ancient hemlock and eventually absorbed by the tree to kill the wooly adelgid present. Given the extremely rocky terrain, this is a labor intensive procedure. This method is repeated every two to three years and a forestry crew of some 15-20 persons come together on treatment day. (The other alternative requires hundreds of gallons of water to be hauled into the inner forest area to spray the hemlock’s lower trunks. The long distance and unpredictable journey from the roadway make this a difficult location to perform a spraying as well as the transport of water over challenging terrain).
Today, the Forrest H. Dutlinger hemlocks remain unaffected by the adelgid. These stunning and powerful trees are thriving. This majestic and humbling landscape of hemlock, where only bird call and wind is heard, has dodged numerous timber harvests, and now, we are hopeful that the care of the DCNR foresters and the people of Pennsylvania will ensure its continued health and well-being far into the future!
