Take only pictures, leave only footprints.That adage, coined by the National Park Service, is a great reminder to help protect our precious lands by having as little impact as possible.
It’s an admonition to remember no matter wherever you are — not just national parks.
It also is a wonderful advertisement for photography. Of all the things I see carried by hikers when I wander the Great Allegheny Passage through the Laurel Highlands, a camera probably is the most common. read more
The most recent USDA Forest Service data confirms that United States forestland is roughly as abundant today as it was 100 years ago. The Forest Service’s Resource Planning Act 2007 (RPA data) reveals both state and regional increases in forestland across the country.
Among the key findings in the report (http://www.fia.fs.fed.us/program-features/rpa/default.asp) are:
Ø There are 750 million acres of forestland in the U.S. today, about the same as in 1907.
Ø 11 states had increases of over 25 percent over the last century, and nine had increases of over 30 percent.
Ø Overall, forestland in the northern U.S. has increased by almost 30 percent. read more
We have begun to develop our pages on each of Pennsylvania’s major trees species. Visit our main Tree Page to review the list of the ones that will be covered for now (PA has over 100 species, but we are starting with 57). Our White Ash page is complete, and the American Elm page has data but needs photos.
Tree & Forest Photos: We would be glad to include your tree photos on Trees of Pennsylvania. If you would like to share your favorite tree pictures, attach them to an email, include all the information you would like posted with them (location, photographer, etc), and then email to us at Tree Photos. Thanks!
We now have all of our counties pages in place. Visit our main County Page and then use the alphabetical list to check out any of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
Local Events
We have our county pages set up to provide a comprehensive schedule of events for each county. However, this list will be only as good as the information we receive. To have your event posted, please submit the details using our Event Form (you can always access this form by following the links below the calendar on any of the county pages). We will consider all tree, forest, wildlife, and conservation events.
Many tree and forest resources are available close to home in Pennsylvania, and we highlight the most important ones on our county pages. Although we will not have all of the county pages in place for several days, we thought you might like to take a look at the Adams County Page to get an idea of what will be available.
Our information and links include:
Email Trees of PA to let us know what you think!
Many tree and forest resources are available close to home in Pennsylvania. We highlight the most important ones on our county pages. Although we will not have all of them in place for several days, we thought you might like to take a look at the Adams County page to get an idea of what will be available.
Our information and links include:
Email Trees of PA to let us know what you think!
We took our first step toward having individual pages for 50 Pennsylvania tree species by the end of the year. Although we are not ready to have our grand unvailing of the website, we thought you might enjoy taking a peak. The first featured tree, as we work on threatened species, is the White Ash.
We hope you enjoy the page – let us know what you think! Email Trees of PA
By Paul g. Wiegman
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Fall arrived officially at 4:51 a.m., Eastern Daylight Time, on the 23rd of September. Last Sunday.I highlighted that event, and especially the date, to point out that fall doesn’t always begin on the 21st of September. It can fall anywhere between the 21st and the 23rd.
The more important fact when considering the beginning of autumn is that it is when the sun is directly above the earth’s equator as the tilt of the planet is moving away from the sun. That means, for everyone on the planet, that the day will have light and darkness of equal lengths.
Well, nearly equal lengths. full story
University Park, Pa. — Normally, a dry September in Pennsylvania means bright fall foliage, according to experts in Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences. But this latest dry spell — which followed persistent drought conditions across most of the state this summer — may be bad news for leaf-lovers.
September was extremely dry, by almost any standard. “Most every county is at least 2 inches below normal in precipitation for the month,” said Bryan Swistock, water resources specialist for Penn State Cooperative Extension. “It has been extraordinarily dry — so much so that some counties are likely to set records. In some places, they received just two-tenths of an inch of rain.” read more
The weather for the next two weeks will determine how brilliant the fall foliage is in Central Pennsylvania.
If in the next couple of weeks we have bright sunny days and cool, but not freezing temperatures at night, we’ll see lots of autumn color.
Pennsylvania is one of the best states to see fall colors, according to Ed Dix, a state forester and fall foliage expert. Dix said that we have 130 varieties of colorful trees, some of which aren’t found in New England. full story
