Even on the brightest day, the forest floor is rendered dark and gloomy by the many enormous and ancient trees that overwhelm the uncharted domain. To make things even more dismal, the skies above occasionally are clouded by millions of passenger pigeons in flight.
The dense wilderness is almost claustrophobic – easy for a man to lose his sense of direction, easy for fear to gain control.
Overhead, a small flock of colorful native parrots suddenly cry out and fly.
Something is crashing through the brush – a bear, a moose, perhaps even a buffalo? Is it coming this way? Ah, it’s only a young elk.
Another nearby sound, a deep growl, sends a chill through the soul. It could be a stalking mountain lion or a pack of wolves. The terrified elk rolls its eyes and prances away.
As the pioneer nervously grasps his flintlock, the realization suddenly comes that this ancient, hostile place must be pushed back, conquered, tamed.
* * *
For about 300 years – from the early 1600s when they first visited what would become known as Pennsylvania – pioneers did indeed conquer, exploit and destroy the forbidding but pristine wilderness.
By the early 20th century, the great forests that covered at least 97 percent of the state for thousands of years had been cut down, primarily for lumber. And nearly all major species of wildlife that lived in those forests, even deer, had been wiped out.
The animals were decimated by the destruction of their homes and by overkilling, including occasional massive and senseless slaughters. They were killed for meat, especially by commercial market hunters who filled barrels with game every day. They were butchered for their skins or feathers and their bodies left to rot. Some, like wolves and mountain lions, were eliminated because they were considered threats to man and livestock.
The spontaneous comeback of Pennsylvania’s wilderness and wildlife during the last half century is amazing. The forests, less majestic to be sure, have returned. But very few pockets of virgin timber remain – less than 1 percent of the original woodlands.
Many people don’t even realize what happened. They mistakenly believe the trees in our forests are the same ones that have stood since colonial times. And they can’t imagine a time when herds of elk or even bison roamed through the state, or more recent times when deer were so rare that just finding a set of tracks in the snow was considered a noteworthy event.
Now the deer are back. So are the beaver and turkey. And, with the help of man, bald eagles, ospreys, and even elk are regaining historic footholds in the state. Other animals that never vanished completely, like the river otter, are being reintroduced into areas where they once were abundant.
However, many other animals have vanished forever and even more probably will disappear as man continues to reduce remaining wildlife habitats.
Wetlands, especially in the Poconos, now are the single-most threatenedhabit at in the state. These swamps and marshes, inhospitable to humans, are mined for peat then turned into lakes and surrounded by vacation homes.
Pollution, development, toxic chemicals, damming of rivers and modern farming techniques also have contributed to the loss of habitat in Pennsylvania. Water quality in streams and rivers has improved dramatically, though much too late for some species.
Eighteen animals are considered endangered in Pennsylvania. Many more are threatened or vulnerable, meaning they may become endangered in the near future. The status of others is undetermined, because not enough is known about them. And some are listed as extirpated, meaning they no longer live in the state but do exist elsewhere.
Among mammals, for example, the Indiana bat is endangered; the eastern woodrat and small-footed bat are threatened; the snowshoe hare, river otter, bobcat and spotted skunk are among the vulnerable animals; the status of creatures like the mountain lion, lynx, marten, fisher, badger and coyote is undetermined; and the wolverine, eastern timber wolf, moose and bison are considered extirpated.
Other animals, like the passenger pigeon and the Carolina parakeet (which actually was a gaudy yellow, green and red parrot), are extinct everywhere.
Saving endangered species is not considered a high priority by the public or the politicians. No state tax dollars specifically are earmarked to protect the animals. And, unless the animal is a majestic bird or one of the “warm and cuddlies,” rallying public support can be even tougher. When was the last time anyone got a letter asking for money to “save the bats” or “save the rattlesnakes”?
Most of the 18 animals most in danger of vanishing from Pennsylvania are turtles, fish, frogs, salamanders and, yes, even one rattlesnake.
Three of the animals – the bald eagle, the Indiana bat and the prehistoric- lo oking shortnose sturgeon – also are on the federal endangered species list, which means they may disappear from the United States, not just from Pennsylvania.
At least in theory, all endangered animals have an equal priority. In reality, the eagle has an edge, simply because it is our national symbol. However, the Indiana bat, which lives in a cave in Canoe Creek State Park near Altoona, actually is in greater danger of becoming extinct.
“At last count, we had about 35 of them,” said Jerry Hassinger, wildlife biologist with the state Game Commission. “That’s not many when you consider females only have a single young a year.” He said a female bat may live 13 years and have a dozen offspring. “We only know of one cave where they are hibernating. They might be in other locations in Pennsylvania, but no one has found them. I’ve got to believe we’re going to find more Indiana bats.”
There only are 65 species of mammals and about 400 species of birds in Pennsylvania, but thousands of species of invertebrates, according to David Putnam, a biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “It’s just a matter of odds that more of them would be endangered,” he said.
The federal government may add a flatworm called the Refton Cave Planarian to its endangered species list. The white worm, which is about an inch long, has been found only in Refton Cave, Lancaster County, since the 1930s.
Such lowly invertebrates, which include insects, are considered less important by the public and even many scientists. Yet the survival of higher forms of wildlife could depend on their existence.
Equally important, but also less glamorous, is saving hundreds of rare plants in the state.
Clark Shiffer, endangered species coordinator with the state Fish Commission, said no matter how insignificant an animal may seem, it is part of a web. If man continues to break strands, eventually that web will be destroyed. But what too often is forgotten is that man also is part of the web he is destroying – “he is a part of nature, rather than apart from it.”
The loss of biological diversity means plants and animals may disappear long before man even learns how they might benefit him. Many rare plants, for example, have great pharmaceutical value.
Pennsylvania residents can directly help determine the future of wildlife. Since 1983, we have been encouraged to “do something wild” by contributing to the state’s Wild Resource Conservation Fund, which was established to protect nongame wildlife and native wild plants.
So far, the response has been less than overwhelming, especially when compared to how much it would cost to buy large tracts of land to protect critical habitats.
In the last four years, the fund has raised only $1.3 million. (About $1,050,000 of that amount helps preserve wildlife and the rest is for administration and promotion of the program.)
Although he acknowledged that’s less than a “bare bones” budget, Frank Felbaum, executive director of the fund, said “we try to keep a positive attitude. Maybe there’s some light at the end of the tunnel and it’s not another train.”
Less than 5 percent of money raised for the fund comes from direct contributions. Far more is from residents who designate that all or part of their state income tax refunds be turned over to the fund – even refunds less than a dollar.
“We’re gearing up to aggressively go after direct contributions,” said Felbaum, who believes “if we get a lot of people committed to writing a $2, $5 or $10 check” every year, those contributions will become the “salvation” of the fund. Checks can be sent to Wild Resource Conservation Fund, Comptroller’s Office, Box 2063, Harrisburg, Pa., 17120.
Felbaum said the fund helps all non-game species, “but threatened and endangered are our foremost concern, because their thread is the shortest.”
The state’s fish and game commissions have aided wildlife for years but, because they are financed through license fees paid by anglers and hunters, much of their emphasis is on managing game species. Yet more than 80 percent of all Pennsylvania wildlife is considered non-game species. The Wild Resource Conservation Fund helps both agencies do more to preserve non-game wildlife and also helps the state Department of Environmental Resources protect rare plants.
Shiffer stressed that public support is needed to save wildlife, saying “we can’t do it all by ourselves.” (What little federal funding available for endangered species programs in the past has been reduced or withdrawn in recent years.)
There are wonderful success stories, like the four young osprey that hatched in the Poconos this summer, the first time the birds have hatched anywhere in the state in decades. But most work being done to protect wildlife is in its early and far less romantic stages. The emphasis is on developing accurate inventories of animals to better determine priorities. Just doing that is expected to take years. “We’ve got to find out what is out there, what we have, before we can manage and protect it,” said Felbaum. “The majority of the money is going for that.”
Field surveys could show that an animal believed to be threatened is thriving in an area where no one has looked for decades. Of course, they also could show some species are in much worse shape than had been believed.
“Despite our efforts, some of these endangered species may cease to exist in Pennsylvania,” said Shiffer of the fish commission. Other state and federal officials who work to protect Pennsylvania’s endangered species agree. “We may be losing more ground than we are gaining with some species,” said Felbaum.
“We give our best shot at saving all of them,” said Hassinger of the game commission. “That would be our philosophy, but that may not be practical. In reality, even large amounts of money may not solve the problems. For example, we probably will not have a great impact on what’s happening on farmland; that is dictated by economics.”
While commercial hunting contributed to the decline in wildlife during the last century, Hassinger said modern sportsmen have been very supportive. “If not for them, we would be in a lot worse shape than we are.” He said when hunter’s dollars are used to buy state gamelands, those tracts support far more non-game animals than game animals.
Because 99 percent of the 4 million acres of public land owned by the state or federal government in Pennsylvania is forested, Hassinger said most forest game species are in good shape.
The increase in forest land means the state could support more wildlife than it does, even mountain lions, said John L. George, professor emeritus of wildlife management at Pennsylvania State University. He said if the big cats were managed – restricted to areas where they would feed on deer herds – they could be returned to Pennsylvania.
Unfortunately, the kind of habitat available on forested public land often is not what endangered species need. “We have to depend on the generosity of individuals on private acres,” said Hassinger. “That doesn’t always work. If we can’t protect the habitat, we can’t protect the species.”
Shiffer said those involved in protecting endangered species must realize they are “not going to win the war right away.”
“If you let yourself get so discouraged that you pull out of the battles, then you contribute to the loss of the war,” he said. “We are winning some battles, but it’s a long, slow process.”
Hassinger is concerned because “more and more people are becoming disenfranchised from the land, they have no intimate relationship with it and are not in a position where they have the opportunity to really understand nature.”
He said if our generation does not act now, it is “stealing choices from the future.”
“We’ve had no chance to get up and see passenger pigeons. They are gone. That choice was stolen from us. Now we’re in a position of stealing from future generations.”
“I was told a long time ago there isn’t any survival value in pessimism,” said Hassinger. “I’ve got to be optimistic. People create these problems, they can solve them too. It just takes knowledge and a will to do it, plus a little money and a reordering of our priorities.”
