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Habitat
for Wildlife----A History Lesson
From reading the post on the internet and in
the News Items "Sound Off", it seems there continues to be
some misconceptions surfacing about Habitat for Wildlife
(HFW).
The "Alaska site" located near Excelsior in
Coal TWP, PA,
is open to the public for non-motorized recreation.
HFW will only work on property open to public recreation.
The
"Alaska site" is not, nor has it ever been posted. HFW
doesn't have a membership fee; members may buy a key
to the gate on coal company property and drive up to but not
on county land. The only time members, including myself,
drive there is during work projects.
Let me give you a brief history.
HFW began, unofficially in1999. That year I
got a call at my taxidermy business from DEP- Mine
Reclamation, offering me 45,000 tree seedlings they had left
over. I took 4,500. I then called some of my customers to
help plant. 35 people showed up and all seedlings were
planted on county land near Burnside, Coal TWP. The
following year the county land manager took me to what we
now call the "Alaska site", a newly reclaimed mine site. He
told me we should do future plantings there. HFW soon
received more seedlings and planted them. In the spring of
2002 HFW took part in the" Great PA Cleanup" and removed
many tons of trash from the access road and the new
reclamation site, which was totally clean just two years
before. At this point there was no plan to gate the roads.
Then, just two weeks later, five truck loads of new trash
were dumped there. There was another problem going on too.
Off road vehicles and ATVs were driving through and over
newly planted fields and trees. After consulting with county
officials and adjacent land owners it was decided that the
road should be gated and allow public access by foot only.
The county also recommended HFW lease the property so we
would have authority to prosecute illegal use and so HFW
wouldn't have to go back to the county and ask permission
every time we wanted to plant or make other habitat
improvements. It was at this time HFW was officially
incorporated and a lease agreement was reached. One
provision of the lease is that the land was to be kept open
to the public for use of non-motorized recreation. The only
reason for the gates is to stop illegal dumping and the
destruction of wildlife habitat.
HFW volunteers have planted 43,000 trees and
70 acres of food plots here. We
have done this as a public service for all to enjoy.
The trees are starting to produce fruit; the food plots
attract and feed deer, rabbits, birds and many, many
turkeys. Every year we stock quail
for
public use for dog training and hunting, this year we
are stocking 250.
We do
this and don't charge anyone a fee to enter, use and enjoy.
In addition HFW volunteers have cleaned up hundreds
of tons of trash and thousands of tires from other county
and privately owned area lands. Including land being looked
at for the proposed County OHV Park.
Up to and including the present time HFW
has experienced vandalism to gates and cables as well as
signs that are being torn down. We continue to find damage
to fields and trees as well as excessive damage to the
access roads and berms which create erosion problems. It is
highly likely that most of this damage is being caused by
the same few individuals whose agenda is inconsistent with
those of HFW. The Alaska site wildlife area is simply too
small of an area to accommodate the full size OHVs, ATVs and
dirt bikes that don't seem to be able to have enough self
control to stay out. HFW could actually accomplish more on
this site if we didn't have to be constantly doing damage
control due to the above mentioned destructive individuals!
The
Alaska site is a community project as evidenced by
the various individuals and groups that have participated in
no small way to its success as a viable wildlife habitat
area. Whether you have helped weed the flower garden, cut
trees for regeneration, planted trees, hauled in tons of
mulch, or picked rocks from the fields, we at HFW are proud
of your efforts and hope you have the opportunity to enjoy
the fruits of your labor.
David Kaleta, president
Habitat for Wildlife Inc.
www.habitat4wildlife.org
a 501(c)3 not for profit conservation group recognized by
the IRS |
