January seemed a very housebound month until I looked back at what occurred. While we stayed glued to our TV on the 6th and the 20th, life went on during the rest of the month. During The PFA Annual Symposium in October, Dr. Richard Alley spoke of the need to quickly reduce our reliance on unsustainable fossil fuels so the remaining oil can be saved for essential uses that cannot be replaced by renewable sources. He spoke of the cycle of fuels that civilization has gone through and the increasing cost and expanding civil unrest occurring at the end of each fuel cycle. Unsustainable whale oil was replaced by fossil oil and we are now near the end of the fossil fuel energy stage. The next apparent stage is renewable energy from wind, solar, tides, etc. After the week of PFA Annual Symposium presentations, there was a post event survey sent to attendees. At the end of the survey, in the words of Arlo Guthrie in Alice’s Restaurant “There on the other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated” was the question what will you do or change in your life based on what you learned during the Symposium?

I answered that we would install a solar system on our house ASAP. We had been pondering it, looked at various information, talked to people, learning what we could. Yet we had not taken the leap. Answering that survey question tipped me into action mode. We now have 21 solar panels on the roof that should supply 80% of our annual electrical usage. The system was installed the only week they could have had a clear roof during the month. We have to wait for the Electric Company to approve the connection and switch out our electric meter to a reversing meter. It can be 1-3 months before the switch happens. We are excited to move forward and watch the meter spin backwards.

The birds are doing well in the forest and at the feeders. A pair of wrens spent quite a lot of time going over every inch of the large bucket lift the solar installers parked in our driveway. These birds build multiple nests in very interesting locations before they pick one to use. They were excited about the lift even though it was too early to begin nesting. It is always good to look over options. We feel good about the food and shelter we are providing. It will continue to get better as we work on our goals as defined in our brand new Forest Management Plan. That document came to us recently and is still in the review process. My initial take is that we are worse off than I thought in the invasive plant arena. It is discouraging and a challenge.

For the first time in years I feel we are in a great position to take this on as a team of landowners. We had signed up with Woodland Stewardship Network for a plan to be written under the auspices of Alliance for the Bay with funding from NRCS. Their goal is to develop individualized plans for multiple owners pooling adjacent land so that the overall practices would coordinate between smaller private landowners on a larger scale. The three properties in our family which were managed under a single plan for the last 28 years will now be under three separate plans that will speak to our cooperative management aims to maintain a healthy sustainable forest. Part of the process was to invite neighboring landowners to join with us to increase the scale of landscape covered. In that, we were abject failures.

Our failures included those with a distrust of anyone telling them what to do, the fear of losing the right to do as they wished with their land, a distrust of any funding from the government, a couple loggers who know better than academically trained foresters how to tend their woods and those who just were not interested or feared the unknown. This was a good exercise in what the Center for Private Forests runs into as they try to reach out to the over 750,000 private forest landowners in the state. We have a mountain to climb in order to get more forest landowners interested in working their forests for the good of us all. What our failure to attract neighboring landowners to the planning means for us is that the battle with invasives will not end soon. They will keep invading from neighboring properties even if we manage to overcome those that are already here. With State Game Lands on three sides, I have asked to see the PGC plan for their land. It is under development and I am encouraged that the PGC has hired more Forest Techs and is looking at scientifically advised forest management. I have come to believe that the need for more aggressive deer management based on biologist’s advice has been a deterrent to the PGC working to certify their forest land as sustainably managed. Many deer hunters want to see untold numbers of deer but the herd would have to be greatly reduced to meet sustainability goals. Therein is the conundrum the PGC faces. I don’t have the answer, though it seems simple – just do what is right for the forest and wildlife. Unfortunately, it is never that easy. I hope to coordinate with those PGC Forest techs as we move forward in managing our bordering properties. We will do our best with the tools we have.

Early in the month the Township plow driver called me and asked if I could come out and euthanize a deer that was in the road between us and my brother-in-law’s. The deer had a severely mangled shoulder and was in bad shape. I did the job and then called the PGC to alert them. They said a Game Warden would respond and dispose of the deer. After 24 hours, we decided to haul it as far into the woods as we could get in the snow and leave it with a trail camera to see who visited. The Game Warden came the next day and approved of our action. We had pictures of several coyotes early on, but nothing actually worked the carcass. On a later trip a friend took a hatchet and chopped several slices through the hide. After several weeks I went up to change out the camera card and found that the chopping did the trick. The deer had been extensively gnawed on. The pictures showed that crows were first, a gray fox was prevalent in half the pictures and must den nearby. We had raccoons, a red tailed hawk and best of all and what we hoped to see, one picture we believe is a fisher. Of interest were several deer that came by and hung around including a small buck that had shed its antlers, a doe and a very small fawn.

We finished out the month with the start of another big snow storm and more to come. Despite having to clear the driveway more than I like, the snow does benefit the forest. The insulating layer of snow can keep the ground from freezing as deep as it would without the cover and it buffers the freeze thaw cycle. Deeper freezing and frequent freeze-thaw can abrade and kill tree roots and damage those that survive. With a sufficient blanket of snow the ground will rarely freeze more than two inches. Without it, the freeze can go a foot or more. That is about all the praise I can give snow at this point, except for the beauty it brings to the dull winter forest. I’ll try to enjoy it.

There seems to be an endless stream of meetings on the various activities of the PFA. I’m now very comfortable with the online meeting platforms and though it is not the same as in person interaction, I have a lot less driving and use a lot less of that fossil fuel. Early in January, PFA was asked to provide input on the definition of a non-industrial private forest landowner for USDA guidance to the NRCS in distribution of conservation funding. A meeting was held, consensus reached and input submitted.

The Communication & Education Committee met and worked out themes for the next several issues of Pennsylvania Forests magazine along with much about magazine logistics and processes. The PFA website is in need of major renovation and that has now moved to the forefront. The Woodland Stewardship Innovation Team is a diverse group of organizations working together to form a one stop shop for persons enquiring about managing their forest. The goal is to be able to direct the person to the resource best suited to meet their need and to ensure sustainable forestry remains the common thread between the organizations. Rachel Reyna is leading the effort and the prospects are exciting.

The PFA Outreach Committee met and discussed the Log a Load for Kids fundraising activities and the calendar that Matt Sampson shepherded through this past year. Six forest related organizations signed on for 2 pages each. The calendars were distributed to each of the 6 organizations for them to distribute. A copy went to each legislator in Harrisburg, PFA distributed copies to Life Members, Board members, Symposium participants and PA Woodland Owner Groups. Some were retained for sale and are still be available from the PFA office at $5 each (includes shipping within PA).

I met with Matt Gabler, the new Executive Director of the PA Forest Products Association joined by Bob Long of the PFPA Board, Past PFA President Richard Lewis and PFA VP Randy White. We went over the past cooperative relationship that PFA and PFPA have enjoyed and which we hoped would continue. We are excited with the opportunities discussed and look forward to Matt’s leadership. I submitted comment to the PGC with a thank you for listening to suggestions from the Deer Management Task Group last year and enacting some of the suggestions. I reiterated the proposed suggestions that were not acted on. THE PGC is considering one of them and will act on it at their next quarterly meeting. This would be a statewide, 14 day concurrent antlered and antlerless firearms season. Gary Alt’s deer management agenda comes full circle.

The month ended with a meeting of the Annual Symposium Committee. Save the date of October 9, 2021 for what we hope will be an in person event. That event will signal the end of my term as President of the PFA and these long missives. However after watching Linda Finley continue for many years after her term as President, contributing corporate memory and unending time to the Association, I realize that the work to sustain Penn’s Woods never ends. She set the bar very high. One can never thank Linda enough.

Finally, please consider supporting PFA by buying a Conservation Fundraiser ticket! You have an amazing chance to win $10,000 and also support sustainable forestry education.

Stay safe,

Mark Ott