By: Mollie J. Byrne, Wildlife Disease Biology Technician, Pennsylvania Game Commission
Fifteen years ago, a fungal disease swept through Pennsylvania, devastating the state's hibernating bat population. We recently had a chance to sit down with Mollie Byrne, a Wildlife Disease Biology Technician with the Pennsylvania Game Commission who travels across the Commonwealth inspecting...
A walk in the woods here in southeastern Pennsylvania and northern Delaware should be through an understory that in springtime is lush and green with shrubs and bursting with colorful wildflowers. In the fall, the woods should be fragrant with a thick carpet of decaying leaves....
By: Jan Bowers, P.G., Director of Facilities, Chester County
As we prepare for the winter months ahead, learn about some of the challenges associated with keeping icy roads safe and waterways clean with this special guest article by Jan Bowers, P.G., Chester County's new Director of Facilities, and former Executive Director of Chester County Water Resources Authority (CCWRA). Throughout the years, monitoring has shown increased chloride levels over time due to a "runoff cocktail" of road and pavement deicers, wastewater treatments, fertilizers and animal manure. Read about how these increased chloride levels impact our waterways, as well as actions you can take to reduce your salt footprint at home.
In the summer of 2015, pitch pines in Nottingham County Park and nearby sites started showing signs of stress. The crowns of the trees had started yellowing. Later, pea-sized globs of white resin were noticed on the bark of a few trees. At the time the Southern Pine Bark beetle was not yet considered a threat. They had been known to affect a damaged tree from time to time, but had never mounted a large infestation in Pennsylvania. By the fall of 2017 nearly every single pitch pine in the area was dead or dying. The infestation stretched from nearby state forest lands in the south to privately held tracts to the north.
In these wet summer months, it is not unusual to notice a thick foam accumulating on the surface of your stream. Although it can look unnatural, even alarming, suds on your stream is not all harmful, depending on the type. The tricky part is identifying which foam you have and knowing what to do...