Technical Field Workshops

Sunday, October 29th – Monday, October 30th 2-day Field Tour – overnight

T3 – Silviculture and Management of Allegheny Hardwood and Oak Forests

This two day tour will explore the silvicultural and ecological research and management of cherry-maple and oak forests in northwestern Pennsylvania. The trip will include management perspectives and issues of the Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania DCNR Bureau of Forestry, a public certified forest, and Kane Hardwoods, an industrial certified forest. In addition to visiting these magnificent forests, tour stops may include curve sawing of hardwood lumber, Joint Fire Sciences research in hazardous fuels reduction, Cerulean warbler research, and quality deer management. The tour will depart from and return to Pittsburgh with overnight lodging included.

T4 - Forest Ecology and Management of Appalachian Forests
Working Group sponsors - C2 Soils, D2 Silviculture, C5 Wildlife and Fish Ecology
Fee-$250

The tour will depart from Pittsburgh and travel to the West Virginia University Research Forest in Morgantown, WV. Field stops include an overview of Appalachian hardwood silviculture and ecology. Lunch will be served at a picturesque overlook in nearby Coopers Rock State Forest. After lunch, the tour will visit an old-growth hemlock-hardwood forest in Cathedral State Park and discuss the insect threat posed by the hemlock wooly adelgid. Dinner and evening accommodations are at Blackwater Lodge in lovely Blackwater Falls State Park. The falls are one of the most photographed sites in West Virginia. An after-dinner lecture will describe the reintroduction of American chestnut to Appalachian forests. On Monday, the first stop is the Fernow Experimental Forest in Parsons, WV. The Fernow supports various research projects that were established over 50 years ago. We will visit field studies focusing on cutting practices, prescribed burning, and soil acidification, and discuss management of the endangered Indiana bat and buffalo running clover. After lunch, the tour will travel to the MeadWestvaco Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest. This area serves as an outdoor laboratory where the interactions of modern forest management and wildlife can be examined at the ecosystem scale. The impacts of deer herbivory on tree regeneration will be a featured topic. Also discussed will be the restoration of high elevation red spruce forests, which are prime habitat for the endangered Virginia northern flying squirrel. The tour will conclude and return to Pittsburgh.

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