Pennsylvania Game News - September 2024 - 50

HUNTING, TRAPPING & WILDLIFE
State Game Lands 251 is popular with small- and biggame
hunters for its wild turkeys, white-tailed deer, black
bears, gray and fox squirrels, red and gray foxes, coyotes,
raccoons, muskrats, minks and groundhogs. Its open areas
and grassland fi elds host ring-necked pheasants stocked
there in hunting season. A low but persistent number of
ruff ed grouse still exist on the game lands, making it an
important travel corridor for ruff ed grouse populations on
neighboring ridges. There are modest numbers of American
woodcock, too.
Part of an Important Mammal Area, this game lands likely
supports several species of forest bats. It's also adjacent to an Important Bird Area and
holds numerous common resident songbird species, as well as 11 bird species of greatest
conservation need. Visible to one degree or another are screech owls, pileated woodpeckers,
brown thrashers, prairie warblers, yellow-breasted chats and golden-winged warblers.
MANAGEMENT PRIORITIES
Dominated by deciduous forests - it's 87% wooded - this game
To further explore
state game lands
visit the Mapping
Center at
www.pgc.pa.gov
lands is managed for trees in a variety of age classes and species.
Increasing the amount of early successional habitat benefi ts young
forest wildlife species such as ruff ed grouse, golden-winged warblers,
eastern cottontails and wood and box turtles.
The regional habitat team is converting herbaceous openings into
grasslands to benefi t game and grassland birds, clearing invasive
autumn olive, using herbicide treatments and prescribed fi re to control
other invasives, and planting desired grasses and forbs.
Native grasslands and prairies are prioritized by grassland songbirds
such as grasshopper sparrow, northern harrier, eastern meadowlark
and bobolink.
Wet stream bottoms and low-lying, reverting areas are being
improved for American woodcock by suppressing multifl ora rose, honeysuckle
and other non-native shrubs. Those improvements convert
undesirable understory vegetation to quality wildlife food and cover.
Together, such diverse habitats benefi t game and non-game wildlife.
HISTORY & RECREATION
This game lands came to be in a fl urry, with nine diff erent
land acquisitions in 1965. One of those parcels, the 720 acres
known as the Goshorn tract, includes a cemetery dating to
the late 1700s, when pioneers began to settle Shade Valley.
Other lands were added over time, with the largest single
piece being 1,156 acres added in 1990. The smallest was a
half-acre purchased in 2000.
Outside of hunting and trapping, hiking and birdwatching
draw users, given the large number of old logging trails. A small pond located near a
parking area along Resort Road is a popular destination for panfi sh anglers, while several
streams either hold trout or are tributaries to stocked waters.
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Pennsylvania Game News - September 2024

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