22 2022
community
NOVEMBER
p o t t e r m c k e a n
county
Austin • Coudersport • Crosby • Eldred • Kane • Lewis Run • Mt. Jewett Port Allegany • RIDGWAY• Roulette • Smethport • Turtlepoint
Photo by Tina Toole Participants use a grip hoist to move a giant boulder into position for the Tracy Run North Branch stream crossing. From left are Tom Moutsos (NCTA Regional Trail Coordinator), Jeff Manelick, Katie Currier (Forest Service Recreation Management Specialist), Sam Zembardo, Randy Thomas and Mike Toole.
ANF Chapter of North Country Trail Assoc. recaps year, looks forward BY MARCIE SCHELLHAMMER
Nearly 100 miles of the North Country National Scenic Trail passes through the Allegheny National Forest, and the ANF Chapter of the North Country Trail Association maintains and promotes it. This year, the ANF Chapter held monthly guided hikes, the Allegheny-100 Hiking Challenge (A-100) held in June and a completion patch offered for hiking all the NCT miles through the ANF. Member Tina Toole explained, “The monthly hikes traveled over a variety of terrains and attracted up to 20 people each month. The A-100 was
held in its usual format for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic.” She added that the hike lived up to its reputation as a “unique and successful event.” “On Friday, June 10, 148 hikers started out from the Route 346 Willow Bay trailhead on a personal challenge of hiking either 25, 50, 75 or 100 miles in 50 hours,” Toole said. “Although only 50% of the hikers met their challenge, all enjoyed the time on the trail. Participants came from 16 states or provinces, with the farthest being the state of Washington, to be part of this hiking challenge.” She explained that
maintenance is a yearround priority for the local chapter, with routine maintenance and special projects. “One project worked on throughout the year was reblazing 27.5 miles of trail,” Toole said. “Each year about one quarter of the ANF section is reblazed so that the blazing is more visible. This year the NCT was blazed from Route 321 Chappel Bay Trailhead to Henry’s Mills Trailhead.” Another project tackled included repair work on a dozen bridges and staircases, while still others included nine bog bridges and two stone crossings to get over marshy areas
or streams and one staircase to get up a steep bank. Five trail re-routes were constructed, Toole said, for a variety of reasons, “to move the trail off of an oil road, to go around a giant blowdown, to avoid a stream crossing or to cross a stream at a safer place. The final and longest reroute was to move the trail to a different spot over the two branches of Tracy Run in Tracy Ridge. This will allow safer crossings of the two branches.” She explained that on the north branch, a stone crossing has already been constructed and on the south branch of Tracy, a bridge will be built
Study: Pennsylvanians see wildlife habitat as important result of prescribed fire HARRISBURG (TNS) — Wildlife habitat management ranks high among Pennsylvania supporters of controlled fires — also known as prescribed burns — according to a new Penn State study of public perception of the landscape m a n a g e m e n t technique. In New Jersey, where the Pine Barren forests experience wildfires that can threaten areas of human populations, supporters of controlled fires rank reducing fire risk as a higher priority. Setting planned, controlled fires can do both, but the researchers wanted
to gain a deeper understanding of how to win public support for prescribed burns in the Mid-Atlantic, where the fires are increasingly used. “We are moving to a more uncertain future where fire risk is larger, and one of the tools that managers have in their toolbox is prescribed fire,” explained Erica Smithwick, distinguished professor of geography and associate director of the Institutes of Energy and the Environment at Penn State. “It’s important to work at the interface between managers and communities in order to sustainably steward our
landscapes moving forward, especially under uncertainty.” P u b l i c understanding of the use of controlled burns is growing, but still developing in Pennsylvania. While last week’s forest fire burned in Elk County — the heart of the Pennsylvania Elk Range — misinformation began circulating that linked the wildfire to a controlled burn by the Pennsylvania Game Commission. The agency quickly responded by noting that it had not done a controlled burn in the area of the forest fire. To help managers better understand c o m m u n i t y perceptions of
controlled burns, the researchers surveyed forest managers and recreationists in New Jersey, a state that has practiced prescribed burns for more than 100 years, and in Pennsylvania, which adopted the practice in 2009. While the study revealed strong community support for prescribed burning, views of specific concerns and benefits differed between managers and recreationists and between recreationists in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, the scientists reported in the Journal of Environmental Management.
next year. For the coming year, priorities continue to be maintenance and outreach. “One priority is to increase the safety of hikers by building bridges over both Tracy Run South Branch and Johnnycake Run in the Tracy Ridge area,” Toole said. “These streams often run quite high and fast and can be quite dangerous. The Forest Service has already approved these bridges, so now the challenge will be to move in all the materials by boat and get them to the sites.” The second priority, she explained, is the construction of a 1.25 reroute of the trail off of Branch Road. “This will make the ANF section totally roadless, except where the trail crosses large bodies of water on road bridges,” she said. The final priorities
are outreach based. The ANF Chapter would like to revamp the existing hike program to have more varied offerings, including some guided hikes for the disadvantaged. Chapter member events that will introduce new members to other members and the ANF are also planned. There are many ways to become involved with the ANF Chapter. Participate in hikes or other events, like the Allegheny-100 Hiking Challenge. There are also many ways to volunteer. Lend a hand at trail work days, adopt a section of trail, assist at events, serve on a committee or simply hike the trail and report problems. For more information on the chapter, visit https:// northcountrytrail.org/ trail/pennsylvania/ anf/
Federal funds awarded to Elk County for food and shelter needs
RIDGWAY — After the widespread fires in Elk County, the county has been awarded $15,083 and $46,617 in federal funds made available through the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) under the Emergency Food and Shelter National Board Program. The monies were provided to supplement emergency food and shelter programs in
the county. A local board consisting of the County Assistance Office, Salvation Army, Red Cross, County Commissioners, Food Banks, Northern Tier Community Action Corporation and the United Way will be responsible to determine how the funds awarded will be distributed among the emergency food and shelter programs run by local service agencies in the area.