32 • APRIL 2021
THE HIDEABOUT NEWSPAPER
COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Wildlife and Forestry Committee Zoom Meeting Minutes - March 11, 2021 Present: Ryan Hill, Cathy Long, Laura Rusnak, Fred Sakacs, John Goldman, Paul Spiese Absent: N/A Excused: N/A
release at two focal points in the community where higher than normal gypsy moth eggs were observed in Fall 2020. Those locations will both occur in the north section of the community along Chestnut Hill and Northgate..
Guests: N/A Start Time: 11:02AM
Hemlock Trees at Roamingwood Park:
Pledge of Allegiance
Committee discussed the 22 heavily declining hemlocks along lakeview drive east at Roamingwood park that are in need of removal. Facilities has confirmed they can remove and chip up all of the trees, as well as remove the root systems which will significantly reduce costs and free up more funding for higher quality native plants to replace the hemlocks with. Tree Savers was trying to be obtained to provide an educational session on HWA and why the tree’s need removed but they might be unavailable to do so. Announcement will go out regarding the necessity to remove those trees.
Motion to Approve February 11th Minutes: Made by Fred Sakacs, Seconded by John Goldman End Time: 12:10PM Motion to Adjourn: Made by Cathy Long, Seconded by Fred Sakacs ******************************** Next Giveaway Event: Committee discussed that 1,000 native seed packets will be given away to the membership on April 23rd and 24th, 1PM-6PM. 500 packets will be the reserved quantity for both days to ensure equal access. Once the 500 packets are gone that day, the giveaway event will conclude for that date. Covid compliance measures will be put into place and the event will occur outdoors near the ski hill, likely in the parking lot area to keep traffic moving. Bundles of 3 packets will be given out at a time. Members will stay in their car, pull up to the giveaway location, information obtained, packets given, and they will drive off. Ryan will begin advertising and explaining logistics to the membership. Community/Feral Cats: Community highlighted the C Alley Cats of Lake Wallenpaupack community update that occurred via Zoom on February 20th at 2pm. 16 attendees joined in. A total of 44 signed Consent to Trap forms are currently on file. TNR efforts are on going throughout 2021. Deer Management: Committee discussed that a courtesy email announcement went out to the membership on Thrs Feb 18th regarding BOD approval of a Spring 2021 deer removal service. Several members contacted management with inquiries and questions related to deer management in the community, to which they were responded to. Deer removal operations will continue forward for Spring 2021 as was recommended by USDA APHIS Wildlife Services. Committee discussed that our website includes additional information on our deer management plan, non-lethal options for deer management, educational PDFs related to deer management, and additional historical data on management efforts. Gypsy Moths: BioBase Pest Solutions, LLC will apply the Entomophaga maimaiga fungal
Spotted Lanternfly PA Department of Agriculture website offers information on the various ongoing or completed research projects tied to SLF. Committee discussed a National Geographic March 3 2021 publication regarding Verticillium nonalfalf, a fungus native to PA, Virginia, and Ohio that can be applied to Tree of Heaven. SLF’s preferred host species, via hack and squirt to kill it fairly rapidly. Wayne County, along with 7 other counties, were announced as being under SLF quarantine as of March 2021. Penn State Extension has an upcoming webinar on March 17th 9-11:30AM to discuss SLF updates and impacted locations. Total quarantined counties in PA are now 34 and involves restricted movement of materials by transportation and contractors in and out of certain areas. Management will work with its permitting department to include information on this update and how contractors should ensure compliance and minimize spreading SLF. Geese Management: Goose egg addling will occur via Palmyra Wildlife and their USFWS permit for those activities, largely around Brooks and Deerfield Lakes, as has occurred over the past several years.
program would be far more costly than that of lethal control methods, and herd reductions would still be necessary to reduce damage as fertility control does not directly reduce deer numbers. Sterilized deer would still cause damage to the forest understory and deer to vehicle collisions, significantly limiting any sort of progress within a community’s deer management plan. The PA Game Commission offers a rigorous permit process in place for fertility control of white-tailed deer. However, the PA Game Commission considers all methods of fertility control (contraception and surgical sterilization) as experimental and as a research project. Results should not be expected in the short term, and it could take up to 10 years to see any real benefit. Clear goals, objectives, measures, and anticipated outcomes would need to be outlined in the proposal for fertility control to be considered. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is unaware of any fertility control that has been shown to have acceptable results (to a community) over the long-term in an open population setting (deer move, plus the infertile deer can still cause property damage or be hit by cars, and often no population impact is observed even in closed systems for a decade). Nuisance Animals: Management indicated that a muskrat was observed below Deerfield Dam. Palmyra Wildlife has been trying to trap and remove it. Wood Duck Boxes: Management indicated that wood duck nesting boxes are all set to go. Wood ducks start breeding around end of March/beginning of April. Eagle Cam/Bald Eagle Management: Management discussed a rare occurring form of freshwater cyanobacteria that can turn toxic under the right conditions and lead to death in Bald Eagles if ingested called Aetokthonos hydrillicola. Management will continue research on this but control options are likely limited. It thrives on the underside of aquatic plants like Hydrilla and appears to be most common in the southeastern states as opposed to up north in PA.
agreed that was a good idea. Laura is going to assist Ryan in the various nature trail purchases (educational items, trail markers, etc..). Native Vegetation Meadow/Deer Exclusion Zone: Area will remain as is till the weather breaks. Blueberry bushes will be flagged out, and the posts/netting need resecured as they’ve moved around a little bit from the winter weather. The various wooden posts will also be reinforced. New Business/Comments/Questions: Laura Rusnak provided a few updates on the National Wildlife Federation, Community Wildlife Habitat enrollment process. There are some upcoming virtual meetings and she will work on submitting some of the upcoming events and promotional items we are working on for additional points (ie, native seed giveaway event, any plantings we do, the composting initiative, etc..) Committee discussed that the heavy-duty recycling bins are still for sale, $15.00. Management will revisit additional ways to re-advertise their sale. Cathy and Ryan discussed the composter initiative. Both units will go behind Clubhouse and the Hideout Harvesters. Signage will be made and virtual educational session will hopefully occur on composting techniques and how to’s. Management indicated that Penn State Master Gardener, Mary Jo Gibson will present via Zoom on April 22nd 6PM on the Brood X/Periodic Cicada hatch that will occur this spring between May and June. Ryan indicated that Cathy Long will also be presenting on behalf of Penn State Master Gardeners on March 24th 6PM for Gardening with Straw Bales. Next Wildlife & Forestry Committee meeting will occur on Thursday April 8th, 11AM via Zoom. ■
Nature Trail: Birth Control/Deer: No updates. Committee has always kept this as a point of discussion as a potential non-lethal way of addressing deer. Fertility control tests and studies have yielded limited effectiveness. This approach has reduced applicability, especially for large populations of freerange deer. Implementation of such a
Committee reviewed a draft of our proposed new Nature Trail Sign that Steve’s Sign Shop provided. Committee recommended a few minor edits to the map. Finished product will be 2’x3’ at the trail head. Boot brushes were recommended by Cathy to be installed at the base of the display stand for the sign. Committee
April 30, 2021