Observe PA’s Natural Symbols Mountain laurel’s pink, cup-shaped flowers, a white-
tailed deer’s fluffy upturned tail, a hellbender’s grin… you can see these and other Pennsylvania natural state symbols at or near Fallingwater and the Conservancy’s Bear Run Nature Reserve in Fayette County. “Bear Run Nature Reserve is 5,118 acres, but is also a part of a connected landscape of protected land totaling more than 100,000 acres, including Ohiopyle and Laurel Ridge state parks, Forbes State Forest and State Game Lands 51 and 111,” says Ephraim Zimmerman, the Conservancy’s director of science with the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program. “A diversity of habitats and ecosystems, from Youghiogheny Scour to upland oak forest to rich coves with wildflowers, and riparian habitats make this an ideal area to find all the state’s symbols.” Off trail on the reserve’s upper slopes is one of only two old growth dry oak–heath forests that our staff has documented in the state. In addition to the official state symbols, of course, Bear Run Nature Reserve features a diversity of wildlife including black bear, fisher and bobcat. More than 53 bird species, including several types of warbler, wood thrush, scarlet tanager, Acadian flycatcher and ovenbird, can be found there. David Yeany, WPC’s PNHP avian ecologist, and Nick Liadis, executive director of Bird Lab, recently discovered first proof of Swainson’s warbler breeding in Pennsylvania at the preserve. With 20 miles of hiking trails, plus meadows and coldwater streams, the preserve offers opportunities to see the state symbols depicted here. (Incidentally, Fallingwater is a Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Treasure, and in the 1950s, the Kaufmanns’ dairy herd produced milk, the state beverage.) When you tour Fallingwater and its landscape, or hike the trails at BRNR, try to spot the symbols and other wildlife. Pennsylvania’s natural symbols are tracked in iNaturalist, where a GIS map of Bear Run Nature Reserve features data from that area. Scan the QR code or visit iNaturalist.org to check out the map and report your findings in iNat!
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CONSERVE
State Tree: Eastern Hemlock The area below Fallingwater, near the iconic view, has some very old hemlock trees. To see a healthy hemlock stand on the other side of Bear Run Nature Reserve, hike the Orange, Red and Black trail loops between trail markers 6 and 7. One important reason we manage for invasive hemlock wooly adelgid is to maintain the health of the trees for other species, including Swainson’s warbler. A shy bird with a rich, musical song, it prefers the canopy, dense understory and extensive leaf litter found in areas featuring rhododendron, laurel and hemlock.
State Amphibian: Eastern Hellbender Our watershed conservation and PNHP staff, with the PA Fish and Boat Commission, monitor statewide hellbender populations. The long-lived species is an important indicator of water quality and resides downstream of Bear Run in the Youghiogheny River. Our protection of the Bear Run watershed helps sustain life in the Yough by providing clean water and habitat upstream for many of the species hellbenders eat.