Habitat Restoration on State Game Land 333
Many of you have noticed the newly planted fields and the restoration signs while hunting this fall at State Game Land 333 in Centre County. The Central Pennsylvania Chapter, along with the Pennsylvania Game Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service completed two upland restoration projects there, and anticipate improved habitat on the Game Land this year. In late May, the Chapter provided herbicide to the Game Commission who sprayed the plots. Soon after, the USFWS’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife crew and Central Pennsylvania chapter members mowed the standing dead vegetation including patches of autumn olive and Tartarian honeysuckle. The Pheasants Forever crew, including chapter volunteers, then planted 13 acres of native grasses and forbs, and another 8 acres of native wildflowers and grasses using the Service’s Truax seed drill. Following a dry summer, foxtail dominated both stands; however, we anticipate switchgrass, big bluestem and Indian grass next year, along with wildflowers including black-eyed Susans, coneflower, coreopsis and bee balm. The structure of these stands will provide excellent cover for pheasants, other upland birds, and mammals. In addition, the increased insect activity in these stands will provide abundant food, while vastly increasing pollinator habitat at the Game Land.
