Today, Penny and I spent hours hiking access roads and trails through the Lackawanna State Forest. This yielded one full bag of trash and one awesome wildlife find by Penny. I would like to point out that State Forest land is different from State Gamelands and State Parks. State Forests are managed by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry. So why does this matter? Gamelands, State Parks and State Forest land all have different laws, set by different governing entities. Whenever you visit any of these areas, you should be familiar with which one you are on and what the laws are.
The first area we hiked was Pine Hill. I have only been to this site once before so there were a few places on side trails I haven't seen before. There are a lot of unique large rock formations here most with trails going up to and threw them.
Three people that all litter together or one person that really loves Starbucks and to litter?
This is a perfect example of an environmental education teaching aide that potentially does more harm than good. This platform gives a wonderful 360 view of the surroundings, the plaque short and sweetly explains that one side looks out on the Delaware Watershed and the other on the Susquehanna. The problem I have is that it is an attraction. More people visit this State Forest just because it is there and many are not coming to learn about or respect these lands. Most do just come for the view, others come to throw things off the top of the platform and many leave things that don't belong behind. Yes, people do come to this platform to throw things off. There was an abundance of pumpkin parts in the brush when I was pulling cans and bottles out of it. I just wish more people had an appreciation for natural surroundings, the entire world would be better if they did.
The views are spectacular. The amount of trash I pulled out of the brush is just disheartening.
The items in the bag were from the short hike up to the top. The items out of the bag were pulled out of the brush surrounding the platform.
I dropped off what I had collected on the hill at my car and started a new bag. Down the main road I went and it was pretty uneventful. A can here a bottle there, not all that much. In some sections I could hear Spring Peepers getting in their last calls before the winter, not much else wildlife wise was stirring.
When I got to the first intersection I took Sassafrass Rd. I think made the turn just because I liked the name. This is a side road and there was even less trash.
Not far down Sassafrass was a bridge with a small stream flowing under it. Like I have said in previous posts, when it comes to amphibians, if you are in the right place you can see Red-Spotted Newts, like this one. After the newt the hike down the road went back to being uneventful, until...
Penny went from walking calmly on the leash to stopped, standing strait up and she was looking at a specific point in the woods. I tried pulling her along, but she was focused. I couldn't see anything and I didn't want to go running through the brush, but she seemed sure there was something there. I said "Go get it Penny" and we were off. She pulled me in a strait line and I stopped her just short of what she was after. I should have known it was a porcupine. Penny loves tracking porcupines.
This is probably the porcupines den and it does look to have a good protective fit at the entrance. I took the close-up of the back end in case you have never seen how quills are positioned close up. These days I think most people know porcupines do not shoot out quills. The quills are ripped out after they are imbedded in a potential predator. I have had many encounters with porcupines. Most run away, some climb trees and others walk away at a normal pace. This one just kept its position and wiggled a little bit.
Most likely if you live in PA you have seen a deer fence like this one. I just wanted to point out that when they are on State Forest lands they may look inaccessible, but they are not intended to keep you out. The small red section in this photo is a gate and they swing up. There are some cases where the gates are locked, but generally it is for good reason, such as freshly planted seeds or trees.
I did not find too much on the walk down the roads, but it did fill up the bag already in my car all the way so I at least collected a full bag today.
You too can help with taking out the trash! If you get out hiking take a grocery bag with you, give it a second use and fill it with trash while you are out! Every bit helps. You can also help contributing to this project at: gofundme.com/takingoutthetrash
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