Saturday was really a great day in Pennsylvania.

It was great because of all the volunteers that showed up for a work day on the new addition to SGL # 44 in Elk County. It was a tremendous success due to the volunteers that turned out to donate their hard work.

We had over fifty workers from all across the state show up to cut saplings, top pine trees or drag tops into large brush piles. Believe me when I tell you they were hard workers that got more accomplished then we had expected. It was hard to believe the turn out we had and the amount of work that was accomplished.

I am also pleased to say that several of the workers came from other parts of the state with a couple of them driving most of the way across the state just to do a day of hard work, contributing to the future for wildlife and all for a couple of hotdogs for lunch.

The work day was co-sponsored between the Pa. Game Commission, Pheasants Forever and Fox Township Sportsmen Club with Pheasants Forever providing and preparing lunch, drinks and other refreshments.

This game lands is mostly reclaimed open pit surface mined areas that were reclaimed to grasses as well as planted with pines and black locust. They are being managed primarily for small game species with a special considerations toward pheasants and rabbits. In fact both rabbits and pheasant were seen on the site during the work day. The morning started off correctly with a pheasant rooster crowing a short distance from the dedication sign and meeting point in the morning. I heard roosters crowing at two other locations throughout the day and would likely have heard more had it not been for all the chainsaw noise.

I will include a series of pictures to help tell the rest of the story.

This first picture shows some of the people gathered while awaiting a work assignment. Many of the workers aren’t in the picture since some were already working and others hadn’t arrived yet.

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Volunteers cutting pole timber to create a massive slashing for the benefit of the small game. Several of these pole timber stands were cut into huge slashed brush piles.

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A crew providing the finishing touches to one of the areas about to receive high lime content paper sludge making the soil more suited to row crop plantings. The local Pheasants Forever, Chapter 630, is funding about $10,000 in this project to get about ten acres prepared and planted to row crops this spring. This is just one of these plots.

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Other crews worked on cutting the tops off of over grown pines. The tops were then used to make large brush piles while it is hoped the bottoms left would bush out and provide close ground cover.

Pictured are Land Manager John Dzemyan, Food and Cover worker Rodger Beck and habitat work volunteer and Biologist Eric Miller.

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Over a dozen skilled and equipped saw operators kept others busy making brush piles.

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Once the tops were cut off the pines some of the younger hunters dragged the tops into massive brush piles. Hopefully this fall they will get an opportunity to harvest some of the rabbits that benefit from their labors of today.

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Three generations of this family of hunters turned out to make up a hard working team building brush piles.

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Newly created brush piles and topped pines that should provide better rabbit and pheasant cover for the future.

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A long range view of the grass lands of this new addition to the game lands. The small game habitat potential is fabulous. You can also see another of those pole stands that is being cut into slashed area that will provide both better small game and deer habitat for the future.

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On behalf of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pheasants Forever Chapter 630 and Fox Township Sportsmen I would like to thank everyone who madethis project sucha huge success for future wildlife and hunters. It was a great day in Elk County and these volunteers are what made it such a great day.

This is an example of what hunters can accomplish when they are willing to work together with converation organizations instead of spending their time fighting and dismantling the integrityof both wildlife management and the future of hunting.

R.S. Bodenhorn