Dead Man's Hollow restoration project begins!
The Allegheny Bird Conservation Alliance (ABCA) is a newly formed group made up of local and regional conservation organizations. ABCA exists to encourage and enable collaborative efforts to effectively conserve birds in Western Pennsylvania. By bringing together leaders in conservation, we can work together to focus and maximize efforts to have the greatest benefit to birds in our region.
Currently, ABCA members include the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Allegheny Land Trust, the National Aviary, the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, the Animal Rescue League Shelter and Wildlife Center, and the American Bird Conservancy. The ABCA was formed as a result of a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) grant received by the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in 2015, which also resulted in the city of Pittsburgh being designated as an Urban Bird Treaty City by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This is especially meaningful as 2016 is the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty, the agreement between Canada and the United States that protects birds that cross our shared borders.
Through the NFWF grant, and as a celebration of the Migratory Bird Treaty centennial, we have begun a forest habitat restoration project for the benefit of breeding and migratory birds at Dead Man's Hollow Conservation Area, an Allegheny Land Trust property located along the Youghiogheny River in southeastern Allegheny County.
Dead Man's Hollow Conservation Area. David Yeany - WPC
This coming Saturday, November 19, 2016, we will begin this project with the removal of several invasive understory species in key spots at Dead Man's Hollow. This will be followed in the spring of 2017 with the planting of native shrubs and trees that will provide natural forest structure and support rich caterpillar food sources for birds.
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy ecologists conducted bird and vegetation surveys throughout Dead Man's Hollow as a component of the 2014 Management Plan commissioned by ALT, and have identified several areas where forest restoration will benefit sensitive forest interior bird species, such as Wood Thrush, Kentucky Warbler, and Hooded Warbler. By removing invasive species and replacing them with beneficial species we will improve habitat quality for birds of conservation, and will provide better stopover foraging habitat for migratory species.
Kentucky Warbler. Frode Jacobsen - WPC
We are only able to do this work with your help! Allegheny Land Trust relies on volunteers to help with invasive removal, and this project is no different! Come give us a hand as we clear the area and ready it for tree planting in the spring! To get involved, go to this link and sign up to volunteer to help.
Details:
Allegheny Bird Conservation Alliance
Invasive Species Removal at Dead Man's Hollow
Saturday, November 19, 2016 from 8AM to Noon
Sign-up here: