History dispels rumors about HFW lease

Published: August 28, 2010

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To the editor: From reading the posts on the Internet and in The News-Item's "Sound Off," it seems there continue to be some misconceptions about Habitat for Wildlife (HFW).

The "Alaska site" located near Excelsior in Coal Township is open to the public for non-motorized recreation. HFW will only work on property open to public recreation. The Alaska site is not, nor has it ever been, posted. HFW doesn't have a membership fee; members may buy a key to the gate on coal company property and drive up to, but not on, county land. The only time members, including myself, drive there is during work projects.

Let me give you a brief history.

HFW began, unofficially, in 1999. That year I got a call at my taxidermy business from DEP-Mine Reclamation, offering me 45,000 tree seedlings they had left over. I took 4,500. I then called some of my customers to help plant. Thirty-five people showed up and all seedlings were planted on county land near Burnside.

The following year, the county land manager took me to what we now call the Alaska site, a newly reclaimed mine site. He told me we should do future plantings there. HFW soon received more seedlings and planted them. In the spring of 2002, HFW took part in the" Great PA Cleanup" and removed many tons of trash from the access road and the new reclamation site, which was totally clean just two years before. At this point, there was no plan to gate the roads.

Then, just two weeks later, five truckloads of new trash were dumped there. There was another problem going on, too. Off-road vehicles and ATVs were driving through and over newly planted fields and trees. After consulting with county officials and adjacent land owners, it was decided that the road should be gated and allow public access by foot only.

The county also recommended HFW lease the property so we would have authority to prosecute illegal use, and so HFW wouldn't have to go back to the county and ask permission every time we wanted to plant or make other habitat improvements. It was at this time HFW was officially incorporated and a lease agreement was reached.

One provision of the lease is that the land was to be kept open to the public for use of non-motorized recreation. The only reason for the gates is to stop illegal dumping and the destruction of wildlife habitat.

HFW volunteers have planted 43,000 trees and 70 acres of food plots. We have done this as a public service for all to enjoy. The trees are starting to produce fruit; the food plots attract and feed deer, rabbits, birds and many, many turkeys. Every year, we stock quail for public use for dog training and hunting; this year we are stocking 250. We do this and don't charge anyone a fee to enter, use and enjoy.

In addition, HFW volunteers have cleaned up hundreds of tons of trash and thousands of tires from other county and privately owned area lands, including land being looked at for the proposed County OHV Park.

Up to and including the present time, HFW has experienced vandalism to gates and cables as well as signs that are being torn down. We continue to find damage to fields and trees as well as excessive damage to the access roads and berms that create erosion problems. It is highly likely that most of this damage is being caused by the same few individuals whose agenda is inconsistent with those of HFW. The Alaska site wildlife area is simply too small of an area to accommodate the full-size OHVs, ATVs and dirt bikes that don't seem to be able to have enough self-control to stay out. HFW could actually accomplish more on this site if we didn't have to be constantly doing damage control due to the above-mentioned destructive individuals!

The Alaska site is a community project as evidenced by the various individuals and groups that have participated in no small way to its success as a viable wildlife habitat area. Whether you have helped weed the flower garden, cut trees for regeneration, planted trees, hauled in tons of mulch or picked rocks from the fields, we at HFW are proud of your efforts and hope you have the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

David Kaleta

President

Habitat for Wildlife Inc.

www.habitat4wildlife.org

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