introduction - Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program

eeding season, and they will be sensitive to loud noises or physical intrusions in the vicinity of therookery, up to a distance of ~300 m (Quinn and Milner 1999).Supporting Natural Landscape—there are several potential sources of water quality pollution withinthe watershed. SR 255 is very close to the wetland areas, I-80 crosses over the watershed, and thereare several dirt roads as well; see Anderson Creek Wetlands BDA, pg. 100, for discussion of roadrelatedpollution. Industrial activities within the watershed are also a potential source of pollutants.RecommendationsCore Habitat Areas—In the wetland areas, further disturbances of greater intensity than unmotorizedrecreational traffic should be avoided because of the sensitivity of these habitats. Human visitors tothe South Wetland core area—the area of the heron rookery— should keep a distance of at least 300m during the months of April-June. Other disturbances resulting in loud noises— such as blasting,vehicle traffic, or shooting— should also be avoided during these months. See the Fulton RailroadTunnel BDA recommendations regarding the Northern myotis (pg. 114).Supporting Natural Landscape—Within the watershed and along the roads that border the wetlands,chloride-based salts should not be used. Calcium magnesium acetate is an effective alternative deicerthat does not have the detrimental environmental impacts of the chloride-based de-icers. SeeAnderson Creek Wetlands BDA, pg. 100, for further recommendations to minimize road-relatedpollution. Foraging areas for the herons, especially wetlands, within a minimum radius of 4 km (2.5miles) the colony should be protected from development and should have a surrounding disturbancefree buffer zone of at least 100 m (328 ft) (Quinn and Milner 1999). Discharges associated withindustrial activities should be carefully monitored to assure that they do not contain harmfulcompounds at unsafe levels.Wolf Run Wetland BDADescriptionThis BDA is drawn around an extensive acidic headwaters wetland with a diverse flora.Core Habitat Area—The wetland is situated in the center of a large forested area in State GameLands #77, in a broad depression where several drainages converge to form a tributary to Wolf Creek.Most of the wetland is a mosaic of patches dominated by different herbaceous and shrub species; thespecies composition of the shrub and herb areas does not fit any of the community types described inthe Pennsylvania Terrestrial and Palustrine Community Classification (Fike 1999), and thus cannot beeasily compared to other wetlands to determine its uniqueness in the state. However, relative to otherwetlands in the high plateau physiographic region of Clearfield County, the plant community isdiverse, including several species not documented from any other site. In the north-central portion ofthe wetland, there is a hemlock palustrine forest community, a type considered of special concern inPennsylvania. This site is also the only relatively undisturbed headwaters wetland of natural origindocumented from the portion of Clearfield County that falls in the Allegheny River watershed.In the open portion of the wetland, herbaceous species include: swamp dewberry (Rubus hispidus),several sedge species (Carex intumescens, Carex scoparia, Carex gynandra), round-leaved sundew(Drosera rotundifolia), nodding ladies’-tresses (Spiranthes cernua), needle and thread grass(Brachyelytrum erectum), woolgrass (Scirpus cyperinus), tawny cottongrass (Eriophorumvirginicum), marsh fern (Thelypteris palustris), cattail (Typha latifolia), rice cutgrass (Leersiaoryzoides), wrinkle-leaved goldenrod (Solidago rugosa), a bur-reed (Sparganium sp.), and heartleavedtearthumb (Polygonum sagittatum). Shrubs species include lowbush blueberry (Vacciniumangustifolium), black chokecherry (Aronia sp.), willow (Salix sp.), and winterberry (Ilex verticillata).135