Canary in the Coal Mine - A Short History of Northern Pennsylvania Forests and Thier Deer Herd

The results that we discuss in the text of this issue are important to most northeastern states. But why focus on northwestern Pennsylvania forests, you ask? What is happening there that is important to the rest of the Northeast? In the following short history of the forests of northwestern Pennsylvania, we will discuss what very high deer populations can do to a forest ecosystem. The unique ecological and human history of the Allegheny Plateau in northwestern Pennsylvania have created a situation that could be considered an indicator of the possible future for the rest of the Northeast, if deer populations are not controlled — a kind of"canary in the coal mine." (See Jim Redding's paper, "History of Deer Population Trends and Forest Cutting on the Allegheny National Forest" for a more complete history.) This article was included in the Forest Science Review, Winter 2004.

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