Autumn in the Alleghenies

Autumn in the Alleghenies Tour Description

Autumn in the Alleghenies Tour Locations

Autumn in the Alleghenies Tour Itinerary

Autumn in the Alleghenies Map

Description: Hearts Content consists of 120 acres and has 300 year old white pine, hemlock and beech old growth trees and is one of the largest and oldest in the eastern U.S. A one-mile interpretive trail, with displays on old growth, loops through the old growth stand back to the picnic area. This quiet and undisturbed ecosystem makes it an ideal place to relax and observe wildlife. The area was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1974.

Environmental Issue: Whitetail deer, Pennsylvania's state animal, are a beautiful asset to the ecosystem, but are also destructive because the deer population is far greater than the environment can support. Whitetail deer feed on understory vegetation of seedling-sapling forests, removing the buds, stems, and leaves of flowers, shrubs, and young trees. Deer selectively browse on certain species of plants, eradicating them from the forest understory. Forests must contain small seedlings and saplings to allow for regeneration after logging or the death of mature trees. The lack of seeding and sapling-size trees is pronounced in many northwest Pennsylvania forests. The understory is habitat for many small mammals and birds. Deer have altered the structure of the forests, and the makeup of the entire forest ecosystem. Farmers are also concerned about deer overpopulation because deer feed on crops when forests food sources become depleted.

Hearts Content is losing its American Beech due to the exotic insect pest, beech scale, introduced into North America about 1890 when ornamental beech trees traveled from Europe to Nova Scotia. The insect infects the bark of the trees, allowing a fatal fungus to carry out the killing. There is no cost effective way to protect entire forests from the disease, however resistance strains of beech trees have been found.

Kinzua Dam and Allegheny Reservoir

Description: Totally surrounded by forest, Kinzua Dam and Allegheny Reservoir are at the heart of one of the largest and most popular outdoor recreation complexes in the northeastern United States. The Kinzua Dam is an important flood control dam that has created a vast waterway known as the Allegheny Reservoir. Completed in 1965 by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the 25-Mile elongated lake fills nearly 100 miles of forested shoreline. During the autumn, the Kinzua countryside produces colorful displays of fall foliage with miles of hiking trails and country roads from which to enjoy the brilliant fall scenery. You will have the opportunity to tour the structure and walk out onto a portion of the dam to take photographs and view the sights.

Environmental Issue: When dams are built, entire valleys and scenic areas are often flooded, disrupting natural seasonal changes in the river, thus destroying valuable ecosystems. By changing flood patterns, dams can also hinder flooding that is needed to help clean out the silt in rivers, causing them to clog. The silt that usually flows down to the shores and into estuaries is block by the dam. Studies have also shown that the plant decay caused downstream of major dams produces as many greenhouse gasses as more conventional methods of producing electricity. Additionally, dams can be quite expensive to build and run the risk of becoming useless due to drought or climate change. Just the same, dams are manmade and not necessarily impervious to the force that may come from a massive flash flood.

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• • Directions to each site
• • Cost Estimates
• • Travel times

• • Location of each site
• • Major roads
• • Topographic relief
• • Streams and lakes