Hammersley Wild Area
Encyclopedia
Hammersley Wild Area is a 30253 acres (12,243 ha) wild area in the Susquehannock State Forest
in Potter
and Clinton
counties in north-central Pennsylvania
in the United States. It is the largest area without a road in Pennsylvania and the state's second largest wild area (the first being Quehanna Wild Area). The wild area is named for Hammersley Fork, a tributary of Kettle Creek
, which flows through the area. The wild area includes 10.78 miles (17.3 km) of the Susquehannock Trail System
, a 85 miles (136.8 km) loop hiking trail almost entirely on state forest land.
The Hammersley Wild Area was last clearcut around 1900 and is a mature second growth forest today. The 1521 acres (615.5 ha) Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area
is adjacent to the southwest corner of the wild area in Clinton County, and it contains 160 acres (64.7 ha) of old growth forest, mostly Eastern Hemlock
. The Hammersley Wild Area has been called "one of the state forest system’s jewels" and "a true state treasure" by the Pennsylvania Audubon Society.
, which was formed, along with the Appalachian Mountains
in the Alleghenian orogeny
, some 300 million years ago, when Gondwana
(specifically what became Africa) and what became North America collided, forming Pangaea
. Although the region appears mountainous, these are not true mountains: instead millions of years of erosion
have made this a dissected plateau
, causing the "mountainous" terrain seen today. The hardest of the ancient rocks are on top of the ridges, while the softer rocks eroded away, forming the valleys.
Almost all of Potter County and Pennsylvania were clearcut
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1897 the Pennsylvania General Assembly
passed legislation which authorized the purchase of "unseated lands for forest reservations" and the first Pennsylvania state forest lands were acquired the following year. The first land for the Susquehannock State Forest was acquired in 1901; the cost for the major acquisitions was an average of $2.50 per acre ($6.18 per ha). The land that became Hammersley Wild Area was last clearcut around 1900. About the same time there were logging railroads throughout the area and a small town at the confluence
of the Nelson Branch with the Hammersley Fork.
The Emporium Lumber Company sold the land which became the wild area to the state in the 1930s, but retained the mineral rights. During the Great Depression
the Civilian Conservation Corps
(CCC), a work relief program established in 1933 as part of President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
's New Deal
legislation, operated ten CCC camps in the Susquehannock State Forest, of which eight were in Potter County. The young men of the CCC built roads and parks, fought forest fires, and planted trees. As of 2003, the Susquehannock State Forest covered 265000 acres (107,241.8 ha), chiefly in Potter County with small tracts in Clinton
and McKean
counties.
The Hammersley Wild Area was officially established in January 2004 when the DCNR acquired the mineral rights and rights for natural gas and oil from Pennsylvania Power and Light
and Pennsylvania General Energy, who had held them for 13600 acres (5,503.7 ha) within the wild area. Prior to this acquisition, Hammersley was only a "proposed" wild area as gas and oil drilling were still possible. Pennsylvania has 16 wild areas totaling more than 145000 acres (58,679.5 ha), all within its state forests; the individual wild areas are each generally larger than 3000 acres (1,214.1 ha). Wild areas are protected from development and open to recreation, with "hiking, hunting, fishing, primitive backpack camping, horseback riding, bicycling and wildlife watching" allowed, but "new public access roads, motorized vehicles, mineral development and new rights-of-way are prohibited".
in the Allegheny Highlands forests
ecoregion
, with a few acres of scattered old growth trees, mostly hemlocks 3 to 4 ft (0.9144 to 1.2 ) in diameter. The DCNR has called the forests in the wild area "some of the best examples of mature woodland in the Commonwealth". There are white pine and hemlock stumps—left from the logging operations—which have become rooting sites for birch
trees. In some parts of the wild area deer browsing has led to the extirpation of all small plants in the understory
except inedible ferns, though other areas have a more diverse mixture of "hardwoods, hemlocks and pines". Despite its protected status as a wild area, there are two rights of way for buried natural gas pipeline
s which pass through the Hammersley: one across the southwest corner and through the Duttlinger Natural Area, the other running parallel to McConnell Road along the northwest edge of the area. There are also reports of illegal All Terrain Vehicle use in the southern part of the wild area. The wild area is home to white tailed deer, Great blue heron
, beaver
, and rattlesnakes.
The wild area is crossed by eight named hiking trails, many of which follow old railroad grades. The most well-known and best marked and maintained trails are part of the Susquehannock Trail System (STS), which uses the Hammersley, Elkhorn, and Twin Sisters trails here. The STS trail travels 10.78 miles (17.3 km) through the wild area, and is blazed
with orange rectangles. It passes beaver meadows, stone bridge abutments from the lumber railroads, and apple trees said to have grown from apple cores discarded by lumberjacks. A popular spot on the trail is the Hammersley Pool, a waterfall and natural swimming area in the Hammersley Fork which has water "deep enough for swimming even in mid-summer". There are vistas on McConnel Road in the north and on the Twin Sisters Trail in the south, which passes through thickets of mountain laurel. Hazards on the trails include having to ford the streams in several places, encountering rattlesnakes, and becoming lost 5 miles (8 km) from any road. Other popular hikes are following the Hammersley Trail along the Hammersley Fork to its mouth on Kettle Creek
for 10 miles (16.1 km) or starting at the mouth and then hiking into the old growth forest in the Dutlinger Natural Area for 2 miles (3.2 km).
Susquehannock State Forest
Susquehannock State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #15. The main office is located in Coudersport in Potter County, Pennsylvania in the United States....
in Potter
Potter County, Pennsylvania
Potter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is in the Allegheny Plateau region. As of 2010, the population was 17,457. Its county seat is Coudersport. Potter County was named after James Potter, who was a general from Pennsylvania in the Continental Army during the...
and Clinton
Clinton County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 37,914 people, 14,773 households, and 9,927 families residing in the county. The population density was 43 people per square mile . There were 18,166 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...
counties in north-central Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the United States. It is the largest area without a road in Pennsylvania and the state's second largest wild area (the first being Quehanna Wild Area). The wild area is named for Hammersley Fork, a tributary of Kettle Creek
Kettle Creek (Pennsylvania)
Kettle Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in north central Pennsylvania in the United States.Kettle Creek joins the West Branch Susquehanna River at Westport.-See also:*List of rivers of Pennsylvania*Kettle Creek State Park...
, which flows through the area. The wild area includes 10.78 miles (17.3 km) of the Susquehannock Trail System
Susquehannock Trail System
The Susquehannock Trail System is an loop hiking trail in the Susquehannock State Forest in Potter and Clinton counties in northcentral Pennsylvania in the United States. The trail goes through three state parks and passes within of three more state parks...
, a 85 miles (136.8 km) loop hiking trail almost entirely on state forest land.
The Hammersley Wild Area was last clearcut around 1900 and is a mature second growth forest today. The 1521 acres (615.5 ha) Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area
Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area
The Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area is a protected area in Clinton County, Pennsylvania that includes a old-growth forest of Eastern Hemlock, American Beech, Black Cherry, Sugar Maple, and Northern Red Oak. There are also Eastern White Pines, but a few were selectively logged around 1900...
is adjacent to the southwest corner of the wild area in Clinton County, and it contains 160 acres (64.7 ha) of old growth forest, mostly Eastern Hemlock
Eastern Hemlock
Tsuga canadensis, also known as eastern or Canadian hemlock, and in the French-speaking regions of Canada as pruche du Canada, is a coniferous tree native to eastern North America. It ranges from northeastern Minnesota eastward through southern Quebec to Nova Scotia, and south in the Appalachian...
. The Hammersley Wild Area has been called "one of the state forest system’s jewels" and "a true state treasure" by the Pennsylvania Audubon Society.
History
The Hammersley Wild Area and Susquehannock State Forest are on the Allegheny PlateauAllegheny Plateau
The Allegheny Plateau is a large dissected plateau area in western and central New York, northern and western Pennsylvania, northern and western West Virginia, and eastern Ohio...
, which was formed, along with the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
in the Alleghenian orogeny
Alleghenian orogeny
The Alleghenian orogeny or Appalachian orogeny is one of the geological mountain-forming events that formed the Appalachian Mountains and Allegheny Mountains. The term and spelling Alleghany orogeny was originally proposed by H.P. Woodward in 1957....
, some 300 million years ago, when Gondwana
Gondwana
In paleogeography, Gondwana , originally Gondwanaland, was the southernmost of two supercontinents that later became parts of the Pangaea supercontinent. It existed from approximately 510 to 180 million years ago . Gondwana is believed to have sutured between ca. 570 and 510 Mya,...
(specifically what became Africa) and what became North America collided, forming Pangaea
Pangaea
Pangaea, Pangæa, or Pangea is hypothesized as a supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration....
. Although the region appears mountainous, these are not true mountains: instead millions of years of erosion
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
have made this a dissected plateau
Dissected plateau
A dissected plateau is a plateau area that has been severely eroded so that the relief is sharp. Such an area may be referred to as mountainous, but dissected plateaus are distinguishable from orogenic mountain belts by the lack of folding, metamorphism, extensive faulting, or magmatic activity...
, causing the "mountainous" terrain seen today. The hardest of the ancient rocks are on top of the ridges, while the softer rocks eroded away, forming the valleys.
Almost all of Potter County and Pennsylvania were clearcut
Clearcutting
Clearcutting, or clearfelling, is a controversial forestry/logging practice in which most or all trees in an area are uniformly cut down. Clearcutting, along with shelterwood and seed tree harvests, is used by foresters to create certain types of forest ecosystems and to promote select species that...
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1897 the Pennsylvania General Assembly
Pennsylvania General Assembly
The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times , the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. Since the Constitution of 1776, written by...
passed legislation which authorized the purchase of "unseated lands for forest reservations" and the first Pennsylvania state forest lands were acquired the following year. The first land for the Susquehannock State Forest was acquired in 1901; the cost for the major acquisitions was an average of $2.50 per acre ($6.18 per ha). The land that became Hammersley Wild Area was last clearcut around 1900. About the same time there were logging railroads throughout the area and a small town at the confluence
Confluence (geography)
In geography, a confluence is the meeting of two or more bodies of water. It usually refers to the point where two streams flow together, merging into a single stream...
of the Nelson Branch with the Hammersley Fork.
The Emporium Lumber Company sold the land which became the wild area to the state in the 1930s, but retained the mineral rights. During the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
the Civilian Conservation Corps
Civilian Conservation Corps
The Civilian Conservation Corps was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families, ages 18–25. A part of the New Deal of President Franklin D...
(CCC), a work relief program established in 1933 as part of President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
's New Deal
New Deal
The New Deal was a series of economic programs implemented in the United States between 1933 and 1936. They were passed by the U.S. Congress during the first term of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The programs were Roosevelt's responses to the Great Depression, and focused on what historians call...
legislation, operated ten CCC camps in the Susquehannock State Forest, of which eight were in Potter County. The young men of the CCC built roads and parks, fought forest fires, and planted trees. As of 2003, the Susquehannock State Forest covered 265000 acres (107,241.8 ha), chiefly in Potter County with small tracts in Clinton
Clinton County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 37,914 people, 14,773 households, and 9,927 families residing in the county. The population density was 43 people per square mile . There were 18,166 housing units at an average density of 20 per square mile...
and McKean
McKean County, Pennsylvania
As of the census of 2000, there were 45,936 people, 18,024 households, and 12,094 families residing in the county. The population density was 47 people per square mile . There were 21,644 housing units at an average density of 22 per square mile...
counties.
The Hammersley Wild Area was officially established in January 2004 when the DCNR acquired the mineral rights and rights for natural gas and oil from Pennsylvania Power and Light
PPL (utility)
PPL, formerly known as PP&L or Pennsylvania Power and Light, is an energy company headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. It currently controls about 19,000 megawatts of electrical generating capacity in the United States, primarily in Pennsylvania and Montana, and delivers electricity to...
and Pennsylvania General Energy, who had held them for 13600 acres (5,503.7 ha) within the wild area. Prior to this acquisition, Hammersley was only a "proposed" wild area as gas and oil drilling were still possible. Pennsylvania has 16 wild areas totaling more than 145000 acres (58,679.5 ha), all within its state forests; the individual wild areas are each generally larger than 3000 acres (1,214.1 ha). Wild areas are protected from development and open to recreation, with "hiking, hunting, fishing, primitive backpack camping, horseback riding, bicycling and wildlife watching" allowed, but "new public access roads, motorized vehicles, mineral development and new rights-of-way are prohibited".
Ecology and trails
The Hammersley Wild Area contains mature second growth forestSecondary forest
A secondary forest is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a major disturbance such as fire, insect infestation, timber harvest or windthrow, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident...
in the Allegheny Highlands forests
Allegheny Highlands forests
The Allegheny Highlands forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of North America.-Setting:The ecoregion consists of four separate blocks of mixed forest surrounded by lower lying areas of hardwood forest as follows: the Northern Allegheny Plateau in New York State and...
ecoregion
Ecoregion
An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...
, with a few acres of scattered old growth trees, mostly hemlocks 3 to 4 ft (0.9144 to 1.2 ) in diameter. The DCNR has called the forests in the wild area "some of the best examples of mature woodland in the Commonwealth". There are white pine and hemlock stumps—left from the logging operations—which have become rooting sites for birch
Birch
Birch is a tree or shrub of the genus Betula , in the family Betulaceae, closely related to the beech/oak family, Fagaceae. The Betula genus contains 30–60 known taxa...
trees. In some parts of the wild area deer browsing has led to the extirpation of all small plants in the understory
Understory
Understory is the term for the area of a forest which grows at the lowest height level below the forest canopy. Plants in the understory consist of a mixture of seedlings and saplings of canopy trees together with understory shrubs and herbs...
except inedible ferns, though other areas have a more diverse mixture of "hardwoods, hemlocks and pines". Despite its protected status as a wild area, there are two rights of way for buried natural gas pipeline
Pipeline transport
Pipeline transport is the transportation of goods through a pipe. Most commonly, liquids and gases are sent, but pneumatic tubes that transport solid capsules using compressed air are also used....
s which pass through the Hammersley: one across the southwest corner and through the Duttlinger Natural Area, the other running parallel to McConnell Road along the northwest edge of the area. There are also reports of illegal All Terrain Vehicle use in the southern part of the wild area. The wild area is home to white tailed deer, Great blue heron
Great Blue Heron
The Great Blue Heron is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America as well as the West Indies and the Galápagos Islands. It is a rare vagrant to Europe, with records from Spain, the Azores and England...
, beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
, and rattlesnakes.
The wild area is crossed by eight named hiking trails, many of which follow old railroad grades. The most well-known and best marked and maintained trails are part of the Susquehannock Trail System (STS), which uses the Hammersley, Elkhorn, and Twin Sisters trails here. The STS trail travels 10.78 miles (17.3 km) through the wild area, and is blazed
Trail blazing
Trail blazing, or trailblazing, is the practice of marking paths in outdoor recreational areas with blazes, markings that follow each other at certain — though not necessarily exactly defined — distances and mark the direction of the trail...
with orange rectangles. It passes beaver meadows, stone bridge abutments from the lumber railroads, and apple trees said to have grown from apple cores discarded by lumberjacks. A popular spot on the trail is the Hammersley Pool, a waterfall and natural swimming area in the Hammersley Fork which has water "deep enough for swimming even in mid-summer". There are vistas on McConnel Road in the north and on the Twin Sisters Trail in the south, which passes through thickets of mountain laurel. Hazards on the trails include having to ford the streams in several places, encountering rattlesnakes, and becoming lost 5 miles (8 km) from any road. Other popular hikes are following the Hammersley Trail along the Hammersley Fork to its mouth on Kettle Creek
Kettle Creek (Pennsylvania)
Kettle Creek is a tributary of the West Branch Susquehanna River in north central Pennsylvania in the United States.Kettle Creek joins the West Branch Susquehanna River at Westport.-See also:*List of rivers of Pennsylvania*Kettle Creek State Park...
for 10 miles (16.1 km) or starting at the mouth and then hiking into the old growth forest in the Dutlinger Natural Area for 2 miles (3.2 km).