Vernal Pool Management Plans for Private Landowners Pennsylvania Workshop Free Assistance

March 1, 2010 - PRLog -- Vernal pools are unique wetlands that are extremely important to the wildlife that depend upon them – and individual landowners can play a critical role in their protection.  Also known as seasonal pools, vernal pools are depressions in the forest that, during wet periods, fill with water from precipitation, runoff or snowmelt, and/or ground water, and then dry during the summer months.  Vernal pools are often the only wet areas found in otherwise dry upland forest habitats.  The seasonal nature of these pools is important because it excludes fish that would otherwise prey upon the eggs and young of salamanders and frogs.  In the mid-Atlantic states over a quarter of all state-listed threatened and endangered salamanders and frogs are dependent on vernal pools (Colburn 2004).

Vernal pools support a wide variety of wildlife.  Game animals such as deer, turkey, and bear visit pools to find food and water.  Bats and a variety of waterfowl and songbirds including wood ducks, thrushes, and warblers feed on the rich insect “buffet” emerging from vernal pools.  However, vernal pools are most critically important as breeding and feeding habitat for certain frogs, toads, salamanders, turtles, insects, snails, fingernail clams, and crustaceans.  Many of these species have special adaptations to live in vernal pools and do poorly in permanent waters.  

Because these small, sensitive wetland habitats can easily be disturbed or destroyed by human activities, the Vernal Pool project of the Landowner Incentive Program (LIP) provides free management recommendations that encourage best management conservation practices for seasonal wetlands.  This service is available to private landowners in Pennsylvania who have vernal pools on their properties.

Landowners who enroll will be asked to list and prioritize the land use goals for their properties.  A biologist knowledgeable about vernal pools will visit each property to assess the natural resources present in and around the vernal pools. The biologist will then write a management plan that recommends specific management practices the landowner can use to reach sustainable land use goals while protecting the property’s vernal pools and the surrounding upland habitats.  

There are no fees or commitments associated with these recommendations and the advice is non-binding.  If you would like a vernal pool management plan developed for your property, please contact us.

Literature cited: Coburn, E. A. 2004. Vernal Pools, Natural History and Conservation. The McDonald & Woodward Publishing Company, VA.

Contact Information:
Betsy Leppo, Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program
208 Airport Drive, Middletown, PA 17057
Phone: (717) 948-3839       
Email: bleppo@paconserve.org

This project was funded, in part, by grants received by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy:
1) The Community Conservation Partnerships Program, Environmental Stewardship Fund, administered by Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Recreation & Conservation;
2) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Landowner Incentive Program, administered by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

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The Council is committed to the preservation and protection of natural resources within a framework of economic growth. The Council is directed by a group of dedicated volunteers. Council members represent numerous interests and disciplines, including agriculture, forestry, environment, education, wildlife management, mine reclamation, recreation and economic development. The RC&D Council is supported by conservation districts as well as several federal and state cooperating agencies, nonprofit groups, and interested individuals. All who support the Council's purpose and goals are invited to participate.