I have recently become aware that Carnegie Museum trustees are currently considering allowing gas wells in the Powdermill Nature Preserve.
(article: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/westmoreland/s_696394.html) For those of you who are unfamiliar with PNR, here is a link: http://www.carnegiemnh.org/powdermill/ This reserve in Pennsylvania has been the focus of many different kinds of field/wildlife ecology research. There has been extensive marking of wildlife on the grounds. Birds have been marked since 1961, and they have in excess of 100,000 marked at last report. I cannot over-emphasize the travesty that this decision would bring. It would be good for people to voice their disenchantment with this possible decision. Notice, they HAVE NOT MADE THIS DECISION YET, BUT THEY ARE CONSIDERING IT SERIOUSLY. I strongly encourage people to forward letters and notes voicing your disenchantment with the proposed policy change. As the reserve does not currently have a director, you should forward letters or emails to: David M. Hillenbrand, President and CEO, Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh 4400 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15213 [email protected] Below is exerpted from Meshaka, WE, J.N. Huff, and R.C. Leberman. 2008. Amphibians and Reptiles of Powdermill Nature Reserve in Western Pennsylvania. Journal of Kansas Herpetology 25:12-18 (available at: http://www.cnah.org/pdf_files/942.pdf). Powdermill Nature reserve (PNR) is an 890.3 ha field station located in the the Laurel Ridge of the Allegheny Mountains in w...@estmoreland County of western Pennsylvania. PNR was founded in 1956 by Dr. M. Graham Netting, herpetologist and Director of the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh. The initial gift of 469.4 ha (1160 a) that year brought Netting's dream of a proteccted long-term research field station into reality. The reserve now encompasses 890.3 ha of mixed forests, fields, ponds, and streams located in the Ligonier Valley southeast of Pittsburgh. Netting's goal in establishing the Reserve was to provide Museum scientists and researchers from other institutions a permanent area for long-term studies of ecosystems and the flora and fauna comprising them. In addition to being a wild area for natural history research the reserve was to provide a venue for natural history eduction. In 1961, PNR initiated what is now one of the longest coninuous runnning bird banding programs in the country. Herpetologically, a demographic study of the Wood Turtle and Eastern Box Turtle has been in progress since 1960. The single greatest change to the landscape of PNR since its founding has been a gradual succession from farmland to mixed deciduous forest. -- Malcolm L. McCallum Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology "Peer pressure is designed to contain anyone with a sense of drive" - Allan Nation 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
