Gypsy-moth damage is forcing the Pennsylvania Game Commission to clear cut 53 acres of woods on popular game lands that surround Mount Gretna.
"I anticipate there will be some people upset with this," Dave Henry, regional forester for the Game Commission, said this morning of the upcoming timber harvest on Game Lands 145, just south of the borough.
Henry said the area in which 90 percent of trees will be removed includes one of two large oak stands the Game Commission had hoped to never cut so it could serve as a permanent source of acorns for the area's wildlife.
But three years of defoliation by gypsy moths forced the agency's hand, Henry said.
In a last-ditch effort to save the trees, the agency had paid to have 174 acres of the game lands sprayed this spring. But trees in the 53-acre stand were too stressed and are either dead or dying, he said.
The area had not been sprayed the last two years.
The other large stand of oaks on the 2,816-acre game lands, just north of the Lancaster County line in Lebanon County, appears healthy, Henry said.
An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 trees will be cut, including other species of trees not affected by gypsy moths. Most trees need to be removed to set the stage for new forest regeneration, Henry said.
"It's a trade-off," Henry said, noting that the forest will lose its best oak-bearing trees, which are important food sources for animals such as deer, turkeys and squirrels while it gains new growth that provides a healthy forest habitat.
"Both are critical for wildlife," Henry said.
The timber cut will be "extremely visible," Henry noted, as it will be located just off Pinch Road and on a ridge that overlooks Mount Gretna.
The game lands have a series of trails used by the public. One, the Ridge Road Trail, bisects the area to be timbered.
Bids will be let later this summer and timbering could begin this fall, although the logger will have a year to complete the cut.
The game lands were acquired by the Game Commission in the 1930s.
Although purchased and maintained with the money hunters pay for their licenses, the forest is open to hikers, birdwatchers, mountain bikers, equestrians and others as well.
Henry said he would be glad to answer any questions from the public. He can be reached at the Game Commission's southeast regional office at (610) 926-3136.
Staff writer Ad Crable can be reached at acrable@LNPnews.com or 481-6029.
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