A34-Limaster Fanning, Saturday, May 20, 1995
Restoring Woodland, Restocking
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning StalT
HALIFAX (Dauphin Co.)
Ten years ago, Pat and Lloyd
Kauffman left behind the
encroaching development, the
expensive land prices, and the
worries of urbanization in Lancas
ter County to literally live in the
woods.
They purchased 71 acres of
woodland in the Wieser Forest
District, surrounded by lush forest,
abundant pastureland, and amaz
ing trails home to a diverse amount
of wildlife.
Only problem was, how to help
pay for the costs of restocking a
fledgling pond, plant enough
native plants for the denizens of
the forest, and achieve the diversi
fication they so intensely desired?
A few years back, through the
suggestion of the local conserva
tion district, Pat called up the
Bureau of Forestry in the state
Department of Environmental
Resources. She was looking at the
possibility of signing up under a
federal program to help rebuild the
forestlands.
However, Pat was reluctant. If
she signed up, what were the restr
ictions? Would the “government”
tell her which plants she could
stock or make her open the land for
hunters?
Pat quickly found out that the
funding was available. Indeed,
there was even money to hire a
forestry consultant, which they did
—Rob Northrop, from North East,
Md. It wasn’t long before a Forest
Stewardship Plan was developed
to cull old trees, get rid of invasive
species of plants, and restock the
pond to attract more wildlife.
In 1990, after starting with the
plan, Lloyd, who operates his own
independent owner-sampler milk
testing business, helped plant
about eight acres of buckwheat.
While little of the soil was Class I
(mostly Class HI and IV) when the
Kauffmans purchased the farm,
the planting proved beneficial. The
soil improved. Flocks of turkey
hens moved in to brood. The fields
attracted wild turkey. Deer grazed
the land. And rabbits loved it.
For their efforts in forest ste
wardship, the Kauffmans who
For their efforts In forest stewardship, the Pat and Lloyd Kauffman —who manage
about 71 acres, Including 40 acres of forestland and the remainder in pasture —were
honored as forest stewards by the Bureau of Forestry. Photo by Andy Androwo
manage about 71 acres, including
40 acres of forestland and the
remainder in pasture were hon
ored as forest stewards by the
Bureau of Forestry.
“I’ve been really impressed
with these programs,” said Pat.
While it was difficult to pay for
many of the improvements began
at the Kauffman farm years before
they signed up, the Kauffmans did
all they could to improve the fore
stland and natural wildlife. “The
programs have allowed us to do
things we wouldn’t know how to
do. It’s given us resources as far as
the loaning of the (tree) planting
bars and a source for purchasing
the trees.
“I was really surprised at the
programs available for the landow
ners,” she said.
Under the program, for the past
three years, about SOO-6SO new
tree seedlings per year have gone
into the acreage. In many similar
plantings, few survive. But the
Kauffmans have been surprised
just how well their plantings have
done.
“We’ve found that we’ve had a
very good success rate so far,”
said Pat “The trees planted two
years ago are doing great. Trees we
planted last year are doing wonder
fully. We’ve just been fortunate
with the weather.”
Where old and fallen trees have
been removed by loggers, new see
dlings, including evergreens, make
their appearance. With the return
‘We found that this area was the way Lan
caster County was maybe 20 years ago, 9
of trees, the wildlife have returned
to nest in a great deal of their
woodland in the Armstrong
Valley.
One day- last week, Pat and
Lloyd were busy putting in about
75 new seedlings along the creek
which runs through their property.
Trout still swim in the local Arms
trong Creek. With the renewal of
the forests, new species have made
their way onto the Kauffman
woodland.
Quail have returned in numbers.
Wildlife Garner Recognition For Forest Stewards
Pat Kauffman, right, said that they couldn’t afford the price of farms in Lancaster.
And “we found that this area was the way Lancaster County was maybe 20 years ago.
In the interim, (the Halifax area) is getting more urbanized.” She stands with husband
Lloyd next to materials from an 1860 s post and beam corn barn, obtained in Lebanon
County, that will go into their new home overlooking the Susquehanna River.
So have the wild turkeys, and of
course deer.
Also, woodcocks favor the
refurbished land.
“I had never seen a woodcock
until we moved up here,” said PaL
'‘They are the strangest looking
things. You don’t see them often.’ ’
Also, grouse have thrived. Pos
sum, chipmunks, and other small
animals are in abundance.
Pheasants are hard to maintain
because of the cover, and they are
hunted extensively by the owls and
hawks that lie in wait
Lloyd said he saw a coyote one
time. When they first moved to the
land, great black bear, tracks were
found. Cubs were removed from
trees in the borough, said Pat.
Although the Kauffmans have a
pond, it is unlike the ponds she was
used to in the farm country dug
out and quickly stocked with fish,
with a few trees and fine for swim
ming in the summer or ice skating
in the winter. The Kauffman pond
measures about two acres and
ranges anywhere from five to 25
feet deep. It’s bank-full in the
winter and, in a drought, can lower
to six feet or less and measure only
a few yards across.
The water level in the pond last
week was shallow, almost sum
merlike. The area was short about
four inches of rainfall for the
season.
“It’s not a pretty pond,” said
Pat. But she said the naturallly
occuring drainage area makes it a
great place for real diversification
of wildlife. In the spring come the
wood ducks, according to Lloyd,
followed by the Little Blue and the
Great Blue Herons and King
Fishers. In the winter come the
deer and of course the racoons and
groundhogs make their presence
known. Wild geese also make up a
great deal of the wildlife that con
tinues to return to the natural pond.
At one time, the Kauffmans
tried to stock the pond with bass. It
worked until the drought of
1988. Then, the water level fell and
the Great Blue Herons came and
fished out the bass.
“We never would have a chance
to experience that kind of thing
down in Lancaster County,” said
Pat. “It’s gotten so populated
down there.”
Pat said that they couldn’t afford
the price of farms in Lancaster.
And “we found that this area was
.i\*.‘ v **** *C'
One day last week, Pat and Lloyd were busy putting In
about 75 new seedlings along the creek which runs through
their property. Trout still swim In the local Armstrong Creek.
With the renewal of the forests, new species have made
their way onto the Kauffman woodland.
the way Lancaster County was
maybe 20 years ago. In the interim,
(the Halifax area) is getting more
urbanized.”
Pat and Lloyd grew up in the
Pcquca Township area in southern
Lancaster County. Pat worked on
her father’s dairy. For a time, Pat
was working as leader of the 4-H
dairy and 4-H horse programs, in
addition to time spent as a staff
writer with Lancaster Farming.
But the urge to have access to
woodland, ponds, pastureland, and
wildlife drove them up to the
mountain areas of Dauphin
County.
‘ ‘ Here, we get a real diversifica
tion of wildlife,” she said. She said
the Forest Stewardship Plan helps
them organize and direct a plan to
not only attract wildlife, but man
age it effectively.
‘ ‘Unlike many who put 10 or 12
acres in, we put all 70 acres in,
because we’re managing it both for
the wildlife and the forest,” said
Pat. As part of the plan, less desir
able trees and invasive species
such as the sumac, a rapidly grow
ing, weedy, poisonous tree, were
removed - .
This allows more desircable
species, such as red oak or white
oak and the ash, hickories, and
poplar to grow abundantly.
“We’re ordinary people given a
chance to do something interesting
with these programs that we would
not normally have the resources to
do,” said Pat.