Sports

TOM VENESKY | OUTDOORS

By Tom Venesky tvenesky@timesleader.com
Sports Reporter
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Did you ever see a picture of a vast expanse of valleys and mountains from a western state and marvel at its beauty? At first glance, such pictures are the definition of pristine, untouched wilderness.

Oftentimes, if you look a little closer, you can see scars of the man-made variety within the picture. The scars appear as a squiggly line or two bisecting the swaths of green, forested hillsides.

Roads. An obvious indicator that the landscape you admired is not as pristine and untouched as you thought.

Closer to home, the same detriment can be seen throughout the commonwealth. Glance at any of the mountain ranges defining our area and you are likely to see one of the two interstates or the turnpike conquering what little wilderness we have left.

Even the remote forests of State Game Lands 57 -- all 44,000 acres of it -- are riddled with old logging roads.

Sure, they provide additional access for hunters and serve as great paths for bikers and hikers. Still, the roads are a reminder that someone has been there before you, and they were able to conquer this wild place with the ease of four tires and a tank full of gasoline.

There still are places in Pennsylvania and the country where the tentacles of roads haven’t overcome the wilderness. Many of them are National Forests, such as the Allegheny. According to a report released on Thursday by PennEnvironment, the benefit of pristine, intact forestland is more than an aesthetic issue. The report states that last year 4.2 million residents participated in fishing, hunting and wildlife watching, generating $4 billion for the state’s economy.

Unbroken forests also provide critical habitat for wildlife, including four endangered species that rely heavily on roadless areas.

“Pristine forests boost local economies, provide unique outdoor opportunities, preserve wildlife, and protect watersheds, but a major portion of our national forestland is defenseless against drilling, logging, and mining,” said PennEnvironment Forests Associate Zachary Pitts.

That’s why it’s important that our elected officials on the federal level support the Roadless Area Conservation Act (H.R. 2516), which would protect 25,000 acres of roadless forests in Pennsylvania and 58.5 million acres of untouched forests nationally.

That support is needed now because our roadless areas are quickly becoming mapped.

The Allegheny National Forest in the northwestern part of the state encompasses more than 513,000 acres. It’s Pennsylvania’s only National Forest and is home to old growth forests and the enormous Kinzua Dam.

The Allegheny is also home to approximately 9,000 active oil wells, according to the PennEnvironment report, more than all other national forests combined.

And with the thousands of oil and gas wells along with extraction sites for minerals comes more than 1,200 miles of roads fragmenting large areas of the forest.

When I head out to the woods for hunting or just to get away from it all, the last thing I want to see is a road. Even a seldom-used dirt road used for logging or a gas or oil well is something to avoid.

I don’t want to be reminded of civilization, and I want to feel as if I’m the first person to trek through the forest. I want to get lost.

A road through the middle of a forest is a reminder that you really aren’t “away from it all.”

It’s for that reason that I hope the Roadless Area Conservation Act doesn’t hit a roadblock as it travels through the legislature.

Tom Venesky writes about hunting, fishing and the outdoors every Sunday for The Times Leader. He can be reached at tvenesky@timesleader.com or 829-7230.