Andy Close
BRADFORD, Pa. – The USDA Forest Service announced that Bradford District Ranger Rich Hatfield signed the decision for the Fourmile Project, which involves four Warren County municipalities.
The decision authorizes several management actions in the Fourmile Project Area – a 45,647-acre area located in the Bradford Ranger District in Mead, Sheffield, and Glade Townships and Clarendon Borough, Warren County, and Hamilton Township, McKean County. These actions are intended to bring the area closer to the desired future condition of the Allegheny National Forest and include the following:
- road improvements including culvert replacement and 45 miles of road maintenance
- timber harvest and reforestation activities on 2,647 acres
- prescribed fire treatment on 382 acres of oak-dominated stands
- non-native invasive plant treatments on up to 2,000 acres
- a wide variety of activities to restore, maintain and enhance wildlife and aquatic habitat
“This project decision will help address a number of resource issues, particularly forest health in the Fourmile Project Area.,” Hatfield said. “I greatly appreciate the work of our staff in developing this project and the support of our local communities as we moved to sign the project decision. One of the objectives of the Allegheny National Forest Plan is to have balanced tree age classes across the landscape.”
“The Fourmile Project Area consists of more than 50 percent of stands in the Mature (81-110 years) structure class with about 6 percent in Early and Young (0-20 year) structure class. This project will assist in our objective of rebalancing tree age classes in the project area.”
