The State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Area has been continuously studied for 56 years (1953-2008), making it an invaluable source of information for an understanding of the response of plant and animal communities to rights-of-way maintenance practices.

PUBLICATIONS, PRESENTATIONS, AND TOURS SINCE 1999

1. The project team assisted in the narrative of a biodiversity video produced by Bader Rutter and Purdue University for Dow AgroSciences on the Gamelands 33 Research and Demonstration Project on June 2-3, 1998. Forty-five years of ecological research on the ROW was featured in the video. This video is entitled “The Biodiverse World of Bramble and Byrnes” (Form #V15-000-001, Job# 520-G2-211-98), which is available from Dow Agrosciences in 1999.

2. An article entitled “Effect of herbicide maintenance of an electric transmission line right-of-way on butterfly populations” by W. C. Bramble, R. H. Yahner, and W. R. Byrnes was published in 1999 in the Journal of Arboriculture 25:302-310.

3. An article entitled “Right-of-way management: over 47 years of research you can use” appeared in The Asplundh TREE, Summer Issue 1999:5-6. This article briefly summarized the history and purpose of the State Game Lands 33 Project since its inception in 1952.

4. On June 15, 1999, project researchers (Yahner, Hutnik, and Liscinsky), the Vegetation Management and Forestry Committee of the Pennsylvania Electric Association, the Asplundh Tree Expert Company, Dow AgroSciences, and GPU Energy gave a 1-day field tour of the State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Area. Over 100 people attended the tour, which was designed to demonstrate the benefits of herbicidal maintenance on vegetation and wildlife on the ROW.

5. An invited presentation entitled “Response of butterflies, reptiles, and amphibians to ROW applications” was given by R. H. Yahner at the annual meeting of the International Society of Arboriculture in Baltimore, MD, in August 2000.

6. An invited presentation entitled “Long-term wildlife response to rights-of-way vegetation management” was given by R. H. Yahner at the annual meeting of the Northeast Rights-of-Way Symposium in Hershey, PA, in December 2000.

7. An invited presentation was given by R. Hutnik and S. Liscinsky at the annual meeting of the West Virginia Management Association in Morgantown, WV, in March 2001. An historic overview of both the State Game Lands 33 and Green Lane rights-of-way projects was presented.

8. An invited presentation entitled “State Game Lands 33 and Green Lane Projects Update” was given by R. H. Yahner at the Dow AgroSciences Right-of-Way Symposium in Hershey, PA, in December 2001.

9. An article entitled “Effect of vegetation maintenance of an electric transmission line right-of-way on reptile and amphibian populations” by R. H. Yahner, W. C. Bramble, and W. R. Byrnes was published in 2001 in the Journal of Arboriculture 27:24-29.

10. An invited presentation entitled “Right-of-way management and its effect on wildlife” was given by R. H. Yahner at the Winter Conference of the Indiana Arborist Association in Indianapolis, IN, in January 2002.

11. An article entitled “Bird populations associated with an electric transmission right-of-way” by R. H. Yahner, R. J. Hutnik, and S. A. Liscinsky was published in 2002 in the Journal of Arboriculture 28:123-130.

12. An invited presentation was given by R. H. Yahner at the annual meeting of the Northeast Rights-of-Way Symposium in Hershey, PA, in December 2002. The presentation was entitled “Update on the State Game Lands 33 and Green Lane Research and Demonstration Projects.”

13. A joint invited presentation was given by J. Orr, G. Kempter, H. Johns, R. Yahner, and R. Cornish at the 79th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Arboriculture in Montreal, Canada, in August 2003. The presentation was entitled “Discussion of 50 years of Research on PA Game Lands 33 – The Bramble and Byrnes R/W Study.”

14. The journal Vistas devoted the entire Volume 16, Issue 1, 2003, to the State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Project, with the article “50 Years of Biodiversity Research,” which featured the findings of the project.

15. The journal Arborage presented an article entitled “50 Years of Biodiversity Research” in the June 2003 issue (pages 8-11), which featured the findings of the State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Project.

16. The journal Vistas presented an article entitled “Applying the Research” in Volume 16, Issue 3, 2003, dealing with findings of the State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Project.

17. The journal Vistas presented an article entitled “Learning from Game Lands 33” in Volume 16, Issue 4, 2003, dealing with findings of the State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Project.

18. The journal The Asplundh Tree presented an article entitled “50th Anniversary of Game Lands 33 Research Project and a Tribute to the late Dr. William C. Bramble” in the Holiday 2003 issue, which dealt with findings of the State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Project.

19. An invited presentation was given by R. H. Yahner at the annual meeting of the Northeast Rights-of-Way Symposium in Hershey, PA, in December 2003. The presentation was entitled “Update on the State Game Lands 33 and Green Lane Research and Demonstration Projects.”

20. The journal Land and Water presented an article entitled “Discover the Research of Game Lands 33” in Volume January/February 2004, dealing with findings of the State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Project.

21. An invited presentation was given by R. H. Yahner at the State College Rotary Club in July 2004. The presentation was entitled “Making power lines better for wildlife: a 50-year study.”

22. A news release was produced in July 2004 by the Forest Stewardship News at Penn State, with assistance from R. H. Yahner, entitled “Electric Transmission Rights-of-Way Provide Valuable Wildlife Habitat,” which discussed the wire-border zone concept of vegetation maintenance on the State Game Lands 33 Project.

23. An invited paper was given by R. H. Yahner at the Dow AgroSciences Right-of-Way Symposium; Hershey, PA; April 2004; it was entitled “State Game Lands 33 Research and Demonstration Project: Research Update and Future Directions.”

24. An article entitled “Long-term effects of rights-of-way maintenance via the wire-border zone method on bird nesting ecology” by R. H. Yahner, B. D. Ross, R. T. Yahner, R. J. Hutnik, and S. A. Liscinsky was published in 2004 in the Journal of Arboriculture 30:288-293.

25. An article entitled “Integrated vegetation management on an electric transmission right-of-way in Pennsylvania” by R. H. Yahner and R. J. Hutnik was published in 2004 in the Journal of Arboriculture 30:295-299.

26. An article entitled “Plant species richness on an electric transmission right-of-way using integrated vegetation management” by R. H. Yahner and R. J. Hutnik was published in 2005 in the Journal of Arboriculture 31:124-130.

27. An invited presentation was given twice by R. H. Yahner at Penn State to two groups of high school students (each group consisted of about 45 students) attending the Conservation Leadership School in early and mid-July 2005. The students were from Pennsylvania and New Jersey and were considering Penn State for their undergraduate degree. The presentation was entitled “Making power lines better for wildlife: a 50-year study.”

28. An invited paper was given at the 40th Annual Shade Tree Symposium, Pennylvania-Delaware Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture by R. H. Yahner; Lancaster, PA; February 2005. It was entitled “Integrated vegetation management: long-term effects of the wire-zone border-zone method.”

29. An invited paper was given at the Ohio Tree Care Conference, Ohio Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture; Columbus, OH by R. H. Yahner; February 2005. It was entitled “51 years of integrated vegetaton management on transmission rights-of way – PA State Gamelands 33.”

30. An invited paper was given at the 8th Annual Forestry and Wildlife Conference, Woodland Owners of the Southern Alleghenies; Schellsburg, PA, by R. H. Yahner; February 2005. The paper was entitled “Rights-of way management in Pennsylvania: forestry, wildlife, public relations and inter-agency cooperation over 50 years.”

31. An invited paper was given by R. H. Yahner at the Dow AgroSciences Right-of-Way Symposium; Hershey, PA; April 2006; it was entitled “An Update on the State Game Lands 33 and Green Lane Research and Demonstration Projects.”

32. An article entitled “Pennsylvania State Game Lands 33 Research Continues to Support Use of IVM” was published in the Vistas Magazine of Dow Agrosciences, 2006, Vol. 19(1):1-2.

33. An article entitled “Wildlife habitat, herbicides, and rights-of-way maintenance – integrated vegetation management and the wire-border zone method” by R. H. Yahner was published in 2006 in the Natural Areas Journal 26:114-115.

34. An article entitled “Long-term trends in small mammals on a right-of-way in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.” by R. H. Yahner, R. T. Yahner, and R. J. Hutnik will be published in the Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science.

35. An article entitled “American woodcock populations associated with an electric transmission right-of-way” will be published in the 10th Annual Woodcock Symposium, which was held in Grayling, Michigan.

36. An article entitled “Achieving the perfect transmission right-of-way: ensure reliability while providing habitat for wildlife” by Sam Quattrocchi was published in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Electric Light & Power.

37. An invited paper tentatively was to be given by R. H. Yahner at the annual meeting of the Industrial Vegetation Management Association of Alberta entitled “2006 update on rights-of-way management in Pennsylvania;” Paper could not be presented due to weather conditions affecting airline travel; Red Deer, Alberta, Canada; March 2007.

38. An article was published in Birding in 2007, which was entitled “Searching for nests in early successional habitat,” Volume 33:56-82 (results from ROW research were incorporated, in part, into this article.

39. An article entitled “Achieving the perfect transmission right-of-way: ensure reliability while providing habitat for wildlife” by Sam Quattrocchi was published in the Jan/Feb 2007 issue of Electric Light & Power.

40. An invited paper tentatively was to be given by R. H. Yahner at the annual meeting of the Industrial Vegetation Management Association of Alberta entitled “2006 update on rights-of-way management in Pennsylvania;” Paper could not be presented due to weather conditions affecting airline travel; Red Deer, Alberta, Canada; March 2007.

41. An invited paper was given by R. H. Yahner at the 53rd annual meeting of the Mountain Lake Management Council, Incorporated, entitled “Update on PA Research and Demonstration Areas;” Roanoke, VA, October 2007.

42. An invited lecture was given by R. H. Yahner to about 35 students in the Conservation Biology Course (WFS/FOR 430) at Penn State entitled “Long-term maintenance of rights-of-way in Pennsylvania; University Park, PA; October 2007.

43. An article was submitted for possible publication in the “Journal of Arboriculture and Urban Forestry”, which is entitled “Deer use of a right-of-way in central Pennsylvania, USA.”