Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 are

Pennsylvania State Game Lands The Pennsylvania State Game Lands (SGL) are lands managed by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) for hunting, trapping, and fishing. These lands, often not usable for farming or development, are donated to the PGC or purchased by the PGC with hun ...

Columbia County, Pennsylvania Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,727. Its county seat is Bloomsburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from part ...

, in the United States. They have an area of . A number of ridges, such as Knob Mountain, Huntington Mountain, and Lee Mountain, are within their boundaries, as are streams such as Briar Creek and Little Shickshinny Creek. The main game animals there include deer, grouse, squirrel, and turkey. Numerous bird species also inhabit these game lands.

Geography

Vista in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 have an area of , making them the fourth-largest state game lands in Columbia County. However, according to the ''Game and Fish Mag'', its "topography makes it seem like much more". The game lands are located near

Jonestown The Peoples Temple Agricultural Project, better known by its informal name "Jonestown", was a remote settlement in Guyana established by the Peoples Temple, a U.S.–based cult under the leadership of Jim Jones. Jonestown became internationall ...

and are located some distance to the north of

Pennsylvania Route 93 Pennsylvania Route 93 (PA 93) is a state route located in Carbon, Luzerne, and Columbia counties in northeastern Pennsylvania. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 209 (US 209) in Nesquehoning, about half-way from PA just north of the 1800 ...

. They are situated in the east-central part of Columbia County, in Briar Creek Township, Fishing Creek Township, and North Centre Township. They have predominantly mountainous terrain. Part of the watershed of Briar Creek is in the game lands. The game lands, along with Knob Mountain, comprise most of the

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

ed land in the drainage basin of Briar Creek. Mountains in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 include

Knob Mountain Knob Mountain is a mountain in Page County, Virginia. It is part of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Its summit lies within Shenandoah National Park at an elevation of 2,671 ft (814 m). Geology Geologically speaking, the mountain is situated ...

, Huntington Mountain, and Lee Mountain. Many of the ridges in the game lands are at elevations of at least above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardised g ...

. Huntington Creek is to the north of the game lands and the headwaters of Briar Creek and

Little Shickshinny Creek Little Shickshinny Creek is a tributary of Shickshinny Creek in Columbia County and Luzerne County, in Pennsylvania, United States. It is , nearly as long as Shickshinny Creek itself. The creek flows through Briar Creek Township, Columbia Count ...

are within their boundaries. Stream bottom land is present in the game lands. There are two

food plot A food plot is a planted area set aside to act as a supplementary food source for wildlife. The term was coined by the U.S. hunting and outdoor industries and food plots are most commonly planted for game species. Food plot crops generally cons ...

s in the game lands. The game lands have an elevation of at their official coordinates. Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55, along with

Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 260 Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appa ...

, are in the vicinity of the Bell Bend Nuclear Power Plant site. Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 are to the west of the site, within of it. The area in the vicinity of the game lands is surrounded by streams and

farmland Agricultural land is typically land ''devoted to'' agriculture, the systematic and controlled use of other forms of lifeparticularly the rearing of livestock and production of cropsto produce food for humans. It is generally synonymous with bot ...

Biology

The main

game animal Game or quarry is any wild animal hunted for animal products (primarily meat), for recreation (" sporting"), or for trophies. The species of animals hunted as game varies in different parts of the world and by different local jurisdictions, tho ...

s in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 include

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondr ...

, squirrel, and

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an Upland game bird, upland ground bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic ...

. However,

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae. They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Nor ...

s have also been hunted in the game lands. No

golden-winged warbler The golden-winged warbler (''Vermivora chrysoptera'') is a New World warbler. It breeds in southeastern and south-central Canada and in the Appalachian Mountains in northeastern to north-central United States. The majority (~70%) of the global pop ...

s or blue-winged warblers were observed in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 between 2011 and 2013. However, 14 species of warblers were there observed in May 1997. These warblers included the

magnolia warbler The magnolia warbler (''Setophaga magnolia'') is a member of the wood warbler family Parulidae. Etymology The genus name ''Setophaga'' is from Ancient Greek ''ses'', "moth", and ', "eating", and the specific ''magnolia'' refers to the type lo ...

, the yellow-rumped warbler, the

Blackburnian warbler The Blackburnian warbler (''Setophaga fusca'') is a small New World warbler. They breed in eastern North America, from southern Canada, westwards to the southern Canadian Prairies, the Great Lakes region and New England, to North Carolina. ...

, the

black-throated blue warbler The black-throated blue warbler (''Setophaga caerulescens'') is a small passerine bird of the New World warbler family. Its breeding ranges are located in the interior of deciduous and mixed coniferous forests in eastern North America. Over the ...

, the

black-throated green warbler The black-throated green warbler (''Setophaga virens'') is a small songbird of the New World warbler family. Description It has an olive-green crown, a yellow face with olive markings, a thin pointed bill, white wing bars, an olive-green back an ...

, the

hooded warbler The hooded warbler (''Setophaga citrina'') is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America and across the eastern United States and into southernmost Canada (Ontario). It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies. ...

, the

cerulean warbler The cerulean warbler (''Setophaga cerulea'') is a small songbird in the family Parulidae. It is a long-distance migrant, breeding in eastern North American hardwood forests. In the non-breeding season, it winters on the eastern slope of the And ...

, and several others.

Dark-eyed junco The dark-eyed junco (''Junco hyemalis'') is a species of junco, a group of small, grayish New World sparrows. This bird is common across much of temperate North America and in summer ranges far into the Arctic. It is a very variable species, much ...

s also inhabit the game lands.

Hickory Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexi ...

and

oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...

forests occur on the

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

s in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55. Mountain laurel and various

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

plants also inhabit the area. Some of the trees there have shelterwood cuttings and the game lands have been selectively timbered. Thick hemlock forests occur in bottom lands near Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55. The game lands are part of a forested ridgeline that runs as far as the

Pocono Mountains The Pocono Mountains, commonly referred to as the Poconos , are a geographical, geological, and cultural region in Northeastern Pennsylvania. They overlook the Delaware River and Delaware Water Gap to the east, Lake Wallenpaupack to the north, ...

. In 2001, there were plans to create

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition of t ...

openings within the boundaries of Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55. As of 2000, one Special Areas Project has been carried out by the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology in the game lands. The game lands function as a wildlife bank and thus provide "current and future environmental conditions preferred by many species of birds and plants".

Riparian buffer A riparian buffer or stream buffer is a vegetated area (a " buffer strip") near a stream, usually forested, which helps shade and partially protect the stream from the impact of adjacent land uses. It plays a key role in increasing water quality i ...

s connect Briar Creek and East Branch Briar Creek to forests in the game lands and on Lee Mountain.

Recreation

Trail in Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55

Camp Louise is located on the border of Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55. Pennsylvania State Game Lands Number 55 are mainly accessed via State Route 1025. However, they can also be accessed via

Pennsylvania Route 487 Pennsylvania Route 487 (PA 487) is a , north–south state highway running from PA 61 in Shamokin Township, Northumberland County, to PA 87 (near its intersection with US 220) in Dushore, Sullivan County. In Bloomsburg, PA 487 and US 11 ...

and State Route 1020.

References

{{Protected Areas of Pennsylvania Protected areas of Columbia County, Pennsylvania 055

Geography

Biology

Recreation

See also

References