KIMBERLY RUN PRESERVE
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
May 2005
prepared for:
Board of Directors
Somerset County Conservancy
Box 241, Somerset, PA 15501
prepared by:
Ken Hotopp
Appalachian Conservation Biology
83 Frost Ave., Frostburg, MD 21532
KIMBERLY RUN PRESERVE
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
CONTENTS
Introduction...... 3
Acknowledgements...... 4
Natural and Cultural History...... 6
Physiography, Climate and Soils...... 6
Pleistocene...... 8
10,500 BP...... 9
300BP...... 11
150 BP...... 13
Early Logging...... 14
Recent...... 16
Inventory...... 18
Kimberly Run Watershed...... 18
Land Use...... 18 Wetlands and Water 19
Preserve Habitats and Wildlife...... 20
Field...... 20
Forest...... 21
Open Wetland...... 23 Streams 26 Infrastructure 27
Roads and Buildings...... 27
Trails...... 27
Management Direction...... 28
Members survey...... 28
Teachers Survey...... 29
Management Goals & Objectives...... 32
Watershed ...... 32
Land Use/Ownership...... 32
Water Quality...... 33
Preserve Uses...... 34
Commercial...... 34
Conservation...... 34
Educational...... 35
Recreational...... 35
Safety and Security...... 35
Preserve Infrastructure...... 36
Roads and Buildings...... 36
Trails...... 37
Citations...... 39
INTRODUCTION
Kimberly Run Preserve is a 260-acre undeveloped property of the Somerset County Conservancy in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. This resource management plan is intended to serve as the primary guiding document for land, water and wildlife conservation and use at the preserve.
Kimberly Run Preserve lies just southeast of Somerset Borough on Kimberly Run, and is bounded on the west by four-lane Rt. 219, on the north by the Pennsylvania Turnpike, to the north by Pennsylvania Dept. of Transportation land, and to the east by other private lands along Menser Road. Featuring forests, fields, wetlands and streams, this landholding is intended to conserve wildlife and provide recreation and outdoor education.
The Somerset County Conservancy is a nonprofit 501c(3) land trust providing for the permanent protection of land and its resources since 1994. SCC offers stewardship, education and advice for the preservation and enhancement of natural, scenic, agricultural, historic and open space lands.
“Conserving the future of Somerset County”
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This plan represents the efforts of many contributors over several years, including the Somerset County Conservancy Board of Directors and membership, various partners, volunteers and interns, and Pennsylvania state officials. It is funded by the Pennsylvania Dept. of Conservation & Natural Resources’ Community Conservation Partnerships Program with matching funds and volunteer time from the Somerset County Conservancy and partners.
SCC Board of Directors
Officers
Jim Moses, President
Jeff Payne, Vice President
Lester Brunell, Secretary
Brooke Cook, Treasurer
Directors
1
Scott Bittner
Lester McNutt
Dave Steele
Richard Kaufman
Jeff Kimmel
Dave Mankameyer
Roger Latuch
Len Lichvar
Dan Seibert
Tom Roberts
1
Partners and Volunteers
Scott Alexander
Becky Costea (Watershed summer intern)
Malcolm Crittenden (Wells Creek Watershed Association);
Tom Dick DVM.
Rita Hawrot (Western Pennsylvania Conservancy)
David Mankameyer
Dennis McNair PhD.
Road Runners Birding Team
Partner Agencies and Organizations
Allegheny Plateau Audubon Society
Casselman River Watershed Association
Ducks Unlimited
Natural Resource Conservation Service
Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission
Pennsylvania Game Commission
Pheasants Forever
Somerset Conservation District
Somerset County Commissioners
Somerset Rural Electric Cooperative
US Fish & Wildlife Service
US Geological Survey
Wells Creek Watershed Association
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Partner Businesses
Old Tyme Builders
Reliant Energy
Somerset Trust Company
Benefactor
Elizabeth Piersol
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources
John C. Oliver, Secretary
Cynthia Dunlap
NATURAL AND CULTURAL HISTORY
Physiography, Climate and Soils
Somerset County is located upon the central Allegheny Plateau, the highland stretching from southwestern New York into West Virginia. Resistant Pottsville Sandstone characterizes the ridges of the plateau. A deep valley is carved into the plateau in the southern half of Somerset County by the Casselman River. Originating in western Maryland, the Casselman arcs north, then west into the Youghiogheny at Confluence. The village of Somerset lies on relatively high ground north of the Casselman, and is drained by the Casselman tributary Cox’s Creek. Areas to the northeast drain into Stonycreek, running northwest into the Allegheny River watershed. Kimberly Run is a tributary of Cox’s Creek coming from southeast of Somerset village.
Table 1. Climate characteristics of Somerset, PA (PA State Climatologist, 2005).
month / average daily max temp* / average daily min temp* / average precip**Jan / 37.3 / 18.8 / 3.23
Feb / 39.0 / 18.7 / 2.87
March / 46.9 / 25.2 / 3.92
April / 59.0 / 33.8 / 3.98
May / 70.0 / 43.0 / 4.18
June / 77.2 / 51.5 / 4.14
July / 80.8 / 55.5 / 3.93
Aug / 79.3 / 53.7 / 3.78
Sept / 73.4 / 46.8 / 3.43
Oct / 62.9 / 36.8 / 2.71
Nov / 49.0 / 28.5 / 3.15
Dec / 38.8 / 20.5 / 3.07
year / 59.5 / 36.1 / 43.07
* = 1926-1958; ** = 1926-1994
Weather is monitored at a National Climate Data Center station in Somerset, and climate information is compiled for varied periods. Average daily maximum temperatures are highest in July (80.8º F; 1926-1958) and lowest in January (37.3º F; Pennsylvania State Climatologist, 2005). Annual precipitation averages 43” (1926-1994), with the greatest amount falling in Spring (May average 4.18”). Snowfall averages 86.6” (1926-1994).
Soils along Kimberly Run are Philo (Ph) and Atkins (At) soils, with Purdy (Pu) occupying large areas of adjacent low-lying land (Figure 1; Yaworski, 1983). Both Atkins and Philo are typically found along Somerset County floodplains and are formed of acid shale and sandstone debris. Atkins is poorly drained soil while Philo is moderately drained. Purdy is more clayey and found on stream terraces.
Brinkerton (Br) is found at the foot of slopes with springs on the preserve, which is a typical location for this poorly-drained, acid, brown soil derived from shale and siltstone. Nolo (N) is a major soil type on lower slopes, and is a deep poorly-drained soil derived from gray sandstone. Cookport (Cp), found higher up on the south side of the preserve is a moderately drained soil also derived from gray sandstone. Berks (Bk) is found on the top of the field north of Kimberly Run and tends to be well-drained soil derived from brown shale and siltstone.
Figure 1. Soils of the Kimberly Run Preserve vicinity.
Pleistocene
Pollen records for sites dating to the time of full North American glaciation during the last Ice Age (19,000-14,000 before present) are rare. Fortunately, one such site, studied by Maxwell and Davis (1972) is relatively nearby on the Allegheny Plateau. This is at The Glades, located in the Bittinger area of Garrett County, Maryland, approximately 33 miles to the south. Because Kimberly Run is also situated on the Plateau at a similar elevation, it may share some vegetation history.
Pollen from the Glades (which Maxwell and Davis call Buckel’s Bog) and elsewhere in the Northeast indicates tundra-like vegetation at the time of the last glacial maximum (during the Pleistocene), extending 300 kilometers or more south of the southern edge of the ice sheet in central Pennsylvania. The character of such habitats throughout the area south of the ice sheet in eastern North America is under some debate. Although there were areas of tundra-like vegetation between the ice sheet and evergreen forest to the south, in places it appears that there was little gap, so the pattern may have been a mosaic of tundra and forest.
The mid-Pleistocene pollen series from The Glades is dominated by sedges (Cyperaceae), and spruce and pine pollen is also present, which may support the concept of a tundra-forest mosaic. Maxwell and Davis (1972) suppose the conifer pollen was blown in from pockets of forest at lower elevations in the region.
Vegetation of these tundra areas was probably unlike that of today’s Arctic. For one thing, because of the lower latitude, summers were warmer. Vegetation of the open habitats may have been more similar to that of a grassy steppe.
Figure 2. Pleistocene bear skull from Cumberland Cave.
In the late Pleistocene (14,000-10,500 BP), the ice sheet that had reached to mid-Pennsylvania began to retreat. At about 12,700 BP tree pollen sharply increased at The Glades, indicating a replacement of tundra vegetation with an open boreal woodland, including widely-spaced spruce and jack or red pine. At this time, pollen of oaks, ash and hornbeam appeared. This deciduous tree pollen is interpreted as having blown in from lower elevations, perhaps aided by a change in prevailing winds.
Evidence of the Pleistocene fauna of the region comes from Cumberland Cave, in northern Allegany County, Maryland (Gidley and Gazin, 1933, Holman, 1977). A former 100 foot-deep limestone sinkhole that was intercepted by a railroad cut, this cave accumulated remains of a wide variety of vertebrates. Among the bones are those of many animals still in the region today, such as slimy salamander (Plethodonglutinosus), box turtle (Terrapenecarolina), rattlesnake (Croatalushorridus), ruffed grouse (Bonasaumbellus) , short-tailed shrew (Blarinabrevicauda), big brown bat (Eptesicusfuscus), white-footed mouse (Peromyscusleucopus), and white-tailed deer (Odocoileusvirginianus). However, the mammalian fauna is interesting, among many reasons, for having several animals now extinct, such as mastodont (Mammut cf. americanus) or no longer living in eastern North America, such as tapir (Tapirus sp.) and horse (Equus sp.). This is in contrast with the mostly modern herpetofauna from the same site. The mammalian fauna of Cumberland Cave is also characteristic of colder (e.g. wolverine, Gulogidleyi) and mixed forest-grassland habitat (e.g. badger, Taxidea marylandica), as might be expected from the Pleistocene pollen evidence from the region. It may be important to note that the Pleistocene age of the fauna at Cumberland Cave is interpreted from the mammalian fossil assemblage and not from direct evidence such as radiocarbon dating.
10,500 BP
Holocene (10,500 BP to present) vegetation at The Glades moved toward a mixed conifer-hardwood forest, beginning with a sharp increase in white pine and birch that indicates a warming climate. Hemlock pollen was for the first time consistently represented. At about 5,000 BP deciduous trees became most abundant in the pollen record, dominated by oak. Beech, chestnut and hickory attain successive maxima, while hemlock pollen percentage declines and spruce and pine are present at low levels.
It is important to remember that these pollen numbers are a percentage of total pollen, not absolute pollen amounts, so they do not necessarily represent abundance of certain species. Nor do they necessarily represent relative abundance of plant species, because pollen production and fertilization strategies (for example, wind-borne vs. insect-pollinated) vary between species.
Human presence in North America may have begun as early as 40,000 BP, and humans were in eastern North America by at least 12,000 years BP. These first Paleo-Indians were nomadic big game hunters of the Clovis culture, named for their slender fluted knife and spear points first discovered at Clovis, New Mexico. The extinction of many of North America’s large mammals, such as woolly mammoth, at the time of human expansion across the continent approximately 10,000-15,000 BP was perhaps due to a combination of hunting and climate change as ice sheets retreated. Near Meyersdale is the site of the earliest known occupation in Somerset County, at about 12,000 years BP.
In the subsequent Archaic culture, from approximately 8,000 to 3,000 BP, Native American food sources broadened to include small game, fish, and gathering of wild plants. Many specialized tools and skills were developed - dogs were domesticated, boats were constructed, cloths and baskets were woven, and ceramics were made. The earliest artifacts from a second archeological site near Myersdale date to this period.
With the beginning of the Middle Archaic (8,500-5,000 BP) a regional Native American population increase is evident, with artifact sites now at major and minor floodplains, swamp margins, open valleys, major and minor ridges, and stream headwater zones (Wall, 1981). During this time, Native American projectile points changed, and this is believed to indicate a shift toward exploitation of a greater variety of habitats, at approximately the same time that deciduous forest and associated fauna were increasing. The newer, “Kirk,” points tend to be made of local rather than imported materials, and are increasingly found on upland as well as floodplain and swamp sites (Wall, 1981).
By the Late Archaic (5,000-3,000 BP), land use patterns intensified, with increased emphasis on the floodplains of these three rivers. With the beginning of the Woodland Period, around 3,000 BP, the variety and number of sites used by Native Americans drastically decreased, with activity confined to larger wetlands and floodplains. This may be the result of a shift to a more agricultural existence and de-emphasis on hunting (Wall, 1981).
The Monongahela Woodland Culture flourished in western Pennsylvania from 1,100 to 400 BP. Three Somerset County archeological sites near Myersdale represent this culture (Boyd, 2000; Stahl, 2002). Villages had several houses with attached storage pits, and an open plaza. Villages were surrounded by log palisades. Foods included domesticated squash beans, corn and sunflower, as well as acorn, black walnut, butternut and hickory hulls. Animal remains included rattlesnake, turtle, salamander, fish, beaver, deer, elk, squirrel, rabbit, geese, turkey and bear.
The most recent Monongahela occupation of Somerset County ended approximately 400 years BP. By the time of European contact in western Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania, these people had been replaced by Iroquois, Shawnee and other Native Americans. Though the underlying causes of this replacement remain uncertain, disease, declining food production related to climate, and warfare are implicated.
King Charles II of England granted William Penn a charter to establish a colony in the New World in 1681. In 1683 the first bounty was offered on wolves in the new colony. The first game law protecting deer was enacted by provincial governor Sir William Keith in 1721, allowing deer to be hunted only from July 1 to January 1.
300 BP
In 1747 a group of English Colonial investors, including Thomas Cresap and Lawrence and Augustine Washington, formed the Ohio Trading Company (Lowdermilk, 1878). The Ohio Trading Company was granted 500,000 acres between the Monongahela and Kanawha Rivers, and Christopher Gist was employed to explore the region (Lowdermilk, 1878). The Ohio Company established a fur trading post on Will’s Creek in Maryland, and conducted business with the Native Americans, but was too wary of them to establish posts further west.
Meanwhile the French began to establish military posts in the upper Ohio drainage to the north and west. In 1749 the governor of Canada sent Captain Celeron de Bienville to descend the Allegheny and Ohio Rivers, claiming for France the same lands that England claimed through John Cabot’s landing on the continent in 1497 and subsequent treaties with Iroquois Native Americans. Neither European side recognized the rights of the inhabitants, but vied for Native American friendship and assistance against their enemy.
The British sent George Washington to explore the region, encourage the friendship of the Native Americans, and to assert their claim with the French. Washington picked a site at the Forks of the Ohio, and Captain William Trent was sent to build a British fort there, at what is now Pittsburgh (Lowdermilk, 1878). But while the Fort was under construction in 1754, a large French force evicted the English and renamed the post Fort Duquesne.
This same year a British military post was established at Cumberland, to serve as the primary point from which to defend British land claims against the French. Washington, on his way west with troops to reinforce the English at the Forks of the Ohio, learned that the post had been usurped by the French. Although outnumbered, Washington pressed on and engaged a small French unit, killing its leader. While retreating, Washington’s troops were caught by French forces in western Pennsylvania at a hastily-constructed “Fort Necessity,” in nearby Fayette County and were forced to surrender. This incident is considered the beginning of the French and Indian War.
In 1755, forces under General Edward Braddock left from Fort Cumberland, building a road to haul supplies and cannon as they went. They followed a route blazed years earlier by Thomas Cresap and the Native American Nemacolin, “Nemacolin’s Trail,” which passed through southern Somerset County. This road eventually became the “National Road,” now US Rt. 40. Although Braddock met with a disastrous defeat near Fort Duquesne at the hands of French and Indian forces, the British of course eventually prevailed in their claim over the central portion of the continent. The Forbes Road, now the Lincoln Highway (US Rt. 30), was begun in 1758 during another English march that re-took Ft. Duquesne.
After Braddock’s defeat and until the fall of Ft. Duquesne in 1758 there were raids by Native Americans against European settlers across the Appalachian Plateau, including massacres and kidnappings. During this time there were no settlers in what is now Somerset County (Cassady, 1932). After hostilities subsided, the first permanent European settlers came to the central Appalachian Plateau. According to early travelers in Somerset County, John Miller’s family was present on Allegheny Mountain prior to 1762 (Cassady, 1932). Fort Stony Creek was also and established settlement in 1762.
In 1767 English surveyors Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon established Pennsylvania’s southern boundary, now called the Mason-Dixon Line. In 1768 western Pennsylvania was ceded to Thomas and Richard Penn by the Iroquois at Fort Stanwix, New York, for 10,000 English pounds.
Harmon Husband, one of the settlers who established the village of Somerset, made his first journey to the region in 1771, passing through Cumberland on his way west. During the period of the American Revolution there were scattered Native American raids again across the area, though no major hostilities between British and Colonial forces in the region.
Buffalo were extirpated from the Somerset County area sometime in the early 1800’s. The last ones killed at a lake south of Berlin
Somerset County was established in 1779, from western Bedford County. By the 1790’s there were sawmills in Somerset County. In 1795 there were 868 farms (Cassady, 1932).