PGC acquires another 6,525 acres

Game Commissioners approved three land options that will increase the State Game Lands system by more than 10 square miles. A)cquisitions amount to about 6,525 acres in northcentral Pennsylvania.

One contains 4,968 acres in Horton Township, Elk County, south of Ridgway. The new property adjoins SGL 44, which is 24,854 acres, for about one mile along the game land's eastern border. The land will improve hunter access to SGL 44.

Much of the tract had been logged or surface mined and now offers large herbaceous openings interspersed with early successional forestland.

Deer, bear, wild turkey, small game and furbearers inhabit the land. The property also is attractive to grassland nesters such as bobolinks, grasshopper sparrows and eastern meadowlarks.

Game Commissioners also approved the acquisition of 1,555.6 acres in Horton Township, near SGL 44, from New Shawmut Timber Company of Kane. About half of the parcel is forested; the remainder was surfacemined in the past 20 years and has been reclaimed with grassland, black locust and conifers.

The property contains stream-bottoms that have not been timbered. The acquisition will add important small game habitat to SGL 44.

Game Commissioners accepted the donation of 45.74 acres in Eldred Township, McKean County, from Dominion Transmission Inc. of Westfield, which obtained the land as required compensation mitigation for wetland impacts associated with constructing a pipeline.

The donation comes with covenants that the property, which adjoins State Game Lands 301, must be maintained as wildlife habitat and timber cannot be removed from it. Game Commissioners approved two oil/gas leases and one deepmining lease in Bradford, Lycoming and Washington counties.

The board approved a fiveyear oil and gas lease to EOG Resources Inc. of Canonsburg, for 671 acres of SGL 239 in Athens Township, Bradford County.