The American Larch of Tamarack Swamp

Tamarack Swamp is named for the presence of tamarack (Larix laricina), the only native deciduous (annually shedding) conifer tree in Pennsylvania. Tamarack swamp survived as a relict of a colder climate after the last ice age, while other similar areas disappeared. When Pennsylvania's last glacial period ended, boreal habitats and their characteristic species retreated northward, while this unique wetland remained intact and today serves as one of the few examples of a black spruce, balsam fir and tamarack bog in north central Pennsylvania. The swamp forms the headwaters of Drury Run, an Exceptional Value, High Gradient Clearwater Stream.

Draw a dot on what appears to be the center of Pennsylvania and you would come very close to marking Tamarack SwampThis Clinton County natural area is a celebration of unusual finds: insect-eating plants, uncommon dragonflies, and more typically northern black spruce and balsam fir woodlands.Birds like Virginia rail, swamp sparrow and northern saw-whet owl, also called Tamarack home. In the mid-1980s, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (WPC) designed conservation objectives for the swamp and its watershed.

Today, Tamarack Swamp is continuing its recovery from earlier logging, yet it has suffered some damage from other activities, largely natural gas development. Nonetheless, its inherent ecological qualities and values remain. That's why early in the 1990s, WPC conveyed 9,425 acres to Pennsylvania's Bureau of Forestry to protect part of Sproul State Forest and the wetland. However, the whole wetland was not included in the earlier purchase. In 1998, WPC specifically purchased another 351 acres identified in the conservation plan for the swamp, and in 2002, we acquired a 134-acre tract from the 25 heirs of landowner Patrick Foley, to add more protection.

Today's photo was taken in Tamarack Swamp and features a group of American Larch rising against the foggy background.

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