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Additional information on this topic provided below. |
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Providing Habitat for Pymatuning
By Brian Pilarcik, Watershed Specialist, Crawford County
 ucked
into the northwest corner of Pennsylvania, Pymatuning Reservoir
is one of the jewels of the state. Pymatuning is derived from
the Iroquois language meaning “crooked mouthed man’s
dwelling place.” Pymatuning has the distinction of being
the largest man-made Reservoir in Pennsylvania, totaling about
17,000 acres of water and over 70 miles of shoreline.
Help for the crooked mouthed man’s dwelling place
 ymatuning,
like many other man made reservoirs has lost much of its original
fish habitat. Many of the snags and stumps that were once common
in Pymatuning have decayed or were buried by silt since the
lakes construction in 1934.
“Build it and they will come”
he
Pymatuning Lake Association’s main objectives are to enhance
the lake’s fisheries, water quality, and to promote tourism.
Their theory is simple according to Dewey Forsythe,
President of the Lake Association, “Keep the lake in good
shape and the people will come.” The Lake Association
is aiming at attracting more than just people to their projects.
For the past 15 years the group has been raising money to build
fish habitat structures called porcupine cribs to place in the
lake. The structures are 1x1 inch boards 48 inches long nailed
together to form a pyramid structure.
A crib for every fish
he
Pymatuning Lake Association builds about 50 structures at their
yearly habitat improvement project. On June 25th 2003 the group
of 29 volunteers gathered for their annual ritual. “They
have gotten easier to build since the first years we did this,”
remarked Mike Humanic, secretary of the Lake Association. “When
we first started we built everything out of oak and drove in
each nail by hand” Now with the help of the Pa
Fish and Boat Commission the group builds the structures out
of hemlock and uses power nailers to make quick work of the
project. What used to take 2-3 days now takes 2-3 hours.
Unparalleled inter-state cooperation
ymatuning
Lake is split in half by the Pennsylvania / Ohio border. Management
of the lake has been a cooperative effort by the two states.
The habitat improvement project is probably the best example
of cooperation on the lake. “The Pymatuning Lake
Association worked hard to bring Ohio into the habitat project”
said Dave Houser of the PA Fish and Boat Commission. “This
project is special, there are a lot of organizations working
together to make this thing work. The lake association does
a fantastic job, they are a great group to work with.”
When asked how they decide where to put the structure Houser
responded “We no longer recognize a political division
in the lake, we put the structure where it is needed most.”
here
are many separate organizations working on the project; The
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Pymatuning
State Park, Pa Fish and Boat Commission, Ohio Department of
Natural Resources, Ohio Division of Wildlife, Pymatuning Lake
Association, as well as others. Funding for the project is shared
by the group. The lake association provides wood for the structures,
Ohio provides cinder blocks for weights, Pymatuning State Park
provided nearly 40 ton of rock for rubble piles, and PA Fish
and boat provided tools, equipment, boats, and training for
the project.
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For more information check out the following websites:
Pymatuning
Lake Association
Crawford
County Conservation District
Pennsylvania
Fish and Boat Commission
Pennsylvania
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Ohio Department
of Natural Resources
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