Colton Point State Park - Ecology

Ecology

Descriptions from early explorers and settlers give some idea of what the Pine Creek Gorge was like before it was clearcut. The forest was up to 85 percent hemlock and white pine; hardwoods made up the rest of the forest. The area was inhabited by a large number of animal species, many of which have vanished by the end of the 20th century. A herd of 12,000 American Bison migrated along the West Branch Susquehanna River in 1773. Pine Creek was home to large predators such as Wolves, Lynx, Wolverines, Panthers, Fishers, Bobcats and foxes; all are locally extinct except for the last three as of 2007. The area had herds of Elk and deer, and large numbers of Black Bears, River Otters, and Beavers. In 1794, two of the earliest white explorers to travel up Pine Creek found so many rattlesnakes on its banks that they had to sleep in their canoe. Further upstream, insects forced them to do the same.

The virgin forests cooled the land and streams. The creeks and runs flowed more evenly year-round, since centuries of accumulated organic matter in the forest soil caused slow percolation of rainfall into them. Pine Creek was home to large numbers of fish, including trout, but dams downstream on the Susquehanna River have eliminated the shad, salmon, and eels once found here by blocking their migrations. Habitat for land animals was destroyed by the clearcutting of forests, but there was also a great deal of hunting, with bounties paid for large predators.