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Scotia Barrens
Scotia Barrens offers a natural sanctuary State College has a precious gem in its midst called state game lands No. 176. Most folks call it the Barrens or Scotia Range. This wonderful parcel of public land holds an amazing amount of trails, paths, old roads and wildlife. From the east, the game lands are accessible from Scotia Road which intersects U.S. Route 322. State College's newest bikeway leads to the primary gateway into the game lands along Sleepy Hollow Drive after Circleville Road. Residents of Pennsylvania Furnace and Stormstown have access from the west using West Gatesburg Road. The Scotia firing range is well known and many people learn to shoot there. The grouse habitat research has been a long-term project and is world renown. Hikers and walkers enjoy the beauty and ease of grade in the Barrens. Hunters love the variety of game. The flat terrain is a refreshing change from hiking in the mountains. Cyclists and skiers enjoy the smooth and endless trails, none of which is marked or named. There is no detailed trail map of the game lands and that is one of its charms. You explore the area slowly, enjoying bits and pieces as you savor new directions, always building on the previous adventure. Trails appear identical to the new explorer, and you won't find anyone to ask directions. In spring we walk aimlessly, enjoying new leaves and budding flowers. We watch the thickets ripen and succeed, birds are born and fly away, and young rodents explore outside the nest. As the summer heat gets oppressively sticky, the forest offers a shady sanctuary. There are no ridgetops to climb and feel the breeze, yet parts of the game lands remain cool and comfortable. This is because the Barrens are a topographic low spot and these subtle basins trap the cool night air. In fall, we watch the leaves change and hunters pursue the diverse game hidden within its borders. The long list of game that thrives in this unique forest includes a protected species of flying squirrel. The abundance of rodents attracts owls and red-tailed hawks which, in turn, attract bird watchers of all ages. Winter brings a cold silence that weighs heavily in the Barrens. A fresh snowfall betrays the secrecy of a rodent's nest as delicate footprints lead to mysterious logs and ledges. We are minutes from our cars, our highways and neighborhoods, yet we have entered a magical place in a different time. This is free therapy. The paths we explore are our own. When I hear people tell me where they go in Scotia, they use the same names for completely different routes. They'll say "We took the main trail, you know, the wide one? And then at that fork, by the interesting tree, we like to bear right and it comes back around to the trees where the crows like to cause a ruckus". "Oh, yes," I respond, "I know the place." Maybe I do, maybe I don't; it doesn't matter. We both have fond memories and bright visuals of that tree, that trail, that place. Those markers have left the map long ago and found visual residence in our minds. Public lands are vulnerable places when growing communities push against their borders. Today the game lands' eastern edge is at risk. This edge acts as a dam against the seemingly insatiable westward development radiating from State College. What is disturbing now is the game lands' zoning status. In Ferguson Township, it is zoned RR (rural residential) for one-acre lots. No other piece of public land in Ferguson Township is zoned like this. NR (natural resources) is a zoning designation used in other areas of Centre County that doesn't currently exist in Ferguson Township. The Ferguson Township Planning Commission is considering a recommendation to change the current zoning. Some people want to have the land available for future housing development and some want to see it preserved. Monday night, the planning commission will meet at 8 p.m. in the municipal building to discuss this issue. While there are no current plans to develop this land, think of what could happen. People will move in to their new homes in a beautiful place with a great location, and they'll hear the old timers talk about when you could hunt a turkey on that site -- just like old timers talk about everywhere else in small town America. Is anyone listening? PS: Read more about this area in Jean Aron's book The Short Hiker - Small Green Circles.
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