Hawk Mountain

History and Origins •1929 5 dollar bounty placed on goshawks by the Pennsylvania Game Commission was made of interest to Ornithologist George Miksch Sutton who made reports which interested photographer and bird enthusiast Richard Pough who photographed and published the unfortunate scene of the hunted birds in a popular bird magazine titled Birds Lore. •1934 The attention of the hunting drove Rosalie Edge, the head on the Emergency Conservation Committee, into action. Edge along with her son and Pough leased 1400 acres in Drehersville commonly referred to by the locals as Hawk Mountain. •1938 The Emergency Conservation Committee secures the deed and establishes the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association with Rosalie as it’s first President. Hawk Mountain becomes the first refuge for birds of prey.

Flora and Fauna – 239 Plant species – 292 Species of Fungi – 17 Species of fish – 35 Reptile and Amphibian Species – 255 Birds – 37 Mammals – 476 Invertebrates 1,405 species, and counting, have been identified in the vicinity of Hawk Mountain. In 2004 Mammal Technical Committee selected Hawk mountain as one of 44 Important Mammal Areas in Pennsylvania

Why is Hawk Mountain important? •

Raptor Migration Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is one of the best places the northeastern United States to watch the annual hawk migration, one of nature's greatest wildlife spectacles. Between August 15 and December 15, an average 20,000 hawks, eagles and falcons pass the Sanctuary's North Lookout and are identified and counted. • Counts have been conducted continuously since the Sanctuary was founded in 1934, except for a three-year hiatus during World War II. The cumulative 71-year count represents the world's longest record of raptor populations, providing valuable information on changes in raptor numbers in northeastern North America.

How does it stay running • Hawk mountain keeps up and running through the power of members in federal conservation agencies and committees. • The sanctuary relies heavily on members and collects many bird enthusiasts as volunteers. They also rely on donations and charge a nominal fee for people to hike through the sanctuary and witness it’s entirety. • The sanctuary is composed of paid to enter clubs, there are about 8 different categories listed, each category is a different price and with it comes a variety of capabilities as well as benefits.

Education and Opportunities • Sanctuary offers College level courses to aspiring Ornithologists and future conservationists. • Hawk Mountain also offers internships to qualified students. There have even been international interns. • The sanctuary offers informative weekend programs to the general public, people of all ages.

Credits All of my information was taken from www.hawkmountain.org the associations website. Most of it was paraphrased and summarized by me, Steven Harrity, and I would also like to thank my other two group members Colin and Dana. Thank you for your time.