Western Pennsylvania Conservancy

This vernal pool was restored in 2010. Prior to restoration, the basin held water briefly in the spring, but drained quickly and did not hold water long enough for the local frogs and salamanders to use it for breeding and development of their young. Soil core samples showed that a layer of loose clay was present under the top layer of soil. The topsoil was temporarily removed, and the loose clay soil was gathered together, then redistributed evenly throughout the pool basin, then firmly tamped down using the bucket of an excavator. The layer of packed clay soil greatly slows the movement of water out of the pool basin, and helps it hold water for longer periods of time. Logs and other large pieces of wood were placed in the pool basin to provide shade, shelter, and food for aquatic life in the pool. Check out this poster about the Surface Water Technique, which includes key best management practices for vernal pools.

Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this restored wetland matures over time, and how it is changing with our changing climate. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at the Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania  website, and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar.

Kings Gap - Forest Pool 7

This wetland was restored in August of 2016. Prior to restoration, it appeared to be a natural wetland that was partially drained by the construction of a ditch and the installation of buried drain pipes. Wood frogs would lay eggs in the pool when it held water for a few weeks in the spring, but the water would not stay long enough for the tadpoles to grow into froglets that could leave the pool before it dried. In the years since the pool was restored, we now have wood frogs and spotted salamanders successfully using the pool, which holds water until later in the summer. The tadpoles now have enough time to grow legs and lungs and leave the pool to find homes in the adjacent upland forest where they will spend most of their time as adults. 

Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this restored wetland matures over time. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania, and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Restoration Webinar.

Pinchot - Cabin 9 Long Pool

Wentz Pond was formerly a farm pond that was built before the park was created in 1961. A previous landowner apparently dug out an existing shallow seepage wetland with backhoe, and used the excavated soils used to build a steep dam around the expanded basin. After the park was established, a  large channel was dug through the dam to drain the pond.  The wetland was restored in 2016 by creating more gentle slopes and  an underground clay dam that helps the basin hold a pool of water. Two new shallow basins were created upslope of the original basin.

This wetland is now home to wood frogs, spotted salamanders, American toads, green frogs, spring peepers, and gray treefrogs, along with a diverse group of insects and other invertebrates.

Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this restored wetland matures over time. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania, and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar. 

Pinchot - Wentz Pond

These neighboring pools were restored in 2010. Prior to restoration, this was a shallow basin that held water briefly in the spring, but not long enough for the local frogs and salamanders to use it for breeding and development of their young. A soil core sample showed that there was not enough clay in the soil to hold the water that accumulated there from rain and snow melt. To create wetlands with a longer hydroperiod, two shallow basins were dug within the footprint of the larger depression. Each basin was lined with an aquatic safe synthetic liner, which was protected on both sides by durable geo-textile pads to protect the liners from damage. Read more in this poster about the Liner Technique .

Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this restored wetland matures over time, and how it is changing with our changing climate. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania , and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar.

Kings Gap - Forest Pool 1 South

This pool was not altered as part of the 2010 restoration project. This is a quick drying vernal pool, usually drying sometime in June. Some years it holds water long enough for the local frogs and salamanders to use it for breeding and development of their young, some years it does not. This is not an uncommon pattern for a vernal pool.  Some vernal pool specialists like fairy and clam shrimp do especially well in quick drying pools. We decided to leave this pool alone, as we expected some of the restored pools to hold water longer. This way we would have a variety of pool types, from quick drying to long lasting. Read more about vernal pools and the special animals that use them in this poster Wild Waters of the Forest. Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how long this natural vernal pool holds water each year, and how it is is changing with our changing climate. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania, and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar. 

Kings Gap - Forest Pool 6

This little wetland was originally created by digging a small basin and adding a plastic liner to hold rain water. In 2006/2007, the liner was no longer holding water and so the pool was reworked and a new liner installed. The liner of this pool is slated to be repaired or replaced again in the next couple of years. Photos submitted to Chronolog will document the pool before, during, and after repair. This pool is home to spotted salamanders, wood frogs, and a variety of aquatic macroinvertebrates. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania, and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar.

Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania

Pinchot - Nature Center Pool

Decades ago a vernal pool formed in this old barn foundation, and local vernal pool frogs and salamanders eventually discovered it and began using it as a breeding pool.  Prior to a wetland restoration project, there were steep four-foot high soil banks on all sides. During restoration of this pool in 2016, the bank on the west side of the pool was removed and a gentle slope was created to transition from the wetland into an adjacent small meadow.   

Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this wetland continues to change over time. The Emerald Ash Borer arrived in York County in 2015 and over the course of five years killed most of the mature ash trees in the park. There were many ash trees in the woods around this pool. Now that they are dead standing snags or fallen trees, a lot more light makes it through the forest floor, which encourages more plants and algae to grow in the pool basin. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania , and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Webinar.

Pinchot - Barn Pool

This pond is the largest natural wetland on park property at the base of the mountain. It is a natural 'sag pond' that formed where a thick layer of  sandstone sediments, eroded  off South Mountain, slumped into a hole that formed in the limestone bedrock layer underneath.  The water levels in this pond fluctuate greatly through the seasons, but it has never been known to dry up completely. A 16-foot deep sediment core was taken from this pond and each layer of sediment was carefully carbon dated and examined for pollen (Delano, Miller and Potter, 2001). The results of this study found that the pond has been here for at least 16,000 years, since the end of the last ice age. For the first 2,000 years in the life of this pond, it was surrounded by a tundra habitat dominated by dwarf trees, shrubs, mosses, and sedges. This habitat is no longer found in Pennsylvania, and is largely restricted to the regions just below the ice caps of the Arctic. Alpine tundra can encountered closer to home at high elevations on the tops of mountains in the Adirondacks. 

This pond existed through the great transition from the glaciated Pleistocene to the current geological epoch, the Holocene. This transitional period saw the retreat of the glaciers, a warmer and more variable climate, and the spread of humans around the world. Early in this transition period we lost many spectacular megafauna such as mammoths, ground sloths, giant beavers and saber-toothed cats, all of which roamed these parts of Pennsylvania thousands of years ago. Today, combustion of fossil fules like coal, oil, and gas, and the resulting release of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, is contributing to another dramatic global climate change. Your photos and water depth readings will help document the life cycle of this pond today, and how it may be changing in a changing climate. Read more about climate change at NASA's Global Climate Change website, and seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania.

Kings Gap - Pine Pond

This little wetland may have been created decades ago by a farmer digging out a small spring to create a watering hole for pastured livestock. The pool is now habitat for wood frogs and spotted salamanders. Water flows downhill from this pool to the base of the Old Toboggan Run. This pool has been receiving care from the York County Master Watershed Stewards to remove invasive plants and improve the habitat in and around the pool.

Photos submitted to Chronolog will help us document these gradual habitat improvements, and help us monitor how this little wetland responds to the changing climate. . Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania, and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Restoration Webinar.

Pinchot - Old Toboggan Run Pool

This photo station is located at  the site of a proposed future wetland restoration. Notice the shallow ditch that traverses the field, running parallel to the cabin access road. Many years ago this ditch was installed to help to drain water out of the field. In recent decades the field has been maintained as a grassy lawn with frequent mowing. Two wetlands at the edge of this field (to the left in these photos) were previously restored in August of 2016 and are doing very well. This field can be restored to a wetland and wet meadow that will provide many benefits to local wildlife and the nearby lake. The adjacent forest will also be managed to remove the dense invasive shrubs in the understory and to improve the health of the remaining trees. 

Photos submitted to Chronolog will help us document the current conditions of this field and forest, and the steps along the way as the site transitions from mowed lawn to lush wet meadow.  Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania , and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar.

Pinchot - Cabin 9 Field to Wetland Project

Of the sixteen vernal pools we monitor in the park, this is one of the larger pools. Located near the campground entrance and with Lakeside / Mason-Dixon Trail passing by, it is also one of the most accessible. This pool catches drainage flowing down from East Camping Area Road, and works as a filter to purify the runoff.  

Photos from the 1970s show this area was a mixture of thick hedgerows and old fields/  pastureland. This pool may have originally been a borrrow pit, or dug out to create a watering hole for livestock.  The habitat has changed dramatically over the past 50 years as trees have grow up around it. 

Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this wetland continues to change over time, as volunteers work to remove invasives and lightly thin the canopy around the pool to allow light in to encourage the plants that grow in the basin like swamp milkweed and water plantain. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania, and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar.

Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania

Pinchot - Gray Treefrog Pool

This vernal pool was created in a low lying area next to Farm Trail. Soil was probably removed from this area decades ago when the trail or farm road was built. Prior to restoration, wood frogs would lay eggs in the pool when it held water for a few weeks in the spring. But the water would not stay long enough for the tadpoles to develop into froglets that could leave the pool before it dried. In the years since the pool was restored, the hydroperiod (duration the wetland holds water) has increased, but this is still a relatively quick-drying pool. 

Photos submitted to Chronolog will help us document if this restored wetland is holding water long enough most years for aquatic tadpoles to grow into terrestrial froglets with legs and lungs that can leave the pool before it dries. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania , and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar.

Pinchot - Farm Pool

This vernal pool sits within view of Rock Scree Trail. It is the quickest drying of the cluster of pools on the east side of Kings Gap Road in the vicinity of the Pine Plantation. It was not restored as part of the 2010 wetland restoration project at Kings Gap. Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document the life cycle of this pool, such as how long it holds water each year, and how it may be changing with our changing climate. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania. Watch this video on Citizen Science Vernal Pool Monitoring to learn more about this project, and to see a video of the water level staff gauge being installed in this pool. 

Kings Gap - Pine Pool 3

These neighboring pools were restored in 2010. Prior to restoration, the basins held water briefly in the spring, but they drained quickly. They did not hold water long enough for the local frogs and salamanders to use it for breeding and development of their young. Soil core samples showed that there was not enough clay in the soil to hold the water that accumulated there from rain and snow melt.  However, we did encounter a high water table near the surface. Restoring  these pools was accomplished by slightly deepening the basins to reconnect with the water table. Read more in this poster about the Ground Water Technique . Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this restored wetland matures over time, and how it is changing with our changing climate. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania , and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar. 

Kings Gap - Forest Pool 2

This pool was restored in 2010. Prior to restoration, this was a shallow basin that held water briefly in the spring, but not long enough for the local frogs and salamanders to use it for breeding and development of their young. A soil core sample showed that there was not enough clay in the soil to hold the water that accumulated there from rain and snow melt. To create a wetland with a longer hydroperiod, a shallow basin was dug within the footprint of the larger depression. The basin was lined with an aquatic safe synthetic liner, which was protected on both sides by durable geo-textile pads to protect the liners from damage. Read more in this poster about the Liner Technique . Photos submitted to Chronolog help us document how this restored wetland matures over time, and how it is is changing with our changing climate. Learn more about seasonal wetlands at Vernal Pools of Pennsylvania , and learn more about wetland restoration in this Vernal Pool Wetland Restoration Webinar. 