A celebration took place for a local park that was inducted into the national Old-Growth Forest Network.
There are parks throughout Pennsylvania that have been inducted into the forest network but Erie Bluffs State Park is the only one in Erie County.
The Old-Growth Forest Network is an organization that connects people with nature by creating a national network of protected, mature and publicly accessible native forests.
“It is the largest undeveloped tract on Pennsylvania waters here on the southern shore of Lake Erie, so you can see what a natural beach looks like,” said Matt Greene, state park manager, Erie Bluffs State Park.
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Brian Kane, the mid-Atlantic regional manager of the network, said this is the 33rd forest in the state of Pennsylvania to be inducted but the only one in Erie County.
“They’re very rare, less than a half of a percent are left of original uncut forests in the east coast states,” Kane said. “As they mature, these highly immature forests, such as Erie Bluffs, are going to grow into an old-growth forest because they’re preserved in perpetuity.”