Erie Bluffs State Park
Encyclopedia
Erie Bluffs State Park is a 540 acres (219 ha) Pennsylvania state park in Girard
and Springfield Townships
, Erie County
, Pennsylvania
in the United States. The park is the largest undeveloped stretch of land overlooking Lake Erie
in Pennsylvania. Erie Bluffs State Park is just north of Pennsylvania Route 5
near Lake City
and 12 miles (19.3 km) west of Erie
. It is one of the newest Pennsylvania state parks.
ecosystem, wetland
s and several archaeological sites
.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in cooperation with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy conducted a biological survey in the summer of 2004 at Erie Bluffs State Park. Their goal was to survey the forest
s, stream
s, and beach
es of the park for every species
of wild bird
, fish
, reptile
, mammal
, amphibian
, plant, and insect
that they could find. Biologist
s from Carnegie Museum, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
, Gannon University
, the Cleveland Museum, the Pennsylvania Game Commission
, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
took part in the survey and found:
Edward G. Rendell stated, at the opening of the park,
The land on which Erie Bluffs State Park is located was acquired in 2004 by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
from Reliant Energy
. The conservancy then turned over ownership of the parklands to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to be managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
.
Girard Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Girard Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,133 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of , of which, of it is land and of it is water.-Demographics:As of the census of 2000,...
and Springfield Townships
Springfield Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania
Springfield Township is a township in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,378 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 37.8 square miles , of which, 37.7 square miles of it is land and...
, Erie County
Erie County, Pennsylvania
Erie County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 280,566. Its county seat is the City of Erie.- Geography :...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the United States. The park is the largest undeveloped stretch of land overlooking Lake Erie
Lake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
in Pennsylvania. Erie Bluffs State Park is just north of Pennsylvania Route 5
Pennsylvania Route 5
Pennsylvania Route 5 is a westward continuation of New York State Route 5 in Pennsylvania. It runs from North East, Pennsylvania at the New York-Pennsylvania border to near Erie, a total of . The highway is called the Purple Heart Highway and mostly called Lake Road...
near Lake City
Lake City, Pennsylvania
Lake City is a borough in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,811 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Erie Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Lake City is located at ....
and 12 miles (19.3 km) west of Erie
Erie, Pennsylvania
Erie is a city located in northwestern Pennsylvania in the United States. Named for the lake and the Native American tribe that resided along its southern shore, Erie is the state's fourth-largest city , with a population of 102,000...
. It is one of the newest Pennsylvania state parks.
Ecology
Most of the Lake Erie coastline in Pennsylvania is highly developed. Erie Bluffs State Park is the largest undeveloped stretch of coastline in Pennsylvania. It is therefore highly prized as an example of the wild nature that once stretched up and down the coast of Lake Erie. This 1 miles (1.6 km) stretch of coastline is at an elevation of 636 feet (193.9 m). It features bluffs approximately 90 feet (27.4 m) tall, patches of old-growth forest, rare, endangered and threatened plant species, a "world-class" steelhead fishery, a savannaSavanna
A savanna, or savannah, is a grassland ecosystem characterized by the trees being sufficiently small or widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to support an unbroken herbaceous layer consisting primarily of C4 grasses.Some...
ecosystem, wetland
Wetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
s and several archaeological sites
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
.
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in cooperation with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy conducted a biological survey in the summer of 2004 at Erie Bluffs State Park. Their goal was to survey the forest
Forest
A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...
s, stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s, and beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es of the park for every species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of wild bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
, fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...
, reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
, mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
, amphibian
Amphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
, plant, and insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
that they could find. Biologist
Biologist
A biologist is a scientist devoted to and producing results in biology through the study of life. Typically biologists study organisms and their relationship to their environment. Biologists involved in basic research attempt to discover underlying mechanisms that govern how organisms work...
s from Carnegie Museum, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, commonly known as Ship, or SU, is a public university located in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, 40 miles west-southwest of Harrisburg...
, Gannon University
Gannon University
Gannon University is a private, co-educational Catholic university offering associate's, bachelor's, and master's degrees, certificates and doctoral degrees and is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. Gannon University has an alumni base numbering around 31,500. Current enrollment is 4,238.Gannon's...
, the Cleveland Museum, the Pennsylvania Game Commission
Pennsylvania Game Commission
The Pennsylvania Game Commission is the state agency responsible for wildlife conservation and management in Pennsylvania in the United States...
, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is the state agency responsible for the regulation of all fishing and boating in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania...
, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection was established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and energy resources through enforcement of the State's environmental laws...
took part in the survey and found:
- 80 species of birds in the park included two Bald EagleBald EagleThe Bald Eagle is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle...
s, a ceruleanCerulean WarblerThe Cerulean Warbler, Dendroica cerulea, is a small songbird of the New World warbler family.-Description:Adult males have pale cerulean blue upperparts and white underparts with a black necklace across the breast; they also have black streaks on the back and flanks...
and hooded warblerHooded WarblerThe Hooded Warbler, Wilsonia citrina, is a New World warbler. It breeds in eastern North America and across the eastern USA and into southernmost Canada, . It is migratory, wintering in Central America and the West Indies...
, and an Acadian flycatcherAcadian FlycatcherThe Acadian Flycatcher is a small insect-eating bird of the tyrant flycatcher family.- Description :Adults have olive upperparts, darker on the wings and tail, with whitish underparts; they have a white eye ring, white wing bars and a wide bill. The breast is washed with olive. The upper part of...
. - a colony of more than 3,000 bank swallow found nesting in the bluffs is believed to be one of the largest colonies of bank swallows in Pennsylvania
- 19 species of mammals, including White-tailed deerWhite-tailed DeerThe white-tailed deer , also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States , Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru...
and redRed FoxThe red fox is the largest of the true foxes, as well as being the most geographically spread member of the Carnivora, being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, Central America, and the steppes of Asia...
and gray foxGray FoxThe gray fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America from southern Canada to the northern part of South America...
es. The mammalogists noted that they did not find any Norway rats or house mice. This is significant because both animals are alien to the area and would only be present due to development by man. - 4 species of bats, including the European pipistrelCommon PipistrelleThe Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus is a small pipistrelle bat whose very large range extends across most of Europe, North Africa, southwestern Asia, and possibly into Korea. It is one of the most common bat species in the British Isles....
, little brown batLittle brown batThe little brown bat is a species of the genus Myotis , one of the most common bats of North America...
, big brown batBig brown batThe Big Brown Bat is larger in size than comparative species of bats, from about 4 to 5 inches in body length, with a 11-13 inch wingspan and weighing 1/2 to 5/8 ounce. The fur is moderately long, and shiny brown...
and the red batEastern Red BatThe Eastern Red Bat is a species of bat from the family Vespertilionidae. See also the Desert red bat , a related species....
. - 302 species of vascular plants and 92 species of fungi
- Entomologists found 477 taxa of land-dwelling insects, 172 species of butterflies and mothMothA moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s and 32 taxa of spiderSpiderSpiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...
s. - 33 species of land snailSnailSnail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s, 13 species of aquatic snails and mussels including the invasive zebra musselZebra musselThe zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, is a small freshwater mussel. This species was originally native to the lakes of southeast Russia being first described in 1769 by a German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas in the Ural, Volga and Dnieper rivers. They are still found nearby, as Pontic and Caspian... - 14 different reptiles and amphibians
- 7 species of fish
History
Erie Bluffs State Park was officially established as a Pennsylvania State Park on June 4, 2004. It became Pennsylvania's 117th state park. Pennsylvania GovernorGovernor
A governor is a governing official, usually the executive of a non-sovereign level of government, ranking under the head of state...
Edward G. Rendell stated, at the opening of the park,
The land on which Erie Bluffs State Park is located was acquired in 2004 by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy , headquartered in Pittsburgh, has been around for more than 75 years and exists to protect the water, land and life of western Pennsylvania. Half of all the land that has been protected by land trusts in Pennsylvania has been conserved by the Western...
from Reliant Energy
Reliant Energy
RRI Energy, Inc. , based in Houston, Texas, United States, was an energy company that provided electricity to wholesale customers in the United States. The company was one of the largest independent power producers in the nation with more than 14,000 megawatts of power generation capacity across...
. The conservancy then turned over ownership of the parklands to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, to be managed by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources , established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 117 state parks and 20 state forests; providing information on the state's natural resources; and...
.
Nearby state parks
The following state parks are within 30 miles (48.3 km) of Erie Bluffs State Park:- Presque Isle State ParkPresque Isle State ParkPresque Isle State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on an arching sandy peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, west of the city of Erie, in Millcreek Township, Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The peninsula sweeps northeastward, surrounding Presque Isle Bay along the park's...
(Erie County) - Pymatuning State Park (Crawford CountyCrawford County, PennsylvaniaCrawford County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 88,765.Crawford County was created on March 12, 1800, from part of Allegheny County and named for Colonel William Crawford...
) - Pymatuning State ParkPymatuning State Park (Ohio)Pymatuning State Park is a 3512 acres Ohio state park near Andover, Ashtabula County, Ohio in the United States. Pymatuning State Park contains 1,407 acres of Pymatuning Lake, one-quarter of which is in Ohio and three-quarters of which is in Pennsylvania...
(OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
) - Geneva State ParkGeneva State ParkGeneva State Park is a state park located on the shore of Lake Erie in Geneva, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States. It contains of land.-Park activities:...
(Ohio)