Pennsylvania Wildlife Corridor Foundation
PawCorridor.org is Excel Events' initiative to preserve land, restore native habitat, and create wildlife corridors to sustain wildlife populations in Pennsylvania.
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What is Pennsylvania Wildlife Corridor Foundation?
What is Pennsylvania Wildlife Corridor Foundation?
Pennsylvania wildlife corridor foundation preserves land in and around priority zones which can still support endangered species or the property could connect divided populations of Pennsylvania's wildlife.
History
History
Pennsylvania wildlife corridor foundation (PAWcorridor.org) was established in 2026. Excel Events actively steward 5 sites on public land where we remove invasive plants, plant native foliage, native meadow grasses, native wildflower, and native trees with the goal of restoring native forests. Our logical next step was to help protect vulnerable wildlife in other areas by pursuing grant and private funding to purchase land adjacent to endangered species populations and restore the native habitat or by creating wildlife corridors in a low cost way by funneling wildlife under roads where existing overpasses cross over the waterway. Using fencing and presenting native shrubs and trees as food to entice them on both sides of the underpass.
PawCorridor.org
PawCorridor.org
Pawcorridor.org 's website is still under construction.
Native Habitat Restoration
Native Habitat Restoration
We have learned to have the native wildlife help preserve and restore itself. We install cages around native shrubs so the wildlife doesn't instantly browse the young shrub before they can produce berries. Stewarding the native berries for birds allows them to help restore the environment spreading the native instead of the massive presence of invasive plants such as mile a minute or porcelain berry vines with their berries.
Wildlife Corridors
Wildlife Corridors
Wildlife corridors are connectors of 2 previously separated habitat areas which have been separated by roads, homes, or businesses. This helps support diverse genes so that inbreeding doesn't occur or isolated animals can find a mate.
Edge Effect
Roads cut through habitat dividing populations while also limiting the wildlife the ecosystem can support. Larger animals need larger swaths of wilderness to sustain their way of life. The new edges of this divided ecosystem are now populated by more small animals which live around the edges of forests. Wildlife corridors can help reconnect these divided habitats by creating welcome safe passage reconnecting the animal population and a more diverse habitat.
Wildlife Crossings
Wildlife Crossings
Each individual Wildlife crossing can be very different looking based on the site. Learn more about how Pennsylvania DOT defines the different types of crossings and more about how how to get grants to fund these projects.
Land Acquisition and Preservation
Land Acquisition and Preservation
Why is preserving habitat important?
Wildlife cannot advocate for itself. A native ecosystem has species soil that supports specific plants, that support specific insects and animals that have evolved over thousands of years. The only preservation laws are based around endangered species. Our Endangered Species Act is the law that we reference as a tool to preserve endangered species. Many times residential or business complex developers overlook an endangered species which lives at a site that they want to develop which could eradicate a species. Developers look at this law as a cumbersome nuisance which prevents them from making money.
How to report the location of an endangered species?
Reporting the location of an endangered species can prompt the protection of its habitat from development. State laws maybe more strict than federal so report the endangered species to State wildlife agencies first, which can trigger legal protections.
State
Contact your state’s Natural Heritage Program or Department of Fish and Wildlife. Take pictures, get GPS location (Turn on cellphone location then take the picture), identify the species.
Federal
You can also report endangered species
Online to Federal (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) agency
Call FWS tip hotline at (1-844-397-8477)
IPAC (Information for Planning and Consultation) is a project planning tool that streamlines the USFWS environmental review process.
You do not have to feel bad about protecting the environment or our wildlife if you prevent a landowner from clearcut logging or a developer for prevention business complexes or residential development. Nonprofit, County, State, and Federal funds exist to provide grant money to preserve habitat through wildlife corridors, expansion of parks, open space, forest canopy preservation for carbon sequestration, etc...
Preventing Suburban sprawl
Preventing Suburban sprawl
There are many ways to protect native habitat. Chester County Pennsylvania purchased private agricultural land throughout the county to prevent further suburban sprawl where developers purchase all of the land of surrounding neighborhoods until there is no longer any open space or local farms.
How did Chester County preserved all of their open space?
A County referendum where 82% of the citizens voted to create a department of open space which pursued grants split 4 ways, 25% each. First, a onetime county tax assessment for a year to pay for 25%, then a federal grant for 25%, then existing county funding 25%, and finally asked the selling party to sell their property for a 25% discount.
Earth's mammals by total biomass chart
Earth's mammals by total biomass chart
98% of all living land biomass is humans and domesticated animals leaving less than 2 percent of wildlife. This is concerning and we look to change that by helping preserve and restore habitat so our wildlife can thrive.
Chart from this cited NIH article:
Pennsylvania Management Priority Areas (MAP)
Pennsylvania Management Priority Areas (MAP)
According to Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program, the management priority areas represent sites where the “recommended primary conservation focus is to improve management strategies, to maintain high-quality habitat, given that the majority of the habitat is already under some form of protection.”
In our discussions with land trusts in preparation for this report, land trusts conveyed the need for additional statewide mapping, particularly forest health surveys, to inform land acquisition and easement decision making. Additionally, they noted that many areas of Pennsylvania are not contained in the PNHP data, which puts the need for local data collection on land trusts and others. As shown throughout this report, our research found many maps from different sources for various purposes, but none that convey a sense of existing corridors (including wildlife crossings), additional needs, and commonwealth priorities. In Section IV, we discuss mapping as a best practice.
Connectivity Priority Analysis (full report)
Source: Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE HR 87: Current Status of Conservation Connectivity in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania: Management Priority Area Map
Pennsylvania Connectivity Priority Analysis (MAP)
Pennsylvania Connectivity Priority Analysis (MAP)
The five conservation factors PHNP used to calculate its priority areas include
(1) regional flow
(2) biodiversity value
(3) resiliency
(4) geophysical setting
(5) landscape condition
The high-priority areas are the darkest red areas, representing all conservation factors compiled into a ”priority score.”
While each area listed is important for connectivity, the dark red areas represent the most crucial areas for maintaining connectivity based on the conservation factors. PNHP also identified management priority areas representing high-priority and currently protected areas.
Regional flow represents a species' capacity to adapt to changing environments, such as new infrastructure developments that may cut off habitats. Each core connectivity area is like an island; regional flow represents the ability to go between these islands so wildlife can get food and water and reproduce effectively. Overall, regional flow is essential for gene flow between wildlife and resiliency against climate change.
Connectivity Priority Analysis (full report)
Source: Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program
LEGISLATIVE BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE HR 87: Current Status of Conservation Connectivity in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania: Connectivity Priority Analysis Map
Target preservation areas for PAWcorridor.org
Target preservation areas for PAWcorridor.org
The target areas for Pennsylvania Wildlife corridor foundation to preserve are the priority areas just outside the Priority Management areas (already preserved areas) that are in the Priority Connectivity Analysis areas effectively expanding the preserved land furthering the wildlife cooridor.
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