From the report introduction--
We are fortunate to have a strong natural heritage program and had a successful year in 2024.
We have many staff who specialize in various taxa and consequently we are able to add depth, from a biodiversity perspective, to many of our projects.
Whether wetland classification work where we include insect and bird surveys to complement the cataloguing of vegetation or old growth assessments that include bryophyte and fungal (including lichen) surveys, we approach sites from a multifaceted viewpoint.
This was an intensive year for our work with invertebrates.
We dug deeply into the assessment of over 1,400 invertebrates as part of the 2025 State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) update.
With this update, we will have completed more assessments and gotten a better picture of the status and distribution of a number of groups as compared to what we were able to do for the 2015 update.
We also took on numerous freshwater mussel projects to assess the possibility of reintroducing or supplementing populations into a number of waterways.
Through our work, we also helped in seeing a rare crayfish listed as PA endangered.
Over the last decade we have worked closely with the Pennsylvania Game Commission to bring attention to a number of small mammals for which little recent data exists.
Determining the distribution and assessing the size of populations is critical to taking effective conservation action for these species.
Our work on the least weasel is a prime example of how difficult and time-consuming but ultimately rewarding this work can be.
We continue to update Natural Heritage Areas (NHAs), which traditionally had been through county specific inventories.
We are mid-stream in our updates of York, Cumberland, Adams, and Franklin counties, but are also updating NHAs that are not part of a county-based project.
With new database tools and continued orientation of our staff, we are moving toward seamless, continuous updating that will simply be a part of our core work.
Maybe every program in the network has its 15 minutes of fame and we are getting ours through an excellent invasive species film produced by our staff and Great Lakes Media & Film.
The film, Seeing The Unseen: Aquatic Invaders & What’s at Stake, is being featured in many venues and film festivals and has received great reviews!
In Memoriam - Joe Wisgo
We are deeply saddened to report the passing this year of Joe Wisgo, an important member of the PNHP team and good friend to all.
Joe joined the PNHP team in 2011 as an intern, he was promoted to zoologist soon thereafter and over the years grew into the role of being one of the top small mammal experts in the state.
He was known not only for his great knowledge and skillset as a mammologist and conservation biologist, but mostly for his kindness and infectious fun-loving attitude.
For those of us who spent the most time with Joe in the field, our work is just not the same without him.
Although Joe left the program to chart another path in 2023, he remained a good friend to our staff, and we cherish the many memories we made with him.
Click Here for a copy of the report.
The PA Natural Heritage Program is a partnership between the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, the US Fish and Wildlife & Wildlife Services and public and private funders.
The Program offers the Pennsylvania Conservation Explorer online tool-- a one stop show for conservation planning and PNDI environmental permit reviews.
It is also a member of NatureService, an international network of state, provincial, and national natural heritage programs and conservation data centers.
[Posted: July 15, 2025] PA Environment Digest
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