New Deer Exclosure in McKinley Park Will Ensure 400 Tree Plantings Reach Adulthood
Exciting improvements are underway in McKinley Park!
Our Horticulture and Forestry team has been hard at work installing a 26,000 square foot deer exclosure that will protect a projected 300-400 tree plantings, adding vibrancy to the park and eventually regenerating the forest canopy.
The site was chosen because it was a former Tree Pittsburgh planting site and already has about 50 caged trees that will benefit from the extra protection. Deer may be cute but feeding and antler-rubbing on young trees greatly reduces the trees' ability to grow and survive. This long-term planning will ensure generations of dense tree growth and habitat restoration in McKinley Park and is a part of our bigger plan to transform the community park. Upcoming projects include much-needed trail improvements and the creation of the Community Grove.
Why is the deer exlcosure installation so important?
"This site we are protecting with deer exclosure fencing for planting purposes is actually a former Tree Pittsburgh planting site, from spring of 2022. About 50 individually-caged trees from that planting are still alive and surviving at the site, so the new exclosure will have the dual benefit of more securely protecting their past planting site, as well as give PPC the opportunity to expand and enhance it with more plantings over the next couple of years. The site was initially selected for planting by Tree Pittsburgh due to the remarkably empty understory, probably primarily caused by repeated deer herbivory but also due to somewhat dry soil conditions and a dense canopy of mature maple trees overhead. The understory remains mostly bare, aside from the surviving Tree Pittsburgh plantings, and the plant biodiversity of the site is sub-par. The protection that the fence provides will allow for dense plantings of native, shade tolerant shrubs and trees, as well as natural regeneration of native plants from the local environment whose seeds disperse into the protected area. As the beautiful, mature maples overhead die of wind damage, disease, or even just natural causes/old age in the coming decades, we hope that the trees we plant in this exclosure can be poised and primed to become the next generation of forest canopy in their place, as right now those replacement trees are severely lacking. Even before that time that the existing canopy starts to break down (hopefully far into the future!), we hope that our understory shrubs and young trees will grow densely and multiply, becoming valuable food and shelter for wildlife. The exclosure will receive close attention and stewardship from PPC staff and volunteers for years to come, and we look forward to stewarding the space alongside valued city and community partners."
-Brandon McCracken Ecological Restoration Manager
Tree plantings are slated to begin in Fall of 2025.
