Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is a wild bird sanctuary near Kempton, Pennsylvania located along the Appalachian flyway. The sanctuary is a prime location for the viewing of kettling and migrating raptors with an average of 20,000 hawks, eagles and falcons passing the lookouts every year. The birds are identified and counted by staff and volunteers to produce annual counts of migrating raptors that represent the world's longest record of raptor populations. These counts have provided conservationists with valuable information on changes in raptor numbers in North America.

etting

The Sanctuary is located on a ridge of the Hawk Mountain. The Visitor Center houses a shop and facilities with parking nearby. A habitat garden next to it is home to native plants that are protected by a deer fence. The 1 mile Lookout Trail runs from the Visitor Center to a number of raptor viewing sites along the ridge, the most popular being the closeby South Lookout (elevation 1300 feet) and the North Lookout (elevation 1521 feet) with a 200 degree panoramic view that extends to 70 miles. Nine trails of varying difficulty are available to hikers and linked to the Appalachian Trail.

Education

The sanctuary partners with a few of the local colleges, such as Kutztown University and Cedar Crest College, to provide higher-level classes for students in relevant fields of study. They also offer programs, seminars, and volunteer opportunities to the public. The sanctuary is extremely popular as a destination for birdwatchers and hikers.

History

In 1934, Rosalie Edge leased convert|1400|acre|km2 of property on Hawk Mountain and hired wardens to keep the hunters away. The wardens were Maurice Broun and his wife Irma Broun, bird enthusiasts and conservationists from New England. Almost immediately, there was a noticeable retrieval in the raptor population. In 1938, the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association was incorporated as a non-profit organization in Pennsylvania, and Edge purchased the property and deeded it to the association in perpetuity.

As the world's oldest wildlife sanctuary exclusively committed to the protection and observation of birds of prey, Hawk Mountain holds a unique place in geographic and scientific history. It is not owned or financially supported by the state; it remains entirely self-sufficient. In 1965 the sanctuary was registered as a National Natural Landmark.

Famous visitors to the sanctuary include Rachel Carson [Broun, Maurice. "Hawks Aloft: The Story of Hawk Mountain."] and John Denver, whose name is inscribed on a memorial bench at South Lookout.

In 2007, the sanctuary lost one of its dearest friends and the most generous benefactor in its history, Sarkis Acopian, an industrialist and humanitarian. Through his philanthropy, the sanctuary was able to open the Acopian Center for Conservation Learning in 2001, where students come from all over the world to participate in work-study internships, learning about ornithology, environmental science, biology, and related fields.

In 2009, the sanctuary will celebrate the 75th anniversary of Rosalie Edge's original efforts.

References

External links

* [http://www.hawkmountain.org/ Hawk Mountain Sanctuary website]