Forestry Students Recondition Waterfowl Nests

Students in Donald Nibert’s Wildlife Management course took to their spacious outdoor laboratory Tuesday to recondition nesting structures for next year’s ducks and geese. Students have found that nests on the west side of the 50-acre wetland are 90-percent populated by fowl and, on the east, only 10 percent of the structures are populated, so some nests may have to be moved to the west side of the wetland. The Game Commission frequently lets Penn College’s School of Natural Resources Managementuse its property 3,017 acres housing 18 wetlands/ponds ranging from a quarter-acre to 50 acres to teach forestry students about wildlife in their natural habitat. Past exercises have included stocking of pheasants and regular controlled burning to kill invasive plants.