Management plan for Goat Hill Wild Plant Sanctuary
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Executive SummaryThe Goat Hill Wild Plant Sanctuary is a 602-acre tract of land located in the southwestern corner of Chester County and administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry (DCNR-BOF) to protect, restore, and sustain the portion of the Goat Hill serpentine barrens contained within its borders. It includes 453 acres of serpentine barrens vegetation and 149 acres of adjacent forestland, part of the 1,300-acre Goat Hill serpentine barrens conservation site, altogether encompassing 670 acres of serpentine barrens vegetation and approximately 630 acres of forested and cultivated buffer land. Goat Hill barrens, along with five other sites that make up the State Line Serpentine Barrens, is an ecologically unique system that supports the globally (G2) and state (S2) imperiled eastern serpentine barren community (NatureServe 2007). Goat Hill provides habitat for 15 animal species and 20 plant species of special conservation concern in Pennsylvania, including several species classified as threatened and endangered. Three plants that occur at the site, serpentine aster (Symphyotrichum depauperatum), long-haired barrens chickweed (Cerastium velutinum var. villosissimum), and glade spurge (Euphorbia purpurea), are globally rare. The serpentine barrens vegetation consists mainly of pitch pine - post oak - blackjack oak forest and woodland (at least 650 acres) and eastern serpentine grassland and savanna (less than 20 acres). Nearly all of the rare species live mainly or exclusively in the serpentine grassland and savanna. However, several factors including fire exclusion, soil development, forest succession, and native and exotic species invasion have severely reduced the historical extent of grassland and savanna, thus necessitating restoration. Prior to 2003, no management program was in place within the DCNR-BOF tract at Goat Hill due to its designation as a State Forest Natural Area; restoration and management on a portion of the serpentine barrens within the 147 acres owned or under easement by The Nature Conservancy at Goat Hill have been underway since 1998. In 2003, Commonwealth lands at Goat Hill were redesignated as a Public Wild Plant Sanctuary, allowing DCNR-BOF to conduct active management to restore and maintain the area in its desired natural state. The purpose of this management plan is to provide guidance to DCNR-BOF for the restoration and management of a healthy serpentine barrens ecosystem at Goat Hill. To start, restoration efforts will be directed at maintaining and expanding current grassland openings and identifying new grassland areas for restoration. The restoration of adjacent savannas will also be undertaken, while maintaining or enhancing the habitats and host species required by other rare species. The overall goal for the Goat Hill serpentine barrens conservation site is to maintain a suite of habitats that restores and sustains the long-term integrity of the serpentine barrens ecosystem, including the imperiled species of flora and fauna.
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