NEW CASTLE Book lists county's nature finds

One plant found in Lawrence County was taken off an endangered plant list.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Finding out about plants and animals in Lawrence County is now as easy as opening a book.
Copies of the county's natural heritage inventory are being distributed to local municipalities.
The yearlong study by the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, a nonprofit agency, is the county's first inventory of its plants and animals. It was paid for by private grants and about $5,000 in county contributions.
James Gagliano, county planning director, said the study should help officials and developers get a better idea of what they are facing when new development comes along.
It should help identify areas that may need more environmental study if the land is to be used for any new purpose, Gagliano said.
Lawrence County's study is part of a statewide effort to document all plants, trees and animals across Pennsylvania. Through 1991, 30 Pennsylvania counties had completed natural heritage inventory studies.
What's planned
State officials are hoping the remaining 37 counties will complete studies in the next few years to give them an idea of the state's natural resources.
Ecologists from the conservancy identified 104 spots of heavily wooded land in Lawrence County from aerial photographs and studied those regions for about a year.
Gagliano said nothing unusual was found in the study, but one plant found in abundance here was taken off a statewide endangered plant list.
During the study, Robert Coxe, an ecologist with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, revealed that he found a large amount of Prenanthes crepidinea, or Rattlesnake Root, in Lawrence County. The small plant flowers in the early fall and grows in moist, shaded areas in thick woods or thickets or stream banks.