KANE — The April 16 Roach-Bauer Forestry Forum will feature Courtney Colley, communications specialist with the Pennsylvania Game Commission, with a presentation on chronic wasting disease in cervids (deer family).
Colley is recognized across Pennsylvania for her educational efforts to bring awareness to the public of the latest developments in CWD.
She grew up on a small family farm in south central Pennsylvania where she developed a love for hunting, wildlife, and the outdoors. She graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. degree in Earth and Mineral Sciences in 2013. In hopes of becoming a wildlife biologist, Colley continued her education earning a Master of Environmental Science from Shippensburg University in 2015 (with a focus on predatory birds). She taught wildlife diseases and Geographic Information Systems at Penn State in an adjunct position. She then worked for the Keystone Elk Country Alliance as a conservation education coordinator. Colley then transferred to the PGC in July of 2018 to continue her education work with the public as the CWD Communications Specialist.
Her presentation will be of interest to forest managers, foresters, biologists, hunters, loggers, and all recreationists using the forests. Deer are known as “keystone” species, meaning they can affect their environment. Any disease that affects deer will, in turn, affect the landscape over time. Continuing Forestry Education credits apply to this presentation.
The Forum will be held at Grandma Bair’s Conference Center at 608 North Fraley St., downtown Kane, and the conference center shares a parking lot with the Save-A-Lot grocery store.
Preceding the talk will be a no-host social hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., and dinner at 6:30 p.m. The program will start immediately after dinner. Reservations are required. Early reservations received on or before April 2 are $25.00. Reservations from April 3 through April 9 will cost $30.00.
No reservations will be accepted after April 9. The cost for full-time students pursuing a natural resource degree is $10.00. For reservations, contact the Allegheny Hardwood Utilization Group, PO Box 133, Kane, Pa., 16735, at 814-837-8550 or FAX 814-837-4950, or e-mail hardwood@penn.com.
