{{for|the lake called Tamarack Swamp in Dutchess County, New York|Bontecou Lake}}{{for|the bog called Tamarack Swamp in Oswego County, New York|Boylston, New York}}
{{Short description|Natural area in Pennsylvania}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Tamarack Swamp Natural Area | alt_name = | iucn_category = | image = | image_alt = | image_caption = | image_size = | map = USA Pennsylvania | map_alt = | map_caption = Location within Pennsylvania | map_width = | location = [[Clinton County, Pennsylvania|Clinton County]], [[Pennsylvania]] | nearest_town = [[Cross Fork, Pennsylvania|Cross Fork]] | coordinates = {{coord|41.4228|N|77.8410|W|region:US-PA|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | coords_ref = | area = {{convert|267|acre}} | established = 1998 | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = | url = }}
'''Tamarack Swamp Natural Area''' is a [[Boreal ecosystem|boreal]] (non-glacial) [[bog]] in [[Sproul State Forest]], in [[Clinton County, Pennsylvania]], United States.<ref name = "inventory"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sproul State Forest Wild and Natural Areas |url=https://www.dcnr.pa.gov/StateForests/FindAForest/Sproul/Pages/Wild_NaturalAreas.aspx |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources |language=en-US}}</ref> It is named for the [[tamarack]] tree that is common in the surrounding wetland.<ref name = "conservancy">{{Citation|publisher = The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy|url = http://www.paconserve.org/84/tamarack-swamp|title = Tamarack Swamp|access-date = February 10, 2014}}</ref> The protected natural area consists of 267 acres within the larger Tamarack Swamp complex.<ref name="wildareas">{{Citation |author=Clinton County Pennsylvania Visitors Bureau |title=Special Wild and Natural Areas |url=http://www.clintoncountyinfo.com/vb/wildareas.htm |access-date=February 10, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216183932/http://www.clintoncountyinfo.com/vb/wildareas.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 16, 2014}}</ref><ref name="Fergus">{{Cite book |last=Fergus |first=Charles |title=Natural Pennsylvania: Exploring the State Forest Natural Areas. |publisher=Stackpole Books |page=164-167 |year=2002 |location=Mechanicsburg, PA}}</ref> Tamarack Swamp is considered an [[Important Bird Area]] by Audubon Pennsylvania,<ref name="conservancy" /> and was named as one of the top 100 birding sites in Pennsylvania by the [[Pennsylvania Game Commission]].<ref>{{Citation |author=Pennsylvania Game Commission |title=Pennsylvania's 100 Best Birding Locations |url=http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/document/1284434/pennsylvania's_100_best_birding_locations_pdf |access-date=February 15, 2014}}</ref>
==Location and history== Tamarack Swamp is located in northern Clinton County, Pennsylvania,<ref name = "itouchmap"/><ref name = "inventory"/> northeast of the community of Tamarack and accessible via [[Pennsylvania Route 144]], which passes near the western edge of the wetland.<ref name = "inventory"/><ref name = "itouchmap"/> The wetland has a total area of 4000 acres,<ref name="itouchmap">{{Citation|url = http://itouchmap.com/?d=1199661&s=PA&f=swamp|title = Tamarack Swamp, PA|access-date = February 10, 2014}}</ref><ref name="explore">{{Citation|publisher=[[Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection]] |url=http://www.dep.state.pa.us/earthdaycentral/02/posterdocs/tamarack_explore.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140215204540/http://www.dep.state.pa.us/earthdaycentral/02/posterdocs/tamarack_explore.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 15, 2014 |title=Explore Biodiversity in the Tamarack Swamp |access-date=February 15, 2014 }}</ref> and serves as the [[headwaters]] of [[Drury Run]].<ref name="conservancy" /> Tamarack Swamp is home to the [[tamarack]] tree, which is the only [[deciduous]] [[conifer]] in Pennsylvania.<ref name="conservancy" />
In about 1827, Alexander Kelly, Montgomery Kelly, George Kelly, and Samuel Kelly settled on the western side of Tamarack Swamp.<ref>{{Citation|url = http://www.kettlecreek.org/pdf/2Culture_compA.pdf|archive-url = https://archive.today/20140215204605/http://www.kettlecreek.org/pdf/2Culture_compA.pdf|url-status = dead|archive-date = February 15, 2014|title = Kettle Creek|access-date = February 15, 2014}}</ref> In about 1865, James Hennessy discovered several [[moose]] [[antler]]s buried in the wetland, indicating that moose once lived there.<ref>{{Citation|publisher = Middleburg Post Press|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=WHEVAQAAIAAJ&q=%22Tamarack+Swamp%22+clinton+pa&pg=PA60-IA67|title = A Pennsylvania Bison Hunt|year = 1915|access-date = February 15, 2014}}</ref> In a 1925 book by Francis R. Cope, the author referred to the wetland as "a little oasis in the desert."<ref name="inventory" /> In the early 1900s, parts of Tamarack Swamp were damaged by [[logging]] and development.<ref name="inventory" />
Logging was conducted as late as the 1940s, when Hicks Jennings cut down the only remaining virgin spruce in Tamarack Swamp.<ref>{{Citation|author = Douglas A. Gross|url = http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/gtr/gtr-p-64papers/07-gross-p-64.pdf|title = PENNSYLVANIA BOREAL CONIFER FORESTS AND THEIR BIRD COMMUNITIES: PAST, PRESENT, AND POTENTIAL|access-date = February 15, 2014}}</ref> By 1947, the tamarack and black spruce trees in the wetland were significantly less healthy than they had been around 1900.<ref name="dvoc">{{Citation |author=Edward J. Reimann |title=Summer Birds of Tamarack Swamp 1900 and 1947 |url=http://www.dvoc.org/CassiniaOnLine/Cassinia36/C36_17_24.pdf |year=1947 |access-date=February 14, 2014}}</ref> In the 1990s, the [[Western Pennsylvania Conservancy]] added over 9400 acres to [[Sproul State Forest]], including Tamarack Swamp.<ref name="conservancy" />
There are plans to develop the Tamarack Swamp area, including plans to drill for [[oil]] and [[natural gas]] in the wetland.<ref name="conservancy" /> Natural gas pipelines have been laid in the swamp.<ref name="inventory">{{Citation|author = Clinton County|url = http://www.clintoncountypa.com/departments/county_departments/planning/pdfs/Natural%20Heritage%20Inventory.pdf|title = Natural Heritage Inventory|access-date = February 12, 2014}}</ref> The land that Tamarack Swamp is situated on has multiple owners.<ref name="wildareas" />
== See also== *[[List of bogs]]
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Protected Areas of Pennsylvania}}
[[Category:Appalachian bogs]] [[Category:Landforms of Clinton County, Pennsylvania]] [[Category:Bogs of Pennsylvania]]