Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Celebrates 75 Years

Open year-round, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary offers a lot to any visitor.  It has  breathtaking views of the valleys and ridges of the Appalachian Mountains.  The sanctuary contains eight miles of hiking trails, the most famous being the North Lookout Trail.   It also has educational exhibits at its Visitor Center including a Wings of Wonder raptor gallery, a native plant garden, and a bookstore.  Not only are there vistas to view the migration of birds of prey, but 2,600-acres of great wildlife habitat.  The Sanctuary trails introduce students, groups and visitors to the geology, flora and fauna of the central Appalachian Mountains.

The history of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary features some of the greatest names in North American ornithology, natural history, education, and conservation.   As soon as she bought the property, Rosalie Edge installed a warden, a New England naturalist named Maurice Broun who arrived that September with his wife Irma. Together, the Brouns turned away gunners that first season, but welcomed those willing to set firearms aside to study and enjoy the birds of prey. Maurice counted and carefully recorded each passing migrant---the first such migration data of its kind--and Irma educated visitors about the newly-formed refuge.  Shooting raptors was a common practice of the day, especially in rural areas, but now is illegal and contrary to modern wildlife management practices.  Direct persecution of eagles, falcons, and other raptors has been a very serious limiting factor for these protected species.   Thankfully, persecution of raptors has been illegal for several years and wildlife agencies like the Pennsylvania Game Commission and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service protect raptors.

A young Philadelphia birder named Richard Pough (who later went on to found The Nature Conservancy and write influential bird identification guides) heard about the place called Hawk Mountain and traveled to investigate the kills. He returned on a windless weekend with his brother Harold and fellow birder Henry Collins. With no gunners in sight, the three explored the forest below the lookout and found hundreds of rotting and dying hawks. The trio had no choice but to perform mercy killings, then arranged the dead birds by species and photographed the evidence.  

When the story and photos came to the attention of Mrs. Edge at a meeting of the Hawk and Owl Society she was rightly horrified. With no national bird organizations willing to take action, in June 1934.  Mrs. Edge visited the mountain and met a local realtor. “I was impelled to stop the killing,” she would later explain, and made a split-second decision to lease the mountaintop with an option to buy. At $2.50 an acre, she quietly created the world’s first raptor sanctuary. In the midst of the Great Depression, it took this New York socialite to shake things up and create a new approach to raptors which were considered “vermin” by many people in those days.  

After she hired Maurice Brooks and paid the lease, Rosalie Edge incorporated the non-profit Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association, a member-supported organization, and founded the first raptor sanctuary in the world.  Wildlife conservation has not been the same since.  Mrs. Edge did much more than this incredible act.  She has great foresight and has been credited for espousing the strategy of “keeping common birds common” that is now an accepted strategy for preventing endangerment of birds while it is still fairly easy to do so. 

For birds, the conditions along the edge of the Kittitinny Ridge were ideal. On breezy October days, great flights of raptors soared south on their annual migration, taking a time-honored trip to far-away wintering grounds. As they cruised along Hawk Mountain’s ridge, hawks could take advantage of naturally occurring thermals and updrafts that occur there, and soar without flapping for long stretches to save energy on their trip.

For gunners, the rocky overlooks provided an equally perfect vantage point. Not only did large numbers of hawks appear, approach, and pass directly overhead, but many passed at eye level. It made it an easy task to ready, aim and fire.  Now such behavior is illegal and wildlife agencies like the Pennsylvania Game Commission protect birds of prey and prosecute offenders of wildlife laws. 

Today Hawk Mountain is still protected.  Each autumn thousands of visitors ranging from school children to birdwatchers to the elite of ornithology walk the trail to the famed North Lookout. Tourists come for the incredible views of fall foliage and their dollars support the local economy. Birders arrive following a cold front to catch the best hawk flights. Seasoned hikers explore the spur trails that connect to the Appalachian Trail. Others arrive simply to see the most recognized hawk watch in the world. All pay a modest trail fee or membership dues, which in turn supports ongoing programs in raptor conservation science, training and education.  The site is recognized as an Important Bird Area

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary is a leading organization for raptor research and education.   Its staff conducts valuable research not only on the migration of raptors but also on their biology as it relates to their conservation needs.  Staff also have studied the forest songbirds and biodiversity of the Sanctuary property, Researchers at the Sanctuary have published several scholarly articles and coordinated important research collaborations with scientists around the world.  Hawk Mountain's Acopian Center for Conservation Learning hosts visiting scientists, scholars and academics for collaborative studies on local and regional ecology. The Sanctuary is a world leader in education about birds of prey, including a very influential and effective Conservation Internship Program, initiated in 1976, that has trained 280 young conservationists from 52 countries on six continents. Its efforts have been particularly focused on the neotropical countries to the south where many of our raptors spend the winter.

It is, in essence, one of the single greatest private conservation success stories of all time right here in Pennsylvania. This year Hawk Mountain celebrates its 75^th anniversary, and the spirit of Rosalie Edge is as strong today as it was in 1934.

Pennsylvania is proud of its association with Hawk Mountain and the achievements of the Sanctuary.  We invite you to experience Hawk Mountain, take in the inspirational view, and think of Mrs. Rosalie Barrow Edge, the woman and her Sanctuary that started it all for raptor conservation.

For more information about Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, visit its website: www.hawkmountain.org