As a user of National Forest Lands, you are responsible for your personal safety during any activity you might pursue. The Forest Service does install signs and other information devices at various locations where site conditions warrant. However, the size of the National Forest and the variety of natural and man-made conditions limit placement if signs or other specific warnings and necessitates the use of more general education efforts.

Hazards include, but are not limited to: changing weather conditions; snow; overlooks with steep drop offs; falling trees or limbs, high or rushing water; contaminated water; wild animals; toxic plants, becoming lost or overexerted; hypothermia; remnants of historic structures, water wells, oil wells and changing road and trail conditions. You may also be exposed to the unreasonable acts of others.

The Forest Service does not manage or control all of these occurrences. It is your responsibility to know the hazards involved in your activities and to use the proper safety procedures and equipment to minimize the inherent risks and hazards related to your activity.

Slips, trips, and falls are the most common accidents in the woods. If you're off a maintained trail, you may have to contend with wet, uneven, often steep ground, hidden roots and holes, and logs and branches in your path. Boardwalks and bridges on trails are slippery in wet conditions. Walk with care.

Always check the weather before you start out. Hypothermia can also occur in summer when you're wet. Being wet and cold can make you less observant of other dangers around you.

Remember that animals live along streams and lakes. Don't drink untreated water, no matter how clean and clear it looks.

Black Bears:

POISON IVY - (Photo) Poison ivy is found throughout the Allegheny National Forest primarily on drier sites often in association with oak and sometimes near the edge of fields of along fence rows. It has 3 waxy dark green leaflets that are lighter and more fuzzy on the underside. It grows as a woody shrub or vine that climbs up trees. Poison ivy produces a white berry that persists from fall through the winter.
In the U.S., there are five different types of poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac. All the contain exact same substance that causes the blistering, itchy rash most of us get on contact with these plants. It’s called toxicodendrol, a sticky sap in the leaves and branches of the plants. If you’re sensitized (allergic) to this sap (and more than half of us are), the rash breaks out after about 12-72 hours, but only on areas which directly contacted the resin. This is called rhus dermatitis. The rash is usually red, raised, and often blistered at the central most areas. Because people usually brush by the plants, the rash may have a "streaky," linear, or patchy pattern, unlike stings which are usually single and round.

The rash spreads only by spread of the invisible sap on the skin, not by leaking blister fluid from the rash itself. That blister fluid is a product of your own body, and contains no poison ivy sap. The reason the rash often continues to break out in new areas beyond 72 hours is that people unknowingly continue to contact it --- from unwashed clothes (especially shoes and laces), sporting or gardening equipment, pets, etc. Anything that comes in contact with the plant can carry active sap for months! The sap is so potent, you can pass it from object to object a dozen times just by light contact, and the last object can still cause an intense rash. People leave an invisible "trail" of toxicodendrol where they sit, touch, sleep or bathe. They end up re-exposing themselves over a period of weeks. So don’t worry about your oozing blisters being contagious --- just start washing everything you may have touched!

Avoiding contact with the plant is the most important preventive measure. If you’ve already come in contact with one of these, start washing everything --- soap, detergents and rubbing alcohol are all effective. This dramatically reduces the spread to yourself and others. In fact, if you wash with soap and water within 15 minutes after contact, you may not even get a rash.

Several over-the-counter lotions and creams are available to treat mild cases. The poison can be carried by smoke, so be cautious when clearing and burning brush. Remember: LEAVES OF 3, LET IT BE!

HOGWEED - (Photo) The plants thrive in many habitats but do particularly well where the soil has been disturbed, such as on wasteground or on riverbanks, where erosion combined with a good supply of groundwater provide ideal conditions. The plant, a member of the cow parsnip (Apiaceae) family which includes the humble carrot, has a base of large foliage surrounding the main stem which can grow to a height of 15 feet (5 meters). The small white flowers and seed pods radiate out from the top of the main stem and form a distinctive white canopy. This is similar to, but much larger than, the flowering heads found on the Common Hogweed.

The growing season starts in late March, with full height and flowering being reached in late June and July. It is at this time that the plants are at their most impressive, and dangerous...

The sap from the leaves and particularly the stem is highly toxic and contact with the skin can lead to severe scars. Contact with the eyes can lead to temporary or, in some cases, permanent blindness. The sap renders skin photo-sensitive which means that exposure to sunlight following contact causes blisters and burns. If you do come into contact with the plant, and especially the sap, you are advised to wash the affected areas immediately, keep them out of direct sunlight and seek medical advice.

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