The Franklinville quadrangle is located south and west of State College borough and is very close to the Scotia Barrens natural heritage site. It may contain further examples of the barrens community outside Centre County but no additional sites were found in the county.

The Beaver Branch Gorge is an old railroad grade with the remnants of a calcareous glade and beaver wetland. Historically, this general area was known for several rare species, but today a gas pipeline also runs through the area and the limestone glade appears to be disrupted. Soil tests and the remaining vegetation suggest this was a calcareous community. The area may be worth investigating further to check for rare species but was not in good enough condition to be included as a site. The site that is designated is a dry, northern conifer (NCOO1) forest of nearly pure eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) and white pine (Pinus strobus) growing on the east bank of the gorge. This community probably once covered both banks of Beaver Branch but, the west side was cut sometime prior to 1983 and is regenerating to hardwoods. The conifer community is large, nearly 50 acres, and is mature. It shows few signs of disturbance and core data on trees indicate that the stand is at least 100 years old. Though this forest may not be old growth, it does represent a type of forest that was once much more prevalent in this part of Pennsylvania. The vast hemlock/white pine forests noted by the earliest settlers were almost completely gone by the 1920's (Westerfeld 1959) and were replaced, not by hemlock, but by a xeric central hardwoods community that today completely dominates the forests of Centre County.

This forest community is a type that has more county significance than state or global importance. Its protection is dependent upon its owners will to keep it, but it is hoped that they will consider its significance in their management decisions. Present threats to the site include logging, which obviously converts the hemlock/white pine community to hardwoods as is evidenced by the west bank of the gorge. Upslope of the gorge is a dry oak forest that presently serves as buffer zone, but it should be protected to insure that the site remains healthy.