Restoring the Forests

Restoring the Forests. The Timber Trail. , Though it's hard to imagine when looking at today's verdant forests and clear-flowing streams, in the early 1900s, intensive logging had ravaged north-central Pennsylvania's seemingly limitless forests. Rain eroded treeless hillsides, depleting the soil and causing floods. Wildfires fueled by logging debris scorched thousands of acres. Joseph Rothrock, Pennsylvania's first Commissioner of Forestry in 1895, called this denuded region the "Pennsylvania Desert." , Rothrock led efforts to restore and conserve Pennsylvania's forests by purchasing cut-over private lands to create a state forest system. In 1899, Pennsylvania owned 20,000 acres; by 1914, the state owned nearly 1 million acres. Though early conservationists like Rothrock, did not live to see the restored forests they envisioned, their legacy thrives across the region's wooded hillsides. , Forest Transformations , Before the lumber boom of the 1800s, giant Eastern white pines overspread the river valleys of north-central Pennsylvania, rising high above the hardwood understory. Slow-growing, centuries-old Eastern hemlocks dominated the upland forests. When loggers cleared these old-growth softwoods, sun-loving hardwood species like black cherry replaced them. Today, hardwood species , sugar maple, black cherry, white ash, red and white oak, hickory and many others , continue to dominate the forest community throughout the Lumber Heritage Region. , Civilian Conservation Corps Legacy , During the Great Depression of the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation Corps to employ unmarried men ages 18-25. Based at 79 CCC camps throughout the Lumber Heritage Region, CCC men received $30 a month to fight forest fires, plant trees, and build roads, bridges, trails, and recreation facilities on state and federal lands. Their beautifully crafted pavilions and outbuildings remain centerpieces of Pennsylvania's public recreation sites. Across America, three million CCC men planted more than three billion trees., [photo captions] , . During the late 1800s and early 1900s, unsustainable logging left barren hillsides like this one across much of Pennsylvania. , . CCC men planted millions of trees in north-central Pennsylvania, helping stem erosion and jumpstart reforestation. , . Founder of the U.S. Forest Service in 1905, Pennsylvanian Gifford Pinchot championed sustainable forest management to provide a perpetual timber supply. , . Scattered pockets of old-growth forest, like Cook Forest State Park, give visitors a sense of what the region looked like 200 years ago.