The name Pennsylvania means Penn's
Woods, named after the state's first governor William
Penn, in 1681. The erection of Pennsylvania's first sawmill in 1662 established lumbering as
Pennsylvania's first industry.
Penn's
Woods has since become an integral part in the nation's development.
By the time Keystone Academy (now Keystone
College) was founded in 1868, Pennsylvania led the nation in lumber
production. Williamsport became the
world's largest lumber pile towards the turn of the century, as it received logs floating down the
Susquehanna River.
The
eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
was, and still is, a large component of northern Pennsylvania's
forests. The hemlock was harvested exhaustively in the late
19th century, not so much for its wood, but for its bark, which was
used for tanning leather. The picture to the left shows
hemlocks being cut and stripped of their bark.
By the 20th century, logging, combined with clearing and burning
the land for agriculture and charcoal manufacturing, depleted Pennsylvania forests, causing
the lumber
industry to move westward. Much of
the forests' organic matter was burned and its soils washed down
river. The loss of habitat caused many animals, particularly the large
mammals, to be extirpated. The environmental consequences of
the 19th century lumber industry were extreme, causing Pennsylvania to
react by passing new legislation, creating natural resource management
agencies, and planting thousands of acres of land.
Over 100 years later Pennsylvania's
forests have rebounded, covering over sixty percent of the state, or 26,892
square miles. Pennsylvania has the largest hardwood inventory in the
nation, representing the fourth largest industry in the state. The
annual
value of
Pennsylvania's lumber industry is
estimated to be over 5 billion dollars.
Seventy-nine percent of the commercial forest land is privately
owned, while
only twenty-one percent is publicly owned. Consequently, decisions
made by private forest owners have the potential to profoundly affect
Pennsylvania's environment, both positively and negatively.
Forest landowners should have a basic knowledge of
forest processes so they may make beneficial decisions through
the practice of forest stewardship.
