Submitted by abou824 t3_10sanoc in Pennsylvania
I was wondering if anybody had vintage photos of rothrock state forest before it became that, when it was totally clear cut. Super interesting history and would love to see it!
Comments
[deleted] t1_j71praf wrote
Check the park office at Greenwood Furnace SP.
abou824 OP t1_j720hl1 wrote
Will do, I'll try to get there next week and report back.
Castor_and_Pollux123 t1_j71vsz0 wrote
Why was a state forest clearcut? Wouldn't such a place be protected somehow?
[deleted] t1_j71xagi wrote
It wasn’t a state forest then. Most of our state forests were absolutely destroyed by the iron furnaces and timber industry.
thenewtbaron t1_j72blnl wrote
Yup.
It was actually Joseph Rothrock that really pushed the state purchasing these lands to re-tree them, he is one of the reasons that they are protected today.
Pennsylvania's first forestry fella, interesting life story, my great great uncle.
reeshahaha t1_j73qa4h wrote
Any books written about him?
thenewtbaron t1_j740c69 wrote
not really, he is talked about in some books of the era, usually crowded out by larger more well known folks like pinchot, muir and the like. He is on the wiki, Joseph Rothrock and he totally seemed to have lived an interesting life.
There are not that many Rothrocks in the USA, most of them, to my knowledge are related directly back to two ships that carried the family over, the Pink Mary and another one. It was a father and his four sons. It is a pain in the ass because there are like 10 generations of "george" or "john" or the german versions, so Johan, johannes, georg.
You can find some powerpoints, some brief descriptions on the various state websites.
30686 t1_j7b58f4 wrote
They were private property at the time.
IamSauerKraut t1_j72gres wrote
Most of PA was cleared of the large trees in its forests by about 1900. Folks thought the supply was endless... until it wasn't. Took real effort to grow back the trees.
Now we've got insects and fungus removing certain species. Chestnuts and elms are mostly gone. Ash are almost gone. Hemlocks are in danger. And now chestnut oaks are under attack by fungus. Which tree is next?
abou824 OP t1_j72h0pk wrote
I thought it was incredibly interesting to read about Joseph Rothrock's efforts to start up the state forest initiative, as well as the history of the fire towers. I'm glad to see that Penn state is taking the invasive insect problem so seriously.
mainelinerzzzzz t1_j7k5csg wrote
Except for a few small stands, the whole state was clear cut at some point.
Mijbr090490 t1_j71f385 wrote
I'd love to see some as well. It's hard to imagine it with no trees.