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vortical42 t1_j4enimo wrote

Reply to comment by Alternative_Donut_62 in Pennsylvania was heavily deforested in the 1800s; mostly due to unchecked logging companies. by Libsoccer20

They didn't just spring back up by magic here either. It took a mass reforestation campaign, particularly in the depression era. The state and federal government bought up 'waste' land and put thousands of jobless men to work restoring them in a program called the Civilian Conservation Corp.

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Alternative_Donut_62 t1_j4eo9nl wrote

Got that and def appreciate. But Scotland screwed up their environment so bad, they just can’t.

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vortical42 t1_j4eoiiw wrote

I never heard about that. I wonder what the difference was that made things so much worse there?

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Alternative_Donut_62 t1_j4ep7gy wrote

Soil erosion, nutrients getting stripped. Sheep and deer eating all the saplings. (Although I can imagine the deer in PA doing something similar today)

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vortical42 t1_j4epqrq wrote

Yeah, I imagine the sheep could make a big difference. The soil here was pretty far gone as well (hence why it was considered waste land and cheap to buy up).

Not sure what the time scale was like there, but here reclamation efforts were generally within 50-70 years of the end of logging.

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OhioJeeper t1_j4qfaib wrote

>The soil here was pretty far gone as well (hence why it was considered waste land and cheap to buy up).

Also likely why you see a lot of pine in our state forests, from what I remember working in ohio it grows well in reclaimed mine land.

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Pink_Slyvie t1_j4f5mpf wrote

I wonder if they had a dedicated workforce if they could still make it happen. Should they though? Would it benefit the wildlife at this point? I have no idea.

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Beef5030 t1_j4gk0fw wrote

There's organizations working towards reforestation in Scotland. An interesting take is Norway has similar problems with farmland taking away old growth, while also being at such a northern latitude.

But in the last century much progress was made there (norway) in reforestation, so there is a frame work for Scotland to do the same.

The deer problem there is also exasperated by their Hunting regulations. It boils down to not having public hunting grounds (hunting isn't included in their right to roam law as far as I'm aware). So private estates that hold huge swaths of land basically hord all the Stags and charge $$$$$$ to anyone who wants to shoot them. So unless your extremely wealthy, you ain't culling the herd.

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FaithlessnessCute204 t1_j4v22b7 wrote

The difference is that Scotland was held by private individuals in massive estates . To help pay for those estates they raise sheep 🐑 on most of the land , or well off landowners kept large herds of deer (no predators because we killed them off due to eating livestock) for occasional hunting parties. It’s the same issue Israel has , to many herd animals eating every stick before it can get a foot tall. This is a fixable issue but without any incentive to change it will not happen

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Crawlerado t1_j4fxdw8 wrote

There’s an old CCC camp turned POW camp turned sky daddy camp up the road from the Pine Grove Furnace. Not a lot to see but cool spot to explore nonetheless

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CharacterBrief9121 t1_j4gctf3 wrote

You lost me at some sky daddy

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NewAlexandria t1_j4gdeu3 wrote

well, we'll need that again given whats happening with the invasive Oriental Bittersweet vine that PennDOT(?) accidentally introduced into the seed mix for slope stabilizers. The vine is everywhere and takes over tree canopies. It'll destroy entire areas of trees when unchecked, as is the case in many areas

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