- Up next on "Keystone Stories: The Forest.

(inspirational music) - Welcome to "Keystone Stories."

When William Penn and other Europeans arrived in this region, it was almost entirely covered in forest.

In fact, the literal translation of Pennsylvania is Penn's woods.

This seemingly limitless resource was almost lost around the turn of the 20th century.

This beautiful forest that we as Pennsylvanians enjoy today would not be here without the hard work and dedication of a small number of conservationists.

(dreamy piano music) - When the Europeans start to arrive in Pennsylvania, the popular understanding is it's about 90% to 95% forest covered.

So, they probably developed the mindset, just looking at all those trees, we can cut trees down forever and they're always gonna be trees because they're just everywhere.

They're in the way.

They were coming from a very heavily agrarian society in Europe.

You need space to plant fields and tilt crops.

They won't grow in and amongst the trees, so they need to be cut out of the way to make room for the fields.

They need to be cut down to make houses, and sailing ships, and wagons, and everything else that you need to sort of recreate that agrarian society here in the New World.

- As this new world was taking shape, it was discovered that the region had an abundance of white pine growth.

- And white pine has a tendency to grow very tall, very straight, and was very desirable, is used as ship mass.

So that's really where the beginning of the lumber industry and Pennsylvania's had taken off or seeking out for these white pines for ship building.

- The history of this then burgeoning industry is celebrated here at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum located in Potter County.

- And the exhibit, we talk about challenges and choices.

The choice is basically to cut a tree down or leave a tree standing.

The challenge is trying to balance that aspect.

And the whole site sort of talks about how that hasn't always been in balance throughout the history of the Commonwealth.

(upbeat country music) - Starting in somewhere about the 1840s or so, the harvesters moved into the forest and started to move timber, primarily along the river systems.

If you look at the river systems, we've got the Susquehanna River.

It comes down through Williamsport.

And so you had major drainages that came into Williamsport.

- Sometimes you could just send the logs down themselves down the river and they could be caught then by log booms.

So they were booms, especially around the Susquehanna River.

Williamsport had a major log boom as well and then the free floating logs would just get captured by this boom and sorted to mills down there.

Prior to sending your log down, you wanna make sure you brand it with your log stamp.

Basically, a hammer that would mark the end of the log with the individual brand so that you could be properly compensated for your lumber.

- Thanks to the abundance of wood floating down the rivers, dozens of sawmills opened in the area, making Williamsport the lumber capital of United States.

- And it's the millionaires row.

And so there were more millionaires in the city of Williamsport than any other city in the nation.

- To float the wood down the rivers more efficiently, logs could be assembled into rafts, held together by ropes and saplings.

- At the same time, there were logs moving in the Allegheny River system, logs in the Allegheny moved all the way to New Orleans.

So that you would float down the river system, the Ohio, the Mississippi, to New Orleans, and then walk home in time to do it again the next Spring.

These were rough and humbled people who made livings off of forest.

(upbeat country music) - The rafters themselves, a lot of 'em were a different breed from the wood cutters.

They were specialists in their field because the rafts were unwieldy and they had to be steered and there was a steering paddle on the front and also on the back.

They also lived on the rafts.

One of the great stories that the rafters tell is when you did get in the big water into Ohio and that's where the money was.

Well, what did they eat?

Mostly potatoes.

They kept buckets of 'em.

Those rafters that had to watch at night, would walk along the edge of the raft, and then occasionally, they'd pick up a potato and they would throw it from whatever side they were on.

And if they didn't hear a splash, they would yell, "Hard right rudder or hard left rudder!"

Because they knew they were getting too close to shore.

So, not only was the potato essential to keep them going, but it was also was their radar, so to speak.

- Starting in about 1885, there was a confluence of technology development.

One was we created a crosscut saw that had raker teeth and so you could fell trees with a saw rather than an ax.

And there was a development of light gauge railroads and we began harvesting trees away from river systems and that continued from about 1885 to about 1920.

- There were a number of women who actually were employed by logging camps as cooks or cookies.

A cookie is an assistant to the cook.

Obviously, the cook is preparing the meals, three meals a day for, you know, anywhere from maybe 25 to 100 men in a log camp.

- There was an insatiable demand for lumber.

It really built the nation.

Didn't just build Pennsylvania infrastructure.

By the time you reached the 1870s and '80s and we're looking at Western expansion after the Civil War, a lot of our lumber is being shipped out West to build towns.

So, by the time we become national leader in lumber production you know, we're harvesting, you know, probably five million trees in the course of a year, which is a lot.

(inspiring piano music) - Pennsylvania's forests were being cut at an alarming rate, and all of a sudden, people were looking out their windows and instead of seeing green hills, they were seeing mudslides.

- And we just get to a point where we have asked the forest to do too much and it can't continue to regenerate on its own.

- The force of Pennsylvania helped build a nation, but at what cost?

(inspiring piano music) Not too long after leading the nation in lumber production, PA would be at the forefront of a conservation movement.

The first step toward forest recovery happened in 1886 with the foundation of the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.

The PFA is still active today, which makes it the longest continuously operating forestry association in the country.

Dr. J. T. Rothrock born in McVeytown was its first president.

- He did not have a forestry degree.

Forestry degrees weren't being given at that time.

His background was medicine and he also had a degree in botany.

- It was a pretty new concept in the 1890s, the idea that forests can and should be professionally managed.

- Pennsylvania Forestry Association started buying some property because properties were being abandoned.

They wanted to preserve forest land, so they were buying what, at the time, they called preserves.

(bright country music) - Working with Rothrock to secure state lands was Mira Dock.

She was a botanist, chemist, and geologist who became the first woman to serve as an appointed state official for Pennsylvania.

During Mira's 12 years of service, 1 million acres of forest became reserves.

These land acquisitions eventually became Pennsylvania's state forest system.

Rothrock was also instrumental in establishing the Mont Alto Forestry Academy in 1903.

This was the first school in the nation to train foresters to work in the state forest.

Ralph Brock was the only Black student that graduated in 1906 and became the first Black forester in the nation.

In the 1930s, thanks to Franklin Roosevelt's new deal, Pennsylvania received federal assistance in the form of the Civilian Conservation Court.

The CCC was developed as a way to put unemployed young men to work during the depression.

- They helped plant trees, they helped replant the forest, they helped build forest roads, and even today, you can still go and see a lot of their work evident in state parks.

If you see something that looks like an old building in a state park, chances are it was built by the men of the Civilian Conservation Court.

(inspiring country music) - Today, Pennsylvania's forests are alive and well.

Nearly 60% of the state is covered by woodland.

The Commonwealth has 121 state parks and more than 1.5 million acres of state game lands, making today's forests a virtual playground for lovers of nature and an invaluable resource for everything from heating fuel to artwork.

The forest's heritage is celebrated during the Bark Peelers' Festival, held every July at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum.

- We do birling out on the pond, so that's the floating log in the water, a competitor at each end of the log.

They start running and spinning the log in the water and the person that can stay on in the longest wins.

(audience cheering) And we have the distinction of crowning the PA state champion for birling.

- Last person's standing's the state champion.

- Pretty much because I think we are the only institution that does a birling event.

(audience cheering) (inspiring music) - We're in a very good place now.

100 years ago, we were in a pretty bad place, but thankfully, there were folks, both private conservationists and people within the state government and at the federal level, that saw the damage that was being done, realized the long-term impacts and threats that we were under because of over harvesting or, you know, non-sustainable practices, and really sort of shifted our approach toward sustainability.

I imagine it was very difficult and it's part of that, you know, our technology and our means really outpaced our understanding of nature.

- There's something about looking at Pennsylvania hills and seeing all that green.

That's just very, very comforting.

The forest is life, on multiple levels.

It's vital to our being.

(inspiring music) - As you just learned, sustainability is key to keeping this beautiful resource alive.

So how can we continue to use lumber for things like construction without depleting this resource?

It's all about forest management.

Collins Pine Company and Kane has been in business since 1855 and is still going strong thanks to these practices.

- I'm Terry Collins.

I'm here to talk about the Kane Hardwood division of Collins Pine Company.

This part of Pennsylvania was really kind of where it all started.

The Kane Hardwood sawmill is operated here in Kane since 1975, but our history actually goes back long before that.

My great-grandfather, Truman Collins, came to this region from Upstate New York in 1854.

So TD Collins was very much a part of what is known as the logging railroad era in Western Pennsylvania, a time when almost the whole Allegheny plateau was clearcut.

The last of his saw mills operated up until about the mid 1920s.

His son had gone out West and got involved in a mill out in Western Washington, railroad logging, and later went on to make purchases in Oregon and California as well.

So there really wasn't much going on for Collins back here in Pennsylvania.

But in 1940, Truman Collins came back to Pennsylvania from out West with his Head Forester and they decided that they were gonna take a look at these lands, which his grandfather had harvested, about 30,000 acres that they still owned, and they discovered that these Eastern forests were growing back vigorously with wide variety of species and some pretty valuable species like black cherry, Northern red oak, and white ash.

Truman Collins was actually a very early proponent of sustained yield forestry, which basically means that you don't harvest more each year than what the forest can replace with new growth.

So by doing that, you could support a permanent community with stable long-term jobs backed up by a sustainable forestry operation.

So that's why we're still here and we hope to continue to be a part of this community for many years to come.

(bright country music) - In 2018, WPSU aired "Our Town: Sheffield," which shared this next story about the Allegheny National Forest, the only national forest in Pennsylvania.

- My name is Kurt Boley.

I'm a lifelong resident in the Sheffield area and I'm here today to talk about the recreation opportunities that are around Sheffield in the Allegheny National Forest.

The Allegheny National Forest was established in the early 1920s by the federal government.

It's about 513,000 acres.

These were lands that really nobody wanted, they had already been timbered over.

The Allegheny National Forest is the only national forest in Pennsylvania.

It's administered by the USDA Forest Service.

There are many types of opportunities for recreation here.

In the Springtime, there's excellent fishing on the Tionesta Creek and all its tributaries, and of course, you can go on to the Clarion and Allegheny Rivers for bigger fish.

You can go hiking.

We have lots of loop trails on the forest that you can go.

A lot of 'em are close to Sheffield and perhaps the most famous one is the North Country Trail, part of the national hiking trail system across the country and it goes from the Southern part of the forest to the New York state line and it's 97 miles here on the Allegheny National Forest.

Another area where people can go to hike is the Tionesta Scenic Area or the Heart's Content Scenic Area and both those areas contain old growth timber that was left behind and not harvested and they can go in there on loop trails, or they can go, if they wanna get away from it a little bit more, they can go into the Hickory Creek Wilderness Area and really get away from people to hike and backpack in that area.

And then as we move into the Fall season and the leaves start to turn, a lot of people just like to drive down a forest service road to look at the Fall colors.

Of course, hunting is popular and the Sheffield area is well-known for its deer population, turkey, and bear.

Once winter comes here and if we have enough snowfall, you can cross-country ski, you can snowshoe.

There are 365 miles of snowmobile trails on the Allegheny National Forest, and once the Allegheny Reservoir freezes over, you can take up ice fishing if that's what you would like to do.

So there are a lot of recreation and activities around Sheffield, and really, no matter what your interest is, you can find it here on the Allegheny National Forest.

- Obviously, the forest is a great place for recreation, but this resource is also a source for the arts.

Up next are two very different kinds of art that both start from a single piece of wood.

(wind chimes ringing) - Out of all the tools, chainsaw's still just my favorite.

Just running it, the speed.

It just never gets old.

(suspenseful music) - We are looking out for the world around us and bringing art back into it.

I'm Hillary.

- I'm Heath.

And I'm a chainsaw artist - And I'm a chainsaw artist.

- Cedar mountain is kind of a mental destination for where we wanna be.

- It's where we create art out of wood.

- It's a fun process.

It's all subtractive.

So, you just get to kind of see it melt away.

As Michelangelo said, "You're taking away everything that doesn't belong."

(bright music) - We are a small family just making a living doing what we love, bringing life back to trees while preserving, protecting, and respecting the world around us.

The feeling you get when you get up in the morning and it's like, yes!

I get to stay home and work today.

It's not even a job to us.

It's our life.

(bright music) - All these old trees, they all have stories.

Maybe their great-grandfather planted, or it was just the the focal point of the property, or it was the one tree left on the farm.

I really love to give that tree a second life after its first life is gone.

- Bringing life back to that tree and meaning back to that family and it incorporates them in that tree, too.

- It's not a huge company.

It's just a company with a huge heart.

- We understand each other and we're on the right path to what we were made to be doing, so we just love it.

(romantic violin music) - And now for something a little different.

In 2016, WPSU produced a program called "Pennsylvania Legends and Lore: Ghosts of the Commonwealth," which explores the tales and traditions of Pennsylvania.

The story you're about to see is the legend of the Lost Hunter.

This is the tale of a boy who did not have a good day in the forest.

- In 1952, a group of men set out on a hunting trip to Shade Mountain near Dry Gap in Blair County.

It was a momentous occasion for one member of the party.

His first hunt.

(upbeat country music) (birds chirping) After some time passed, the boy spotted his first deer.

(birds chirping) (gun clicking) (gun firing) His aim was true, but the deer kept running.

So, the boy set off after it, following the blood trail.

(mysterious drum music) Eventually he tired.

It was then he realized how far he'd gone.

(mysterious guitar music) He walked and walked, but couldn't find the other men from his party.

(mysterious guitar music) - Jimmy!

- After discovering the boy was missing, the men scoured the forest, but to no avail.

- Jimmy!

- Jimmy!

- Jimmy!

- Jimmy!

- Jimmy!

- To this day, the boy's body has never been found.

(birds chirping) Some years later, another hunter was out on Shade Mountain when he stumbled upon a lone boy.

- Are you lost, son?

- The youngster said he was lost.

So, the man offered to lead him out of the woods.

(mysterious horn music) They set off together, but when they reached a clearing and the man turned around... - We're here, buddy.

- The boy was gone.

- Later on, the hunter told his friend about seeing the little boy.

His friend told him that he had just seen the Lost Hunter of Shade Mountain.

It said that if you walked at Dry Gap on a foggy day, you might just encounter that little boy.

Thanks for watching "Keystone Stories."

(inspirational guitar music)