PA Forests and Old
Growth Forests
Before class, get started on…
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Take out your Field Study Lab and turn it in up
front.
Take out your notes and answer the following
questions…
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What is an old growth forest?
Where is the area of the largest old growth forest
in the country?
Old Growth Forest
• Old-Growth Forests (virgin forest): forests
that have never been disturbed (logged or
burned)
California Redwoods
PA Forest History
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29 million acres of
virgin forest in the
time of the colonists
200 years ago
logging was done to
clear the land for
crops
A high demand for
wood made PA the
leading lumber
producer in the nation
in the 1860’s
PA Forest History Con’t
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Many of the hemlock
trees (state tree) were
cut down for the tannic
acid in their bark and the
wood was wasted
By the 1900’s almost all
the virgin forests were
removed
Today Pa manages 2
million acres of forest
and only a few patches
of virgin forest
Old Growth Forest in the Pacific
Northwest
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Largest area of
old-growth
forest in the
country.
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The area is high
in biodiversity.
Old Growth Forests can be sold
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Law requires that national forests and other
federal lands to be managed for multiple use:
 Logging
 Mining
 Grazing
 Recreation
 Fish and Wildlife Habitat
 Watershed Protection
Protected forests

Only National Parks or Wilderness Areas are
protected from logging
Conflict Between Logging and
Environmental Protection…