The delicate balance and incredible value of our forests

By Moonlit Penn

Rural communities rely on our woods. They’re the beautiful backdrop to our lives. They make our way of life possible

Pennsylvania knows the value of its lumber – and sustainable management of it, perhaps better than most.

It was Williamsport that was one time known as “The Lumber Capital of the World.” The lumber of Northcentral Pennsylvania was (and remains) an important commodity. Our lumber fueled the industrial revolution, and it created a new class of lumber barons, with Williamsport at one time being home to the most millionaires per capita.

Many who live outside of this rural place may not realize entirely what that means.

While those of us who grew up in recent decades swam in the rivers, learned about and even saw remnants of the logging booms, canals and barges, it was those who came a few generations before who really saw them in action. Who saw our hillsides clearcut. This is not an overstatement.

What today is known as the Allegheny National Forest, the only national forest in the Commonwealth, had once been so logged over that it was called the “Allegheny Brush Patch.”

The area had been so carelessly logged and unsustainably managed that the woods that made the way of life possible were gone. Wildfires and overhunting drove wildlife away. The communities dried up, too. Ghost towns were left behind with few residents holding on to lots of memories of what once was.

But it’s not a story of all bad things.

Decades of stewardship and mindful policy led to that same area being home to more forested public land than Yellowstone National Park and one of the most successful hardwood timber industries in North America. In fact, Pennsylvania is home to the largest hardwood forest in the United States and has been found to rank 17th out of the 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia when it comes to economic dependency on the forestry industry, which contributes 1.9% to its total GDP.

This balanced approach to bringing back and maintaining the forests, and the resiliency of the woods, has sustained jobs while also creating new economic opportunities for local communities, particularly through outdoor recreation. If people who love the woods can come here to enjoy them, then young people may move back to long-forgotten rural towns that are aching for new life. They may invest in our communities. Some residents in these small towns have already taken a bet on themselves and the outdoor recreation economy, creating new small businesses critical to providing the kinds of experiences visitors want – breweries, restaurants, attractions, and more.

That’s what one of Trump’s latest executive orders threatens in rural Pennsylvania, as well as many other rural places across America.

After stating that the U.S. is not exploiting its own lumber resources to the fullest extent possible, he directed the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to come up with ways to “facilitate increased timber production” and “improve the speed of approving forestry projects.”

The Endangered Species Act (ESA), which protects about 400 species in U.S. forests, is also under attack within the order, as Trump has instructed the use of the emergency regulations within the ESA to “the maximum extent permissible” under existing law. These emergency provisions allow the government to bypass protections in specific situations, such as “acts of God, disasters, casualties, national defense or security emergencies.”

This comes on the heels of him announcing plans to liquidate our assets to build his Sovereign Wealth Fund, and follows other comments before his inauguration where he said he will help those who invest $1 billion or more to circumvent environmental regulations.

Under Trump’s first presidency, imports/exports didn’t change much at all. It isn’t about American independence as he claims. It was – and always is for him, and his Republican ilk – about their own corporate profits.

This type of careless profit-first approach to our public assets is a travesty. And it’s not even community profit first – it’s the billionaires and goliath industries that will be prioritized.

There is an economic return on the natural environment that is being ignored: the savings from storm runoff absorption and air filtration, the revenue generated from habitats that support biodiversity and thus hunting, fishing, sightseeing, and more.

Our national parks and public lands are said to contribute more than $55 billion to the national economy, while costing approximately $3 billion to manage.

In addition, the Bureau of Economic Analysis calculated the outdoor recreation economy to be worth $1.2 trillion in 2023, more than 1.5 times the size of oil/gas development and mining. On top of that, studies show that each dollar invested in outdoor recreation infrastructure generates a $14 return.

How many lasting and truly local jobs are going to be created from these short-sighted actions? For how long? And at what cost? Will environmental impact assessments be completed as the federal government looks to ravage our public lands, purposely set aside for us all to enjoy?

To some, saying yes is the only option to whatever economic opportunity comes our way, and it’s radical to feel otherwise. In reality, that is a desperate approach.

Our rural communities deserve better than being the playing ground for extractive industries just in the name of driving billionaire profits. We’re left cleaning up the mess and dealing with the repercussions, at the expense of our local environment and a more balanced way of life.

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