MANAGEMENT OF THE STATE FORESTS OF PENNSYLVANIA 



BY JOSEPH S. ILLICK 



CHIEF, DIVISION OF SILVICULTURE PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY 



ri^HE practice of forestry began at an early date in 

 i Pennsylvania. In 1681 William Penn, in his Char- 

 ter of Rights, prescribed a method of perpetuating 

 the forest resources of the State. Ever since this early 

 attempt a few private owners of forest land have 

 managed their properties with care and forethought, but 

 the real advent of rational forest management did not 

 take place until after the State began to acquire forest 

 land. In 1897 the Legislature authorized the State pur- 

 chase of forest land for the purpose of establishing 



STARTING FOR A FOREST FIRE OX THE MONT ALTO STATE 

 FOREST WITH A STATEOWNED TRUCK 



Forest Reserves, now known as State Forests. Since 

 then each Legislature has appropriated money for the 

 acquisition of additional forest land and for the develop- 

 ment of that already in possession of the State. To date 

 (January 1, 1920) 1,048.692 acres have been purchased 

 at a total cost of $2,391,943.51, which represents an 

 average price of $2.28 per acre. 



The purpose of acquiring forest land for the State 

 was not to preserve or reserve the products found 

 thereon, but to develop and improve the land to its 

 maximum productive capacity by using methods which 

 are economically recommendable and give sylvicultural 

 satisfaction. Such an objective implies an orderly plan 

 of management, but before such a plan can become 

 operative a number of preparatory procedures must be 

 successfully carried out. Among them are two which 

 may be regarded as prerequisites to the orderly man- 

 agement of any forest property, viz.: (1) The establish- 

 ment of clear title to all pending acquisitions, and (2) the 

 definite location and accurate delimitations of all pur- 

 chased areas. 



The ownership of a tract of forest land cannot be 

 assumed, but must be established by a thorough exami- 

 nation of all titles. A real business-like acquisition 



procedure will prevent many a subsequent dispute, or 

 possibly costly litigations. In this field of endeavor the 

 Pennsylvania Department of Forestry has been singu- 

 larly successful, for in only two instances has title to 

 tracts of State forest land been questioned, and in both 

 cases the court decided in favor of the State. The experi- 

 ence of Pennsylvania foresters in the field of forest land 

 acquisition shows conclusively that a clear title must be 

 established in all instances before acquisition proceed- 

 ings are completed and before the plans of management 

 are applied. 



The second prerequisite implies that a careful and 

 complete boundary survey should be made immediately 

 after the forest land is acquired. This will enable the 

 forester in charge of the land to make a complete and 

 systematic study of the forest growth conditions present 

 upon the area, and on the basis of this study he will be 

 able to prescribe a method of handling it properly. Such 

 a survey and clearing of boundary lines will also prevent 

 adjoining land 

 owners from tres- 

 passing intention- 

 ally or encroach- 

 ing i n n o c ently 

 upon t he state- 

 owned land. 



The two fore- 

 go i n g prepara- 

 tory procedures 

 are very impor- 

 tant, but they are 

 of little conse- 

 quence unless fol- 

 lowed up by the 

 three essentials to 

 the orderly han- 

 dling of a forest 

 property, viz.: 

 men, money and 

 material. Ever 

 since the purchase 

 of State forest 

 land began in 

 Pennsylvania i t 

 was evident to 

 those in charge of 

 the business that 

 every acre of ac- 

 quired land is in 

 need of recupera- ONE OF NINE steel forest fire tow- 



Hw trpafmpnt ERS ON THE STATE FORESTS OF PENN- 

 uvc i i cctiuiciii. sylvANIA 



