Michaux State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #1. The main offices are located in Fayetteville in Franklin County,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

, USA. The Michaux State Forest is in several tracts covering more than located in Adams County, southern

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Cumberland, historic county *Cumberla ...

, eastern Franklin County, and northwestern York County.

History

Michaux State Forest is named for

André Michaux André Michaux, also styled Andrew Michaud, (8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specimens in England, Spain, France, and even Per ...

, a French

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

. He was dispatched in 1785 by King

Louis XVI of France Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was e ...

and his Queen

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette Josèphe Jeanne (; ; née Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last queen of France before the French Revolution. She was born an archduchess of Austria, and was the penultimate child a ...

to gather plants for the Royal Gardens. Michaux State Forest was formed as a direct result of the depletion of the forests of Pennsylvania that took place during the mid-to-late 19th century. Conservationists such as

Joseph Rothrock Joseph Trimble Rothrock (April 9, 1839 – June 2, 1922) was an American environmentalist, recognized as the "Father of Forestry" in Pennsylvania. In 1895, Rothrock was appointed the first forestry commissioner to lead the newly formed Division o ...

became concerned that the forests would not regrow if they were not managed properly. Lumber and iron companies had harvested the old-growth forests for various reasons. They clear cut the forests and left behind nothing but dried tree tops and rotting stumps. The sparks of passing

steam locomotives A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

ignited

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

s that prevented the formation of

second growth forest A secondary forest (or second-growth forest) is a forest or woodland area which has re-grown after a timber harvest or clearing for agriculture, until a long enough period has passed so that the effects of the disturbance are no longer evident. I ...

s. The conservationists feared that the forest would never regrow if there was not a change in the philosophy of forest management. They called for the state to purchase land from the lumber and iron companies and the lumber and iron companies were more than willing to sell their land since that had depleted the natural resources of the forests. The changes began to take place in 1895 when Rothrock was appointed the first commissioner of the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, the forerunner of today's

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; pr ...

. The

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

passed a piece of legislation in 1897 that authorized the purchase of "unseated lands for forest reservations." This was the beginning of the State Forest system. The land that is now Michaux State Forest was once owned by several large iron companies. The iron companies used the old growth forests of South Central Pennsylvania to fire their iron furnaces such as Pine Grove Furnace, Caledonia, and Mont Alto. Colliers gathered the wood and created

charcoal Charcoal is a lightweight black carbon residue produced by strongly heating wood (or other animal and plant materials) in minimal oxygen to remove all water and volatile constituents. In the traditional version of this pyrolysis process, cal ...

by slowly burning the logs in massive charcoal kilns that dotted the landscape of what is now Michaux State Forest. Michaux State Forest is the location of several "firsts" in Pennsylvania Forestry. The first state nursery was established at Mont Alto in 1902. Rothrock opened the first forestry school in Pennsylvania and the second in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at what is now

Penn State Mont Alto Penn State Mont Alto is a residential commonwealth campus of the Pennsylvania State University. Located in Mont Alto, Pennsylvania, the campus offers nine four-year and seven two-year degree programs, including nursing, forest technology, occup ...

. Michaux State Forest saw the first wooden

fire tower A fire lookout tower, fire tower or lookout tower, provides housing and protection for a person known as a " fire lookout" whose duty it is to search for wildfires in the wilderness. It is a small building, usually on the summit of a mountain or ...

in 1905 as well as the first steel fire tower in 1914. Michaux State Forest is now a thriving

. It is open to recreational hunting, fishing, hiking and mountain biking. It is crossed by the

Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...

. Remnants of the charcoal days can still be seen in the state forest as the land where the kilns burned for so many years has yet to fully recover. Visitors to the park will notice these areas as large grassy meadows that are surrounded by the woods of Michaux State Forest.

Neighboring state forest districts

The

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

is to the south *

Tuscarora State Forest Tuscarora State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #3. The main office is located in Blain in Perry County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Tuscarora State Forest contains in several tracts an ...

(north) *

Weiser State Forest Weiser State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #18. The main offices are located in Cressona in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The forest is located on several small tra ...

(northeast) *

William Penn State Forest William Penn State Forest is a List of Pennsylvania state forests, Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #17. The main offices are located in Elverson, Pennsylvania, Elverson in Chester County, Pennsylvania, Chest ...

(east) *

Buchanan State Forest Buchanan State Forest is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #2. The main office is located in McConnellsburg in Fulton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The forest also includes tracts in Frankl ...

(west)

Nearby state parks

Caledonia State Park Caledonia State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Greene Township, Franklin County and Franklin Township, Adams County in southern Pennsylvania. The park is named for the Caledonia Furnace, an iron furnace that was owned by Thaddeus St ...

Pine Grove Furnace State Park Pine Grove Furnace State Park is a protected Pennsylvania area that includes Laurel and Fuller Lakes in Cooke Township of Cumberland County. The Park accommodates various outdoor recreation activities, protects the remains of the Pine Grove ...

Mont Alto State Park Mont Alto State Park is a Pennsylvania state park on in Quincy Township, Franklin County, Pennsylvania in the United States. The park is on Pennsylvania Route 233 one mile from Mont Alto. History Mont Alto Iron Company Mont Alto State Park i ...

Kings Gap Environmental Education and Training Center Kings Gap Environmental Education Center is a Pennsylvania state park in Cooke, Dickinson and Penn Townships, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania acquired the land in 1973, from the C. H. ...

The

also runs through Michaux State Forest.

References

* ''Note: As of July 2006, this web page has not been updated to reflect the Pennsylvania State Forest Districts realignment.'' * ''Note: Map showing districts after the July 1, 2005 realignment''

External links

{{Authority control Pennsylvania state forests Protected areas of Adams County, Pennsylvania Protected areas of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania Protected areas of Franklin County, Pennsylvania Blue Ridge Mountains South Mountain Range (Maryland−Pennsylvania) History of forestry in the United States