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Thursday, September 30th, 2010

The Legacy of Logging

William Penn’s woods have been subjected to grievous insults over the past century and a half, and the repercussions are still affecting entire regions of the state. Beginning in the mid-1800s, loggers stripped the hills of nearly every standing tree to fuel a growing nation and to sustain the efforts of the Union during the Civil War. The  loggers began with the magnificent stands of white pine, legendary for the size and quality of the trees, especially for ship masts. As is typical in boom and bust economies, the loggers began to expand their take once the highest quality lumber was […]

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Monday, September 27th, 2010

We Didn’t Start the Fire….

This week’s focus was on the socio-economic effects on the watershed. Coal mining and logging have been the historic socio-economic boom and busts of the area, and now Marcellus Shale is looking like it will be the next commodity to take the same course. This week has been full of field trips to Centralia, Pioneer Coal Mine and the Lumber Museum in Galeton, Pa. This was my second trip to Centralia and the Pioneer Coal Mine, but it wasn’t any easier emotionally to walk through Centralia. Centralia has had a coal fire burning beneath the town since the 60s. Slowly […]

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