Forbes State Forest

Forbes State Forest
Pennsylvania state forest
Managed Resource Protected Area (IUCN VI)
View of the surrounding forest from the Beam Rocks overlook.
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Counties	Fayette, Somerset, Westmoreland
Location
- coordinates	40°12′43″N 79°11′52″W / 40.21194°N 79.19778°W / 40.21194; -79.19778Coordinates: 40°12′43″N 79°11′52″W / 40.21194°N 79.19778°W / 40.21194; -79.19778
- elevation	2,717 ft (828.1 m)
Area	50,000 acres (20,230 ha)
Managed by	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Location of Forbes State Forest in Pennsylvania
Website : Forbes State Forest

Forbes State Forest is a Pennsylvania state forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #4. The main offices are located in Laughlintown in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Mount Davis, the highest peak in Pennsylvania, is located in the forest.

The forest was named in honor of General John Forbes. It includes 20 separate tracts of land and covers over 50,000 acres (20,230 ha) that stretch across Fayette, Somerset, and Westmoreland Counties. The designated forest tracts generally follow one of the area's dominant terrain features, Laurel Ridge, part of the Laurel Highlands. In addition to the state forest lands, District #4 includes Allegheny, Greene, and Washington Counties.

History

Forbes 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 like Dr. Joseph Rothrock 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 of the Pittsburgh, Westmoreland and Somerset Railroad ignited wildfires that prevented the formation of second growth forests. 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.^[1] The changes began to take place in 1895 when Dr. 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 General Assembly 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.^[1]

Cole Run Falls is located in an isolated unit of the reserve.

Facilities

In order to accommodate visitors, the state has allowed the development of 9 areas within Forbes. This includes 6 State Parks and 3 State Forest Picnic Areas. The remainder of the area is undeveloped except for hiking trails maintained by the state. These are generally closed to vehicles but open to hiking, cross-country skiing, hunting, and fishing. Several portions of what is now designated as part of the Forbes State Forest had previously been either developed or commercially exploited through logging through the early-to-mid-20th century. These areas have been allowed, and sometimes "encouraged", to return to their natural state.

Neighboring state forest districts

The U.S. states of Maryland and West Virginia are to the south and west, respectively

Nearby state parks

Natural features

Forbes State Forest lies within the Appalachian mixed mesophytic forests ecoregion.^[2] It also includes a number of important natural features and points of interest:

Roaring Run Natural Area

This tract of 3,070 acres (1,242 ha) was acquired by the State of Pennsylvania in 1975. After previous development and logging, this portion of the west slope of Laurel Ridge is currently undergoing reforestation. It is compromised largely of second and third growth mixed mesophytic forest. Roaring Run feeds into Indian Creek, which is a tributary of the Youghiogheny River.

Mt. Davis Natural Area

Mt. Davis is the highest point in Pennsylvania. The area eventually drains into the Casselman River, a part of the Mississippi River watershed (via the Youghiogheny, Monongahela, and Ohio Rivers). One of the natural attractions of the area is the presence of small concentric stone rings which result from frost heaving in small patches of earth which are softer than the ground surrounding them. Frost causing the patches to be pushed up higher than their surroundings is followed by the effects of natural erosion which results in stones sliding to the bottom of the protrusion and forming ring-like patterns at the base.

Spruce Flats Wildlife Management Area

Spruce Flats Bog, which was formed in 1908 after the area was deforested and a subsequent fire altered the composition of the soil.

This Wildlife Management Area covers 305 acres (123 ha), with a focal point on the 28 acres (11 ha) of the Spruce Flats Bog which formed in a natural depression atop Laurel Ridge. The area had previously passed through the successional sequence from open water to (eventually) forest. This process was actually reversed in the early part of the 20th century by a combination of clear-cutting the forest, and fires which burned away much of the forest floor. This resulted in a return to the swamp or bog stage of development, and the area is now slowly proceeding back into the forest stage. The bog currently hosts a large community of cranberry, pitcher plant, sundew, and cotton grass.

References

1 2 "History of the William Penn State Forest". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on 2007-08-23. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
↑ Olson, D. M, E. Dinerstein; et al. (2001). "Terrestrial Ecoregions of the World: A New Map of Life on Earth". BioScience 51 (11): 933–938. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2.

"Forbes State Forest". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2006-07-12. Note: As of July 2006, this web page has not been updated to reflect the Pennsylvania State Forest Districts realignment.
"State Forest Districts". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Archived from the original on 2006-05-15. Retrieved 2006-07-12. Note: Map showing districts after the July 1, 2005 realignment

External links

www.stateparks.com: Forbes State Forest

Protected areas of Pennsylvania

Federal

NPS National Historical Parks & National Historic Sites	Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS Edgar Allan Poe NHS Eisenhower NHS Friendship Hill NHS Gloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church NHS Hopewell Furnace NHS Independence NHP Steamtown NHS Valley Forge NHP

National Memorials	Benjamin Franklin Flight 93 Johnstown Flood Thaddeus Kosciuszko

National Battlefields and National Military Parks	Fort Necessity NB Gettysburg NMP

National Trails	Appalachian Trail

Other protected areas	Allegheny National Recreation Area Blue Marsh National Recreation Area Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area Lackawanna Heritage Valley National and State Heritage Area Middle Delaware National Scenic River Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River

National Forests	Allegheny

USFS National Historic Sites	Grey Towers

National Wildlife Refuges	Cherry Valley Erie John Heinz Ohio River Islands

State

State Parks	Allegheny Islands Archbald Pothole Bald Eagle Beltzville Bendigo Benjamin Rush Big Pocono Big Spring Black Moshannon Blue Knob Boyd Big Tree Buchanan's Birthplace Bucktail Caledonia Canoe Creek Chapman Cherry Springs Clear Creek Codorus Colonel Denning Colton Point Cook Forest Cowans Gap Delaware Canal Denton Hill Elk Erie Bluffs Evansburg Fort Washington Fowlers Hollow Frances Slocum French Creek Gifford Pinchot Gouldsboro Greenwood Furnace Hickory Run Hillman Hills Creek Hyner Run Hyner View Jacobsburg Jennings Joseph E. Ibberson Kettle Creek Keystone Kings Gap Kinzua Bridge Kooser Lackawanna Laurel Hill Laurel Mountain Laurel Ridge Laurel Summit Lehigh Gorge Leonard Harrison Linn Run Little Buffalo Little Pine Locust Lake Lyman Run Marsh Creek Maurice K. Goddard McCalls Dam McConnells Mill Memorial Lake Milton Mont Alto Moraine Mt. Pisgah Nescopeck Neshaminy Nockamixon Nolde Forest Norristown Farm Ohiopyle Oil Creek Ole Bull Parker Dam Patterson Penn-Roosevelt Pine Grove Furnace Poe Paddy Poe Valley Point Presque Isle Prince Gallitzin Promised Land Prompton Prouty Place Pymatuning R. B. Winter Raccoon Creek Ralph Stover Ravensburg Reeds Gap Ricketts Glen Ridley Creek Ryerson Station S. B. Elliott Salt Springs Samuel S. Lewis Sand Bridge Shawnee Shikellamy Sinnemahoning Sizerville Susquehanna Susquehannock Swatara Tobyhanna Trough Creek Tuscarora Tyler Upper Pine Bottom Varden Warriors Path Washington Crossing Whipple Dam White Clay Creek Worlds End Yellow Creek

State Forests	Bald Eagle Buchanan Clear Creek Cornplanter Delaware Elk Forbes Gallitzin Lackawanna Loyalsock Michaux Moshannon Rothrock Sproul Susquehannock Tiadaghton Tioga Tuscarora Weiser William Penn (Wild areas)

Scenic Rivers	Bear Run French Creek Lehigh River LeTort Spring Run Lick Run Lower Brandywine Octoraro Creek Pine Creek Schuylkill River Stony Creek Tucquan Creek Tulpehocken Creek Yellow Breeches Creek

Other

Other	Anders Run Natural Area Forrest H. Duttlinger Natural Area Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Hoverter and Sholl Box Huckleberry Natural Area Johnson Run Natural Area Stone Valley Recreation Area Trexler Nature Preserve Wykoff Run Natural Area

Hiking trails	Appalachian Baker Black Forest Central Mountains Shared Use Darlington Eastern Continental Five Star Glacier Ridge Great Eastern Greene River Horse-Shoe Indian Creek Valley Loyalsock Mid State Standing Stone Mason-Dixon North Country Ohio River Old Loggers Path Pinchot Potomac Heritage Quehanna Rachel Carson Sheepskin Susquehannock Thunder Swamp Tuscarora Valley Forge Historical West Rim Wissahickon Youghiogheny River

Rail trails	Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Beaver River East Coast Greenway Five Star Ghost Town Great Allegheny Passage Great Shamokin Path Greene River Indian Creek Valley Lebanon Valley Lehigh Gorge Liberty Bell Lower Montour Ohio River Palmer Bikeway Panhandle Perkiomen Pine Creek Plainfield Township Schuylkill River Sheepskin Struble Susquehanna Warrior Switchback Three Rivers Heritage York Country Heritage Youghiogheny River

Nature centers	List of nature centers in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

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