Clear Creek State Forest

For the Pennsylvania state park, see Clear Creek State Park.

Clear Creek State Forest
Pennsylvania State Forest
Managed Resource Protected Area (IUCN VI)

Named for: Clear Creek
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Counties	Forest, Jefferson, and Venango
Location
- coordinates	41°19′14″N 79°03′22″W / 41.32056°N 79.05611°W / 41.32056; -79.05611Coordinates: 41°19′14″N 79°03′22″W / 41.32056°N 79.05611°W / 41.32056; -79.05611
- elevation	1,808 ft (551.1 m)
Area	13,266 acres (5,369 ha)
Founded	1919
Managed by	Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
Location of Clear Creek State Forest in Pennsylvania
Website : Clear Creek State Forest

Clear Creek State Forest (formerly Kittanning State Forest) is a Pennsylvania State Forest in Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry District #8. The main offices are located in Clarion in Clarion County, Pennsylvania in the United States. Until August 2007, it was named Kittanning State Forest.

The forest is located on a total of 13,266 acres (5,369 ha) in three tracts: 9,089 acres (3,678 ha) in northern Jefferson County; 3,165 acres (1,281 ha) in southern Venango County; and 1,012 acres (410 ha) in southern Forest County. District #8 also includes Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Clarion, Jefferson, Lawrence, and Mercer Counties.

Clear Creek State Forest is managed under the "Multiple Use Management" system. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation of Natural Resources considers many different uses for the forest land and places top priority on the most important use for any given area. Clear Creek State Forest is currently open for recreational purposes such as hunting, fishing, hiking and mountain biking. Several timber, oil and gas companies use the natural resources of the forest. The Pennsylvania Game Commission is responsible for wildlife management in Clear Creek State Forest.

History

Clear Creek 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. The clear cut the forests and left behind nothing but dried tree tops and rotting stumps. The sparks of passing steam locomotives ignited wildfires that prevented the formation of second growth forests.

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]

The first parcel of land that was to become Clear Creek State Forest was purchased by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for $6,880. The original purchase of 3,200 acres (1,300 ha) was purchased in 1919 at the end of the lumber era that swept throughout the mountains of Pennsylvania. The state continued to purchase land throughout the 20th century with the last acquisition taking place in 1980.^[2] Most of the land was acquired from large scale lumbering corporations. These lumber businesses stripped the old growth forest that once spread over most of Pennsylvania. They began lumbering on a large scale in 1883 when the first sawmills were constructed in the area along the many creeks that drained the Allegheny Plateau. The lumbermen harvested the hemlock and white pine trees on an almost exclusive basis.^[2] The logs of hemlock and pine were lashed together in rafts and floated down the Clarion River and into the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh. The lumber companies also built three logging railroads in the area to get the lumber out of the mountains and on to the cities of Western Pennsylvania.

The lumbering operations left behind what has been described as a "barren wasteland" of stumps and dried treetops.^[3] The sparks cast off by passing steam trains set off massive forest fires. These fires slowed the development of the second growth forest that now covers Clear Creek State Forest. The forests have largely regrown with the hemlock and white pine trees being replaced with thriving populations of various hardwood trees.

Neighboring state forest districts

The U.S. state of Ohio is to the west

Nearby state parks

References

1 2 "History of the William Penn State Forest". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
1 2 "History of Clear Creek State Forest". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-06-12.
↑ "Laurel Mountain State Park". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-06-12.

"Clear Creek State Forest". Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Retrieved 2007-09-05.

"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

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 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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