Pennsylvania’s heritage is intertwined with the forests that make up 60 percent of our land area. As a person drives, he or she has to be impressed with the immense size of our forests. But it did not used to be that way. Because of indiscriminate logging, Pennsylvania forests only made up 17 percent in 1920. More important than the deforestation was the threat to both rural and urban areas from fire.
At the start of the last century, fires added to the denuding of the landscape to create an environmental nightmare of flood water run off, pollution, and smoke/respiratory problems experienced by many.
Then in 1886 the father of Pennsylvania Forestry, Doctor Joseph T. Rothrock began to educate as to how conservation, fire protection, and reforesting Pennsylvania could restore our state’s beauty while enabling a self-sustaining industry to thrive. He was joined by Governor Gifford Pinchot, who also created the United States Forest Service. Pennsylvania also can lay claim to the first school of forestry located in Mont Alto, now a Penn State campus near where the PA Forestry Museum will be located in south central Pennsylvania.
In 1901, the Pennsylvania Department of Forestry initiated conservation practices that restored our forest base, contributed to our economy, and most important, created a legacy of beauty and vision for our children and grandchildren.

EARLY WILDLAND FIRE FIGHTING AT PENN STATE MONT ALTO

A severe problem in the Mont Alto area in the late 1800s and early 1900s was forest fires. The fact that there was a shortage of fire crews did not help the situation. Due to the shortage of workers, hundreds of thousands of acres had been engulfed by massive forest fires. There had been a desperate need for laborers to assist the existing fire crews in building roads, clearing out existing roads, and fighting fires. The laborers had served as the work force in all projects listed under “Work Needed on the Forest Reserves.”

Students at Mont Alto have been involved with many forest fires over the history of the academy. Joseph T. Rothrock, who is known as “The Father of Pennsylvania Forestry,” wanted the students of the academy to know from the start that they were at the school to do physical work. He felt that their main responsibility to the reserves was that of manual labor. In April of 1904, a fire burning 4,000 acres broke out. Under George H. Wirt’s guidance, who was Pennsylvania’s first professional forester in 1901, a crew of Mont Alto students reached the front of the fire by a lane that they had recently opened up. Using a back fire, the fire was brought under control. Between 1911 and 1913, students spent 900 to 2,003 hours on either fire patrol or fire fighting. From 1910 to 1917, there were fires almost every year in the Mont Alto area. In 1913, a fire had broken out and burned for three days above the Oak Knob on Snowy Mountain and then shifted eastwards to the area of Green Ridge. It was finally brought under control by a group of students still known as “Wirt’s Ragged Rangers.” A “reign of terror” was then started the following November along the mountain side just a few miles from the school. Classroom work was finally cancelled for the students of 1916. All of their time was spent in fire patrol.

In the spring of the same year, a fire was intentionally set by the state chief fire warden. Wirt had decided to create a black and white film of a forest fire to be used as an informative tool. Once the idea was given permission, several months later, the freshmen and juniors of Mont Alto became actors in the film. The movie fire got out of control and threatened to envelop the students. They, however, made it out safely. The film was released under the title The Curse of the Forest. The viewers were given a chance to see the students’ skills and determination. In October of the same year, a large fire northwest of the tuberculosis sanitorium on Rocky Mountain burned over the entire preserve. The fire had blazed up abruptly while the students were fighting to contain it. They barely escaped with their lives. During other times, students had even trekked four miles or more on foot to reach fires. Using skillful fire fighting tactics, determination, and courage, the forest fires were controlled and put out.

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