10 October 2017

When Europeans arrived in Pennsylvania the first thing they did was clear the forest for farms. 150 years ago the focus changed from chopping for farmland to clear-cutting to sell the wood. Clear-cutting ended in the complete deforestation of Pennsylvania in 1900-1920. Other than small patches of old growth forest, such as the one at Cook Forest, the Pennsylvania woods you see today is just 100+ years old.

A few old trees remained in unlikely places. Farmers sometimes left one tree in a field as shade for the animals or left a tree standing at the boundary line.

When the farm was abandoned the forest grew back and surrounded the lone tree. At top an ancient white pine is surrounded by a younger Vermont forest. Lone trees in Pennsylvania tend to be oaks.

In the late 20th century foresters dubbed them “wolf trees” because they believed that these huge older trees were “exhausting forest resources and should be eradicated to make way for profitable wood.” Eventually perceptions changed and wolf trees are now appreciated.

In 2015 I took a picture of a wolf tree at Cedar Creek Park in Westmoreland County. Nine years ago it had already been dead a long time and pieces of it were falling.

In subsequent visits to Cedar Creek I didn’t pay attention to this tree. I wonder how much of it still stands. I’ll have to go and see. (p.s. UPDATE on 15 Oct 2024: Mark Bowers checked and the tree is still there!

Read more about the changing attitudes about wolf trees at Berkshire Natural Resources Council: Debunking Wolf Trees