Lumber country
Few things are more fun for a woodworker than to take a drive through the hardwood heaven of northwest Pennsylvania.
Few things are more fun for a woodworker than to take a drive through the hardwood heaven of northwest Pennsylvania.
We attended my wife’s high school reunion this weekend in Clarion, Pa. (Don’t ask what year.) Clarion is in northwest Pennsylvania, where the main homegrown industry is hardwood harvesting and sales. Although Clarion isn’t far off the interstate, we took advantage of a beautiful day to drive past my folks old house in Marienville a few towns over, and in the process managed to spend a good bit of time cruising one forest area after another.
Along with that, we also passed one hardwood company after another. I counted no fewer than eight of them, even though the total mileage on local roads was probably no more than 40 or 45 miles. Of course, this isn’t surprising in a region where trees outnumber people by about 8 million to one. Heck, the raccoons probably do, too.
In this part of the state, the majority of the lumber is cherry and oak, and it was wonderous to see that much of my two favorite wood species being stacked and prepped for sale. Had it not been a holiday weekend, I would have loved to stop in and take a closer look.
It probably isn’t necessary, though. Chances are good that the next time I go to my local wood monger, the oak or cherry I get will probably have come from here, or even closer to home. And that’s one of the reasons I love living in Pennsylvania.
A.J. Hamler is the former editor of Woodshop News and Woodcraft Magazine. He's currently a freelance woodworking writer/editor, which is another way of stating self-employed. When he's not writing or in the shop, he enjoys science fiction, gourmet cooking and Civil War reenacting, but not at the same time.
