Woodland News

Acer saccharum, otherwise known as sugar maple, is a deciduous tree that can reach 40′ to 80′ tall (sometimes over 100′), and is well-known throughout the Eastern U.S. hardwood forests for its spectacular fall color.

Although U.S. hardwood grade lumber prices have risen and retreated rapidly during the past two years, our research suggests recent price trends have become highly responsive to movements in two leading indicators.

This species is not native to our region, yet has found a home here in many places, including driveways and foundation cracks!

Thad Taylor, FORECON Inc. Director of Corporate Strategy, shares the podium at a Forest Technology class at Penn State DuBois campus in April, 2023.

Last year’s nest was well hidden by foliage during the summer. Autumn, then snow revealed it in this low maple seedling.

Dynamic! That’s the best way we can describe the last several months’ hardwood grade lumber price movements.

Coming across a shagbark hickory (Carya ovata) while working in the woods isn’t so rare in our region. But, we don’t always encounter one having this level of shaggy-ness. Biodiversity in abundance.

A rare American chestnut (Castanea dentata) amid a sea of mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) during a normal work-day in the remote big-woods region of north central Pennsylvania.

Besides my lightly worn Carhartt coat, one of my favorite things is the chance to encounter less-common tree species having terrific form. Here’s an elm tree which happened to be located within my inventory plot, on a gorgeous sunny winter day.

Our team covers a lot of miles and a lot of acres during the course of a work-day. Therefore, we encounter some interesting sights. Here, one of our foresters stumbled across the skull of a majestic buck before the porcupines and other rodents recycled its vital calcium and other mineral nutrients.