North Country History with Rob Burg
Your podcast on the Forest History of the Great Lakes Region. The forests of the Great Lakes have been home to people for centuries and have provided great resources and wealth, shelter, food, and recreation for many. But in the wake of these uses, the region has been environmentally damaged from deforestation, fire, and erosion, and are still recovering to this day. I will be your guide for exploring the forests and sharing stories of the forests and the people who have called them home.
About Rob Burg: Hi! I'm an environmental historian specializing on the forest history of the Great Lakes Region. I am a mostly lifelong Michigan resident and studied at Eastern Michigan University for both my undergraduate degree in History and graduate studies in Historic Preservation. My 35-year professional life has mostly been in history museums, including the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, the Michigan History Museum, and the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer. I began my environmental history career with managing both the Hartwick Pines Logging Museum and the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum for the Michigan History Museum system, directing the Lovells Museum of Trout Fishing History, archivist for the Devereaux Memorial Library in Grayling, Michigan, and as the Interpretive Resources Coordinator for the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island, Nebraska. I am proud that the first person to ever call me an environmental historian was none other than Dr. William Cronon, the dean of American Environmental History.
North Country History with Rob Burg
Logging in the Northeast, Part 3: Penn's Woods
In this episode I conclude the miniseries on Logging in the Northeast by visiting Pennsylvania and exploring it's lumber history. During the mid-1800s, Pennsylvania led the nation in white pine lumber production until it was eclipsed by Michigan.
Pennsylvania's lumber industry was dominated by two major river systems, the Susquehanna River flowing to the Atlantic Ocean, and the Allegheny River that flowed to the Ohio River at Pittsburgh, then to the Mississippi River in the west.
In this episode I explore the largest remaining stand of old growth white pine in the eastern United States at Cook Forest State Park, visit an operating steam powered sawmill and learn about the distillation of birch oil at the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, and drive through the Allegheny National Forest and the Pennsylvania Lumber Heritage Region.
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https://northcountryhistorywithrobburg.buzzsprout.com/
For More Information:
Cook Forest State Park https://lumberheritage.org/
Pennsylvania Lumber Museum https://lumbermuseum.org/
Allegheny National Forest https://www.fs.usda.gov/r09/allegheny
Pennsylvania Lumber Heritage Region https://lumberheritage.org/
Additional Sources:
DeCoster, Lester A. The Legacy of Penn's Woods: A History of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Forestry. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1995.
McCreight, I.M. "Cook Forest Park: Story of the Sixteen Year Battle to Save the Last Stand of Historic Penn's Woods. The When, The Why and How of It." 1936. PDF digital copy from the Pennsylvania State College (University) Library.
Pennsylvania's Forests: Choices and Challenges. DVD, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 2007.