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Local officials are pushing for more logging in Pennsylvania’s only national forest, and the federal government might grant their wish.
In two executive orders this month, President Donald Trump warned of a reliance on imported wood amid threat of Canadian lumber tariffs and called for more logging in federal forests.
The Allegheny National Forest spans over 500,000 acres, taking up land in McKean, Elk, Warren, and Forest counties and drawing thousands of people for camping, hunting, boating, and other outdoor activities. Local officials can’t rely on property tax from the federal land, but they do receive a 25% share of revenue from timber sales in their counties.
Officials hope for increased timber sales to generate more cash for their budgets.
“A properly managed forest can support sustainable logging, reduce wildfire risks, provide flourishing wildlife habitats, and help support the economy,” said U.S. Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-15th), whose district includes the national forest. "I welcome reforms that will ensure a robust forest industry, strengthen rural economies, and benefit local education.”
Thompson has previously expressed support for an increase in timber harvesting in the forest, citing declines.
Timber sales have been dropping since fiscal year 2021, reaching a low of just over 39 million board feet in the 2023-24 fiscal year. It’s a number that local officials say isn’t enough, given that they could generate more revenue if the land was taxable.
The Forest Service did not respond to further inquiries about the limit to how much timber could be harvested from the Allegheny National Forest, but a 2007 land management plan capped it at 54.1 million board feet annually for 10 years.
It's a pressure point for counties like Warren, which is losing population and relies on an annual average of $300,000 to $350,000 from timber sales. About 37,000 live in the county.
“I am in favor of [increased logging], but it has to be done wisely. You can’t overcut,” said Ken Klakamp, Warren County commissioner. “I would be cautious in that respect, but being a rural county losing population, that is kind of a big deal.”
When asked how the executive orders would impact Allegheny National Forest, the Forest Service – which operates under the Department of Agriculture – provided a statement from an unnamed USDA spokesperson.
“Under the provisions of the Endangered Species Act, USDA will continue to meet its commitments to protecting vulnerable wildlife while also meeting the President’s directive to provide the nation with abundant domestic timber, unhampered by burdensome, heavy-handed policies that neither ensure American economic security nor protection of natural resources,” the statement read.
Trump set deadlines to federal agencies for changes, beginning with updated guidance “regarding tools to facilitate increased timber production and sound forest management, reduce time to deliver timber, and decrease timber supply uncertainty” due Monday.
Future deadlines include creating a strategy to speed up approval of forestry projects by late April and setting an annual timber amount to be collected annually from federal lands for the next four years by late May.
Julia McCray, executive director of the Allegheny Forest Alliance, which includes local officials from townships, school districts and counties with national forest land, said it’s “too soon to see any changes” but is hopeful for an increase in timber harvests.
For Forest County, increased timber means “more and consistent revenue,” said Bob Snyder, a county commissioner and member of the Allegheny Forest Alliance. Forest County is an outlier of the four; instead of a 25% share, it relies on the Secure Rural Schools program, an alternate way for counties to make up lost revenue from federal lands.
Secure Rural Schools funding is determined by a multi-step calculation that includes how much federal land is in a county and county incomes, earning Forest County just over $1 million each year.
But the program hasn’t been reauthorized for this year, and the county may have to rely on the 25% payment, which is “considerably less money,” Snyder said.
“We’ve been begging for increased harvest for decades, both for the forest health and for the communities,” McCray said.
But it wouldn’t happen overnight. Timber sales are done through bids to companies and require an area to be marked, a task that McCray and Snyder said requires a robust and regular staff — something they believe the forest does not have.
“That seems to be the job position that has a lot of new people coming in and then moving out fairly quickly, so they’re constantly refilling those job positions,” McCray said. “It’s going to take time to prepare all those timber sales and put them out to bid, so I would imagine it’s going to be a slow rebuilding.”
And the USDA announced 2,000 probationary Forest Service workers were being let go last month as a part of sweeping federal cuts. The Forest Service did not respond to inquiries about whether Allegheny National Forest was impacted by cuts.
Rustin Lippincott, executive director of McKean County’s tourism agency Allegheny National Forest Visitors Bureau, said the Allegheny National Forest approached the bureau for support in funding an artist-in-residence program, which costs less than $5,000.
But Lippincott is confident federal changes won’t affect the forest’s activities, many of which are managed by Allegheny Site Management and are “essentially immune to any cuts.”
“It’s really important to let people know that everything is going to be open, all of the camping, all of the water activities, all of the trails,” he said.
