Opinion ID: 3015167
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: History of the ANF 3

Text: The ANF occupies more than 500,000 acres in Elk, Forest, McKean and Warren Counties in Northwestern Pennsylvania. Originally, Pennsylvania’s forests included stands of very large, mature or overmature trees of differing ages and species. The forests were in varying stages of recovery from natural catastrophes such as fires and windthrow.4 David A. Marquis, The Allegheny Hardwood Forests of Pennsylvania, (1975) (“Marquis manuscript”) (manuscript available at A.R., Book 27, Tab 7). Originally, hemlock and beech, which are very shade-tolerant trees, were the most common species. Together, they represented fifty-eight .percent of the forest. Maple, birch, white pine, and chestnut represented an additional thirty percent. Id. at 8. Black cherry, the tree at issue here, composed only 0.8% of the forest from the years 1793 to 1819. However, by 3 Because these facts are not in dispute, much of this section has been excerpted from the Magistrate Judge’s Report & Recommendation. 4 “Windthrow” occurs when trees are uprooted by excessive w i n d s . S e e https://www.uwsp.edu/natres/nres743/Definitions/Windthrow. htm (last visited Sept. 1, 2005). 5 1973, 22.6% of the ANF was black cherry, A.R., Book 33, Tab 6 at 445, and today black cherry amounts to 28% of the overstory forest and 47% of the understory forest,5 A.R., Book