Zach Klein's Blog

cabinporn:

Added to my cabin bookshelf: American Canopy by Eric Rutkow. It’s a history of the United States via the trees we harvested to build it.

My cabin at Beaver Brook is in a forest that used to be mostly dominated by white pines, the tallest trees in the Eastern United States. The forest was nearly clear cut and the logs were floated down the nearby Delaware River to Philadelphia where they were used as structural beams for buildings and British ships.

Once cleared, the property was converted to farmland and then abandoned due to poor soils and growing conditions and allowed to naturally regenerate back into a native hardwood and pine forests. This is typical of much of the property in the area. Many old stone walls verify the past agricultural use. Then, BB was most likely cut over again in the late 1800’s to early 1900’s to support the acid factories of the area. The wood was used to manufacture acid, charcoal and wood alcohol.

Now, BB’s trees are mostly 40-50 years old, though I’m grateful there are still a few old growth trees to remind me of the previous magnificence of this historic forest.

- Zach