Festival of Wood speaks for the trees More than a century ago,
the United States was headed for a timber famine. See full
article text The nation had an insatiable need for wood products
and was clear-cutting forests to fulfill this need, according to
Lori McKean, visitors services information specialist at Grey
Towers National Historic Site, Milford. Grey Towers is the
ancestral home of Gifford Pinchot, eminent conservationist,
founder and first chief of the U.S. Forest Service, and two-term
Pennsylvania governor. This family home served as the
inspiration for the Pinchot family's many philanthropic and
public endeavors. "The Pinchot family — particularly Gifford
Pinchot — introduced the idea of scientific forestry to America
at a time when no such thing existed in this nation," McKean
said. "America's forests were being clear-cut to meet this young
nation's need for wood and wood products, and Gifford introduced
the concept of managing the forests — utilizing some of the
trees but leaving some for the futur