Van L. Wagner

Van L. Wagner completed the B.S. in Wildlife and Fisheries Science in 1998. He is certified by the International Society of Arboriculture and by the Society of American Foresters, as a professional arborist and forester, respectively. He completed the Master of Education in Earth Sciences at World Campus in 2012. His career focus has been forestry, wildlife, and environmental and agricultural education for youth, adults, and the public. He uses a wide range of personal talents to communicate and educate about forests and their importance. These talents include musical artistry, writing, historical reenactment, fine woodworking, and heritage craftsmanship.

Van began a formal teaching career in 2000 with four years at Pine Grove (PA) High School as an environmental science teacher. His time there also involved work in a coal mine and was interrupted while he worked in Idaho as a logger for a year. In 2005, he moved to a new position as a high school environmental science teacher at Lewisburg (PA) High School, where he worked for 16 years. There he created a distinguished advanced placement environmental science program, rechartered an active FFA program, and initiated an ongoing partnership with PA DCNR and The American Chestnut Foundation to maintain a living laboratory to study American chestnuts and other native tree species.

Van returned to his hometown high school in Danville, PA, in 2022 to lead their agriculture and environmental sciences program. He teaches advanced placement courses, forestry, wildlife management, and an honors veterinary science course. There are few other similar high school programs in Pennsylvania that have the comprehensive natural resources offerings that Van created and continues to make possible. Many of his hundreds of students have gone on in higher education and technical careers in forestry and environmental sciences, and many have attended Penn College, Mont Alto, and Penn State to do so.

Van has also been heavily engaged in nonformal educational efforts across the state for more than 20 years. He is an extraordinary folk singer with a strong fan base (vanwagnermusic.com). He specializes in songs about natural and cultural history, forestry, local industrial history, and natural resources. He has recorded and released 35 albums of songs about Pennsylvania's natural and cultural heritage, and many of the songs are available on YouTube and through Internet downloads and CDs. They are songs that tell stories, captivate the imagination, and inspire listeners. Van is also a prolific writer of social media postings on similar subjects.

Due to this renown and reputation, the PA Game Commission asked Van to help create a program to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the reintroduction of Elk in Pennsylvania. He performed this program in schools, parks, and environmental centers across Pennsylvania in 2013. In 2018, the PA DCNR Bureau of State Parks contracted Van to partner with them to create an interpretive and musical program that celebrated their 125^th anniversary. He performed this throughout the Commonwealth's parks that year.

Van's nonformal educational efforts have reached thousands of youth and adults across the state, and he is currently engaged in yet another unique effort. In the past two years, Van has undertaken a novel public outreach campaign with his "67 Trees on 67 Mountains in 67 Counties" project. He set a goal of climbing the highest tree on the highest mountain in all 67 counties as an effort to remind Pennsylvanians that they are all part of the conversation of forest management in our Commonwealth. In his publicity, he says, "Pennsylvanian's forests are a treasure — financially, spiritually, culturally, and ecologically. My goal of climbing the highest tree on the highest mountain in all 67 counties is an effort to remind Pennsylvanians that they are all part of the conversation of forest management in our Commonwealth. Our forests require management to remain healthy, and it is my hope that everyone will play an active role in the conversations about managing our forests for today and for the centuries to come."

On his 46^th climb (this one in Bedford County), the PA Secretary of Agriculture, Russell Redding, and other public officials accompanied Van to show their support. One industry official said after the event, "Across the Commonwealth, Van has been an outstanding ambassador for Pennsylvania's forest products community, articulating how outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat, and clean air and water depend upon healthy forests ‒ which are enabled by the forest management provided by our supply chain."

Van's efforts to raise public awareness of forests and forestry and the recruitment of students into the forestry and natural resources professions over the past 20 years is a most valuable service to the profession. His work and high standards have been recognized at the local, county, and state levels with many awards, including

• Schuylkill County Environmental Educator of the Year, Schuylkill County Conservation District, 2005
• Forestry Educator of the Year, Union County Conservation District, 2007
• Sandy Cochran Award for Natural Resource Education from the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, 2012
• Robert N. Pursel Distinguished Service Award, The Red Cross, 2015
• Danville High School Outstanding Alumni Award, 2021

Van's outreach work was recently featured in a Penn State Extension video: The Forestry Musician. In fall 2024, he was an invited speaker for our department's seminar series.

March 2025