Forestland Management Office

Responsible for the more than 8,000 acres of forest owned by Penn State. These lands are used for teaching, research, recreation, and as a renewable resource for timber and other forest products.

Latest News

June 12, 2025

Heard on Campus: College of Agricultural Sciences Dean Troy Ott at Timber 2025

Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences and the Pennsylvania Forest Products Association co-hosted the 2025 Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition, June 6-7 at Penn State's Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs. The college's dean, Troy Ott, was on hand to support the partnership among Penn State, the state's forest products industry, forest landowners and government agencies.

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June 3, 2025

Isolated Torrey pine populations yield insights into genetic diversity

The key to trees' ability to adapt to varied growing conditions and, ultimately, their survival, may reside in the complex genetic makeup of replacement trees, according to forest geneticists tasked with reintroducing tree species. A study of one of the rarest pine trees in the world, Torrey pine, conducted by a team including Penn State scientists, has yielded what the researchers called valuable insight into the value of genetic diversity and the importance of ensuring locally adapted diversity is maintained for restoration.

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May 9, 2025

Timber expo to shine spotlight on Pennsylvania forest products industry

Pennsylvania’s nearly $22 billion forest products industry will be the focus of the 2025 Forest Products Equipment and Technology Exposition, to be held June 6-7 at Penn State's Ag Progress Days site at Rock Springs.  

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May 8, 2025

Cultural burning by Indigenous peoples increased oak in forests near settlements

A debate continues among scientists over whether tree composition in forests in eastern North American historically have been influenced more by climate or by cultural burning, which is the intentional and controlled use of fire by Indigenous people to manage their environment. Now, a new study of southern New England forests by a team including a researcher from Penn State lends credence to the cultural burning hypothesis, suggesting that fire-tolerant vegetation — oak, hickory and pine — were significantly more abundant near Indigenous settlements over the last 5,000 years.

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