Most of the land acquired by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was purchased from land holding and lumber companies. The lumber companies had stripped the land of vast stands of old growth Eastern hemlock and white pine during the lumber era that swept throughout the mountains of Pennsylvania during the mid-to-late 19th century.
The bulk of the land acquired by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was obtained from companies that controlled and harvested timberlands. In the mid-to-late 19th century, these companies extensively logged the state's mountains, removing vast stands of old-growth Eastern hemlock and white pine trees.