The lumber era did not last; the old-growth forests were clearcut by the early 20th century and the Pine Creek Gorge was stripped bare. Nothing was left except the discarded, dried-out tree tops, which became a fire hazard, so much of the land burned and was left barren. In the spring of 1894 a fire burned in what is now Tiadaghton State Forest along Route 44 to near Haneyville. In the summer of 1908 the area around the park burned again, in a fire that stretched from Galeton to Jersey Shore. The soil was depleted of nutrients, fires baked the ground hard, and jungles of blueberries, blackberries, and mountain laurel covered the clearcut land, which became known as the "Pennsylvania Desert". Disastrous floods swept the area periodically and much of the wildlife was wiped out.