SMETHPORT – Leaders of the Smethport initiative to establish a
Smethport School of Forestry and a visiting team of officials from
The Pennsylvania State University agreed Wednesday to form a joint
task force to study the proposal.

“This group will help develop the idea of establishing a school
of forestry in Smethport which would be affiliated with Penn
State,” said Jack Rosenswie, who heads the project’s board of
directors.

Wednesday’s meeting with local foresters and initiative
directors concluded a two-day visit by the Penn State team to
Smethport. Among the visiting university officials were Dr. Charles
Strauss, director, School of Forest Resources; Dr. Gary Miller,
executive director, continuing and distance education; Dr. Anita
McDonald, chancellor of the Penn State DuBois campus; Dr. Rich
Yahner, professor of wildlife conservation; and John Piccolo,
director of continuing education at the DuBois campus.

Besides Rosenswie, the other initiative directors are Ross
Porter, Wayne Pearson, Ted Gundlah and Jay Studdard.

Since serious efforts began, there have been almost 30 meetings
with to discuss this topic. Some of those sessions have been with
Michael DiBerardinis, secretary of Conservation and Natural
Resources, and James Grace, the state forester, and federal, state
and local government leaders such as U.S. Rep. John Peterson,
R-Pa., U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., state Rep. Martin Causer,
R-Turtlepoint, and Penny Eddy, executive director the McKean County
Housing and Redevelopment Authority.

“The support has been tremendous,” Rosenswie said.

Pearson reviewed for the visiting team Smethport’s selection as
the first Route 6 Heritage Community along the 440-mile corridor
across northern Pennsylvania.

The vision statement calls for a campus conference center called
Eastern Forestry Conference Center to be located in Smethport.

“From the very beginning of this local initiative, The
Pennsylvania State University’s School of Forestry, with its
national reputation, was the only university that was ever
considered to be a partner in this venture,” said Rosenswie.

“Taking advantage of our region and its unique stand of mature
hardwoods and merging it with Penn State, would benefit the
university by continuing to differentiate Penn State in an ever
increasingly competitive educational market, and this affiliation
and partnership would add credibility to both programs.”

The directors were not seeking a formal commitment Wednesday.
Instead, they wanted to accomplish a mutual understanding and
agreement that this is a worthwhile concept and both sides agree to
move forward.

At the same time, however, Penn State has not offered any
commitment to this initiative, according to Dr. Miller.

According to Rosenswie, the region has a lot to offer a school
of forestry.

“Smethport is in the heart of unique mixed hardwoods such as
oak, cherry, and maple, part of the Allegheny National Forest, in
the Pennsylvania Wilds and Heritage Lumber Region, and near many of
the state parks. Being located on (U.S.) Route 6, Smethport is
within hours of major metropolitan centers in the United States and
Canada.”

Pearson referred to a consultant’s report that shows competition
must be increased in the forestry industry. Two key points of that
report show that “the forest products industry workforce is aging,
and both declining interest in careers in manufacturing and other
traditional industries and a growing stigma on logging in the
region are impeding the development of a new generation for forest
products workers.”

That same study found that “services for the wood products
industry are fragmented, but providers show great interest in
cooperating to pool resources and prevent overlap.”

Since academia has more credibility with the public that
industry does, according to Pearson, a university-related Center of
Excellence would go a long way to erase some of many
deficiencies.

Yahner said that he believes if the local initiative “has a
clear value for Penn State, he could see “the university buying
into it.”

Miller, noting costs, said, “At this time, Penn State would not
be warm to creating a campus.” Instead, he recommended, that a
starting point could be a Center of Excellence or a gathering point
for researchers.

As for financing this initiative, Piccolo suggested the local
group consider a model similar to the DuBois Educational
Foundation, a non-profit organization, which has been quite
successful in securing government grant money.

Miller in his concluding remarks, said, “We are leaving with a
lot of things to talk about.”

Rosenswie closed the session by saying, “This meeting far
exceeds any of our expectations. We will have a a school of
forestry here!”