This Sunday, at the Twin Lakes Recreation site, officials of the Allegheny National Forest will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding in 1923.

We’ve all grown up with the national forest in our backyard, hiked on its trails, swam in its lakes, fished in its waterways, hunted in its woods and enjoyed the beauty of its trees — but its origin might surprise you.

Now a well-known and enjoyed recreation area, ANF was actually envisioned as a flood control project to protect Pittsburgh, Oil City and other cities located in the Allegheny River watershed.

In the early 20th century, the forests in the Allegheny Watershed area had been overharvested and valuable timber had also been lost to forest fires. Erosion from barren hillsides contributed to springtime flood waters which were a danger to towns on the lower river.

And not just the Allegheny Watershed. It was a problem affecting several U.S. river systems but, in the fall of 1910, John Weeks, a wealthy Massachusetts congressman (and later Secretary of War under Coolidge) who supported conservation practices offered a solution. He successfully introduced a bill to Congress that authorized the United States Secretary of Agriculture to “Examine, locate and recommend for purchase … such lands within the watersheds of navigable streams as … may be necessary to the regulation of flow of navigable streams …”

That bill, the Weeks Act, was signed into law by President William Taft on March 1, 1911.

It would also enable the creation of several national forests, including the Allegheny National Forest, in the eastern United States. The ANF was the first application of the Weeks Law in the state.

Actual implementation took more than a decade, but Dec.r 4, 1921, the Department of Agriculture announced that “tracts of land comprising 412,000 acres in Warren, McKean, Forest and Elk counties have been approved for purchase by federal officials, and will be known as the Allegheny National Forest.” It was, and is, the only national forest in Pennsylvania, and the first in the nation to be created by buying the land from private landowners, instead of declaring eminent domain.

Originally, the Allegheny National Forest was to include 62,000 acres in nearby New York state as well, but the area was subsequently excluded from the program because New York state decided to create its own state park instead, naming it Allegany State Park.

An editorial, written in March 1921, reported “this is without a doubt, one of the greatest projects ever undertaken in this country, the two great purposes being the production of timber, and the protection of the Allegheny and Ohio river valleys from floods.”

Not everyone was thrilled. Immediately, the Northwestern Oil Producers went on public record as being against it, worried that the federal control of such large acreage would adversely affect oil drilling, exploration and production. Outdoorsmen feared the loss of access to game lands, and fishing. Lumbermen were alarmed that timber harvesting would be strongly limited.

In April 1922, LL Bishop, of the United States Forestry Service in Warren, reassured the doubters saying, “It’s not the intention to prohibit hunting, fishing, camping and tramping in the new forest, but rather to encourage it. The government is not acquiring agricultural lands, nor is it interested in tracts containing marketable timber, the intent being to acquire lands that are non-productive at present and to return them to the uses to which they are best suited and to acquire land which is not being cared for under present ownership. The purchase of lands does not include gas or mineral rights which may have been leased or held by the owners.”

Government officials got to work, researching and contacting landowners. In March 1923, United States title attorneys and stenographers from Washington, D.C., became busy in the Recorder of Deeds offices in Smethport, searching for land ownership, as between 25,000 and 30,000 acres of land in the southwestern part of McKean County, mainly in Hamilton and Wetmore townships, were proposed as part of the new national forest. It was expected that much of the land needed could be acquired for $1 an acre.

The actual surveying began in April.

Other officials were busy in the Warren, Elk and Forest courthouses as well, searching for landowners and making offers to purchase. Today, the Allegheny National Forest covers 513,175 acres of land.

Actual presidential proclamation of the new national forest, the first national forest to be created under President Coolidge’s administration was held Sept. 24, 1923.

Over the next few years, several recreation spots were built, including Loleta, Twin Lakes, Hearts Content, Kelly Pines and Sandstone Springs which opened in May of 1937. Twin Lakes near Kane opened two months later. Both Loleta and Twin Lakes facilities were built by the CCC, active in the 1930s.

Today, the Allegheny National Forest is a multi-use forest, including multiple hiking trails, campsites, boating, fishing, hunting, mountain biking, wildlife and bird viewing, and picnicking as well continuing its original mission, to protect the trees. Its slogan, “Land of Many Uses” has been proven again and again.

The 100th anniversary celebration of this amazing National Forest will be held from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sept. 24 at the Twin Lakes Recreation Area. Everyone is invited to attend.

(Sally Costik is curator of the Bradford Landmark Society.)