Tuscarora State Forest contains 91,165 acres (36,893 ha) in several tracts and is located in Cumberland, Franklin, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Perry counties.

The sparks of passing steam locomotives ignited wildfires that prevented the formation of second growth forests.

The Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a piece of legislation in 1897 that authorized the purchase of "unseated lands for forest reservations."

In his position as commissioner of the Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters, he led the statewide effort to acquire lands that had been clear cut and left barren.

This was due to the widespread wildfires that swept over the hills and through the valleys when the sparks cast off by passing steam trains would ignite fires in the dried tree tops that were left behind by the lumbermen.