In late summer 2003 Pawling Properties Associates of Pawling, New York contacted the PSU Forestland Management Office. They were looking for some trees, large mature trees that could be excavated from central Pennsylvania and relocated 270 miles away to an upstate New York arboretum. In early fall 2003 a tree moving crew from Texas arrived in the Stone Valley Forest and started preparing approximately a dozen trees for removal, specifically old field Virginia pine and table mountain pine. The desired trees were mature 80+ years old, supported heavy branches and had allot of character. Hand crews would carefully excavate around the base of the tree and secure the root ball with burlap and wire. A machine would then be used to drive metal tubing under the root ball. A crane would then lift the entire tree up and out of the ground and gently place it on the back of a tractor trailer. The tree would then be ready for its journey north. You may have seen these trees as they traveled down College Avenue last fall.

Pine tree being loaded on a tractor trailer