you might want to peruse the PDF at the link ...

especially in regard to groups and governmental units to contact ...

i would highly recommend.. you start with your county soil conservation district.. as they often have plant sales in spring ...

further.. they may be able to guide you further ..

you should probably also contact your county extension office ...

there should be so much info.. available thru your county and state.. that it seems that the WWW might not be good enough.. go figure on that ...

now.. once you get honed in.. and need some stuff further explained.. than come on back ...

though i love pinus strobus... it is having problems in MI ... i do not know if that is true for PA ...

and you might want to check.. to see if juniperous viginianana... is considered an invasive in PA ... its a long story .. lol ...

and your project seems to define the goal of the nature conservancy .... check out this link :

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/pennsylvania/

good luck

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

What he said .

Tomp, can you gain access to original land surveyor's records and resulting maps-if such exist for your area? If you want to hone in more closely to what your area held at time of European settlement, those maps, again, when available, are godsends.

Are there pockets of more or less native and natural forest or shrublands in the area? At least where I live, those places hold at least 50% of the answers to a query such as yours.

Then, do talk to experts-they're usually bursting with info relevant to what it is you're trying to do.

+oM

Here are all the native conifers historically known to be native in PA (Any other species would have been introduced into PA):

Juniperus communis - rare in PA
Chamaecyparis thyoides - Historically known to be native to PA but the small populations of this in PA were extirpated many years ago.
Abies balsamea
Larix laricina
Picea mariana
Picea rubens
Pinus echinata - rare in PA
Pinus pungens
Pinus resinosa
Pinus rigida
Pinus strobus
Pinus virginiana
Tsuga canadensis
Taxus canadensis

This post was edited by treeguy123 on Sun, Dec 28, 14 at 16:29