Van Wagner is on a tree-climbing quest for a good cause: to educate people about the importance of Pennsylvania’s 16.8 million acres of forests and the wood products that come from them.

His goal is to climb trees in all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.

He hit 38 Saturday, adding a Newtown Township cherry tree in Delaware County and a Chestnut Hill elm tree in Philadelphia County, writes Gary Miles for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Jim McCambridge, a 56-year-old Swarthmore physicist who is also a tree climber, joined Van Wagner on his Chestnut Hill climb. 

Van Wagner, 47, a certified arborist and forester, teaches agriculture science at Danville High School in Montour County.

He decided to visit the highest elevation points in all 67 counties and climb the tallest tree he could find.

His quest engages other tree lovers with inspiring social media messages to raise awareness of “our forests and the trees and animals within them” and the “many challenges and risks” in forest maintenance.

Wagner began his tree tour in Montour County on Jan. 28, 2023. He hopes to finish within within a year or two.

Find out more about Van Wagner’s tree-climbing quest and about forestry’s impact on Pennsylvania in The Philadelphia Inquirer.