Sam MacDonald joined the Pennsylvania Wilds initiative in May 2009.

Sam was born and raised in Ridgway, in Elk County. His father was an auto mechanic in St. Mary’s. His mother was a registered nurse.

After graduating from Ridgway Area High School, Sam went on to Yale University and graduated with a double major in history and economics. After college, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, and pursued a career in journalism. He covered everything from crime, courts and business to an assignment following a National Guard Unit in Bosnia. Eventually, he took a job as Washington Editor of Reason magazine, a national journal on politics and culture.

Sam eventually won a fellowship to write a book about logging on the Allegheny National Forest. He moved to Kane, Pennsylvania for two years to research the project. It was eventually published as The Agony of an American Wilderness (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005.)

More recently, Sam taught composition, creative writing and journalism at the University of Pittsburgh. He also published another book, a memoir.

Sam recently moved back to Ridgway with his wife and three children. (A fourth is due in September 2009.)

If you have any questions about his background or his role as community outreach specialist—or if you would like to schedule a meeting with him—please contact him at smacdonald@pawilds.com.