There was no organized program to manage and protect United States' forests before 1875. No organization existed to champion fledgling forestry efforts being developed to save and manage American forests. There was no government over-site for vast stretches of American trees and no fire protection. Not one professional forester was trained in the United States. All that was about to change...
1886 - The Establishment of the Division of Forestry
USFS Archives
The United States Division of Forestry hired many of the first foresters to be employed in North America. This federal agency was developed to provide data and information which was desperately need to develop federal forest policy. German educated Bernhard Fernow became the first professional forester to become Chief of the Division of Forestry. The Division of Forestry managed no forests.
1875 - The American Forestry Association Created
Organizing the American Forestry Association in 1875 started forward momentum in forestry that pushed a major forest conservation movement into the 20th Century. There was no organized effort to support forestry and forests before the AFA.1891 - The First Timberland Reserve
NPS Illustration
In 1891, the U.S. Congress amended government land laws to allow the President authority to reserve forest lands of the public domain in any state or territory. President William Henry Harrison created the first reservation on March 30, 1891. It was called the Yellowstone Park Timberland Reserve.
1898 - The First College Forestry Curriculum
Photo by Steve Nix
Although the "Cradle of Forestry" and America's first forestry school was established by Carl Alwen Schenck on George Vanderbilt's Biltmore Estate property near Asheville, North Carolina, it was not credentialed by a major university. Cornell University established the first college level forestry school in the Western Hemisphere in 1898.
1911 - The First National Forests
USFS Logo
The United States of America owned no national forests before the Weeks Law of 1911 was enacted. A new policy was established that national forests could be purchased and state-federal cooperation was initiated in an effort to protect lands and forests from wildfire.
1924 - Timber Production and Fire Protection Encouraged
The Clarke-McNary Act of 1924 made it easier for the Forest Service to buy national forests from willing sellers within predetermined American forests and grasslands. The Secretary of Agriculture (who oversees the Forest Service) was given legal responsibility to work cooperatively with State officials for better forest protection and to provide for continuous production of timber. These laws also gave a strong impetus to States to establish and support State forestry agencies. All 50 states now have a State Forestry Agency or forestry extension agency.1933 - Civilian Conservation Corps
Steve Nix Photo, CCC Worker
The Civilian Conservation Corps or CCC was an unemployment relief program for young men from unemployed families. The program was authorized by Congress and established on March 19, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In addition to providing a paycheck during the depression, the effort publicised the need for forest conservation and left major forest improvements and buildings that survive on state and federal forests today.
