The Beginning of the Forest Service
When the first European settlers arrived on American soil, forests covered nearly all the land from the Eastern Seaboard to the Great Plains. Due to concern about deforestation and unregulated cutting, laws to protect timber stands were passed as early as 1807. Such laws were virtually ignored.
In 1891, Congress gave the President the power to establish forest reserves from the public domain to protect timber and ensure a regular flow of water in the streams. The forest reserves were placed under the administration of the U.S. Department of the Interior.
In 1905, management of the forest reserves was transferred to a new agency, the Forest Service, in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Gifford Pinchot was named the first Chief (figure 3). Other land management agencies, such as the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, are in the U.S. Department of the Interior. In a letter dated February 1, 1905, Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson laid out the guiding principles of the Forest Service to the new Chief. An excerpt of the letter follows:
In the administration of the forest reserves, it must be clearly borne in mind that all land is to be devoted to the most productive use for the permanent good of the whole people and not for the temporary benefit of individuals or companies….You will see to it that the water, wood, and forage of the reserves are conserved and wisely used under businesslike regulations enforced with promptness, effectiveness, and common sense…. Where conflicting interests must be reconciled, the question will always be decided from the standpoint of the greatest good for the greatest number in the long run….
James Wilson, Secretary of
Agriculture, 1897 to 1913
Figure 3—Gifford Pinchot, Governor of Pennsylvania
(Chief of the Forest
Service, 1905 to 1910), rides
up Pennsylvania Avenue in President
Coolidge's
1925 inaugural parade. Courtesy of the Forest Service
