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Nearly a century ago, Theodore Roosevelt (T.R.) Took a hard
look at the devastated forests of Eastern United States and cried, ENOUGH! Our 26th president saw the grandeur of Yellowstone in western Montana and Wyoming and had found it "magnificent beyond imagining." He resolved that the exploitation that had left Eastern America virtually barren of timber would not be the legacy of our western expansion. T.R. reasoned that to effectively administer our vast and diverse forest and range lands, a special service was needed. To that end, the Forest Service was born in 1905. The visionary forester Gifford Pinchot was selected as its first chief. Pinchot realized that acquiring and restoring our already ravaged Eastern forests was just as important as protecting Western timber and rangeland from similar plunder. The Weeks Act of 1911 permitted acquisition of such areas in the name of the American people. The care and healing of these lands was entrusted to the fledgling Forest Service. |
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