USFS History

The Land Ordinance of 1785 established the “Rectangular Survey System” and a system for settlers to purchase farmland in the western states. The U.S. Government used land sales in part to raise money to pay off debts from the Revolutionary War.

George Perkins Marsh’s Man and Nature; Or, Physical Geography as Modified by Human Action details how human impact on the environment can lead to collapses in civilization and helped launch the idea of conservation in America.

Naturalists, writers, photographers, and artists of this era including: Enos Mills, Isabella Bird, W. H. Jackson, and Charles Russell also helped shape the conscience of Americans and pave the way for a new view of conservation.

Congress expands the Homestead Act of 1862 through the Timber Culture Act, which granted individuals 160 acres of public land at no cost if they made improvements to the land, such as planting and growing trees.

The goal of the Timber Culture Act was to increase the number of trees in the West but rampant fraud led to its repeal in 1881. Debate over this and similar acts led to the Forest Reserve Act in 1891.

Congress creates the office of Special Agent in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to study general forest conditions in the United States, and Dr. Hough is hired as the first federal forestry expert.  Hough produced a series of comprehensive reports on forestry in the United States that, according to the Forest History Society, laid the foundation for conversations on forestry through the Industrial Revolution.  In 1881, the Office of the Special Agent expanded into the Division of Forestry.

Bernhard Fernow is appointed as the third Chief of the Division of Forestry and begins to reorganize the division with a goal to establish a national forest system and introduce scientific forest management. Some call Fernow the “father of professional forestry in the United States.”

Bernhard Fernow also promoted scientific forest management. Some call Fernow the “father of professional forestry in the United States.” 

Read more about Bernhard Fermow at the Forest History Society.

The Organic Administration Act specifies the purpose for which forest reserves can be established and provides for their protection and management. Its purposes include to protect and improve the forests, to provide a permanent supply of timber, and to ensure conditions for continuous water flow. James Wilson was the Secretary of Agriculture in 1897.

The Forest Service is created when management of forest reserves transfers from the Department of Interior to the Department of Agriculture, with Gifford Pinchot as the first Chief of the Forest Service. This move also marks the end of rangers as political appointees. Under USDA, foresters are selected through comprehensive field and written civil service examinations, creating a well-qualified workforce. Regulations and instructions for the public and Forest Officers were documented in the 1905 “Use Book.” 

In 1905, there were 60 forest reserves, totaling 56 million acres. By 1910, there were 150 national forests encompassing 172 million acres.

The Division of State and Private Forestry is created, and payments to states based on forest receipts from timber and grazing begin in 1910. Cooperation between the Forest Service and states also expands as fires flare up across the western states.

The Weeks Act gives government the right to purchase private land to protect river and watershed headwaters in the eastern United States, and new authority to work with and support state forestry efforts. The Weeks Act also gives support to joint firefighting efforts. This led to the creation of 52 national forests in 26 eastern states, and the addition of 19.7 million acres on national forests and grasslands across 41 states and Puerto Rico.

Franklin D. Roosevelt creates the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to work on public land projects in response to the Great Depression. The first CCC camp is Camp Roosevelt on the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. More than 3 million men enroll in one of 2,650 camps over the 9-year length of the program. 

The Sustained Yield Forest Management Act authorized the creation of sustained-yield timber units, cooperative agreements between national forests and local mills. The idea was to stabilize local communities, but dissatisfaction grew among mills and communities not included in the agreements.

More than 3.8 million acres are designated as 19 national grasslands, to be managed for outdoor recreation, range, timber, watershed, wildlife, and fish.

The Wilderness Act establishes the National Wilderness Preservation System. “A Wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain. “

The Youth Conservation Corps is established as a summer employment program for young people age 15 through 18, from all segments of society, to work, learn, and earn together by doing projects on public land. A Young Adult Conservation Corps program also exists from 1977-1982.

1974-1978

In the late 1970s, a collection of laws redefines the way the Forest Service works, including:

• Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act (1974)
• National Forest Management Act (1976)
• Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Research Act (1978)
• Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act (1978)

These laws authorize long-range planning for national forests, setting new standards and guidelines for and establishing new requirements for periodic reporting on vegetation management, timber harvesting and scheduling, riparian habitat protection, soil and water conservation, and maintenance of plant and animal species diversity on national forest lands.

The Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act establishes a coordinated and cooperative federal, state, and local forest stewardship program for management of non-federal lands, and authorizes financial assistance for state and private forest land owners.

Public Lands Corps Act amends the Youth Conservation Corps Act of 1970, keeping the Youth Conservation Corps, and establishing new Public Lands Corps Programs in the Departments of Agriculture and Interior to do conservation, restoration, and rehabilitation work on public lands or Tribal lands. It also authorizes the placement of individual resource assistants (at least 17 years of age), with preference given to individuals enrolled in institutions of higher education or recent graduates, and particular attention given to ensure full representation of women and participants from historicallyBlack, Hispanic, and Native American schools.