From Theodore Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot to World War II logging camps to the northern spotted owl, the U.S. Forest Service has endured a colorful history.
1891 – Congress authorizes the president to set aside “forest reserves.”
1905 – Roosevelt convenes the first American Forest Congress, setting out the parameters of the Forest Service in the name of conservation and naming Gifford Pinchot as the head of the agency.
1907 – Forest reserves renamed national forests.
1924 – A portion of the Gila National Forest in western New Mexico is designated as the nation’s first wilderness area to protect it from any development, at the urging of pioneering environmentalist Aldo Leopold.
1933-42 – Civilian Conservation Corps supplies work for 3 million people during the Great Depression. Much of their work is directed toward fighting fires, planting trees and improving trails in national forests.
1942 – National forests produce 8 million board-feet of lumber to support the U.S. war cause.
1945 – An abandoned bear cub found after a forest fire is adopted as the mascot for the Forest Service. Smokey Bear’s “Only you can prevent forest fires” becomes a national motto.
1964 – Congress passes the Wilderness Act, building on the 9 million acres already set aside by the Forest Service.
1969 – National Environmental Policy Act
1973 – Endangered Species Act
1976 – Presidential authority to create new forests repealed.
1989 – Northern spotted owl controversy forces suspension of logging in old-growth forests in Washington, Oregon and northern California.
1996 – Federal land management agencies authorized to collect recreation fees via Recreational Fee Demonstration Program.
2000 – Worst fire season in 50 years prompts creation of the National Fire Plan to prevent fires and coordinate firefighting across the country.
2003 – Enactment of Healthy Forests Restoration Act, intended to return forests to their natural, fire-tolerant condition and to spare communities from fire threats.
2005 – Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act extends ability to collect recreation fees for 10 years.
Sources: Forest Service, Forest History Society and
Congressional Research Service
