THE ASSOCIATION'S FORESTER 







DEVELOPING a plan which has been under consider- 

 ation for some time the Board of Directors of the 

 American Forestry Association has secured a special 

 fund for the employment of a technical forester. A com- 

 mittee has selected Mr. Ovid M. Butler, assistant direc- 

 tor of the Forest Products Laboratory, at Madison, Wis- 

 consin, for the position, and he joined the Association 

 on March 1. 



Mr. Butler is one of the leading foresters of the United 

 States and his several years of service in various 

 branches of his profession fits him admirably for the im- 

 portant duties he will have 

 to undertake as forester 

 for the American Forestry 

 Association. 



Mr. Butler is a Hoosler 

 by birth, and was grad- 

 tiated irom Butler Col- 

 lege, at Indianapolis, In- 

 diana, in 1902 with a de- 

 gree of A. B. He then 

 spent three years at In- 

 dianapolis in newspaper 

 work, first on the Indian- 

 apolis Star, and later on 

 the Indianapolis News. In 

 the fall of 1905 he entered 

 the Yale Forest School, 

 from which he graduated 

 in 1907 with the degree of 

 Master of Forestry. 



On July 1, 1907, he en- 

 tered the Forest Service 

 and was assigned to the 

 Boise National Forest, Ida- 

 ho, as Forest Assistant. 

 After six or eight months 

 service he was made Dep- 

 uty Supervisor of the same 

 forest, and in the fall of 

 1908 the Forester trans- 

 ferred him to Ogden, Utah, 

 as Assistant Chief of Sil- 

 viculture in District 4. In 

 1910 he was transferred to 

 Missoula, Montana, in the 



OVID M. BUTLER 

 Forester of the American Forestry Association 



same capacity in District 1, and arrived there just in time 

 to participate in the worst fire season which that district 

 has ever experienced. A year later he was promoted to 

 Assistant District Forester and transferred back to the 

 intermountain district in charge of Silviculture. 



He spent part of 1914 and all of 1915 in directing a 

 study of lumber distribution. This was a part of tTie 

 lumber study series conducted at that time. The results 

 of his work appear in Reports Nos. 115 and 116, entitled 

 "Distribution of Softwood Lumber in the Middle West." 



One report deals with the wholesale, and the other with 

 retail distribution. They are the most comprehensive 

 analyses of the distribution of lumber from the mill to 

 the ultimate consumer that have ever been made. In 

 April, 1916, he was transferred to Albuquerque and 

 placed in charge of the office of Silviculture in the South- 

 western District ; and on the outbreak of the war, a year 

 later, he was transferred to Madison as Assistant Direc- 

 tor of the Forest Products Laboratory, a position which 

 he has since occupied. 



He participated in the preparation of the now much 



quoted Capper Report, and 

 is the author of the chapter 

 in that report entitled 

 "Forest Depletion and 

 Lumber Prices." From 

 time to time he has writ- 

 ten quite a number of arti- 

 cles which have appeared 

 in different periodicals. 

 Among them are the fol- 

 lowing : 



"Forest Conservation by 

 Better Utilization," "The 

 Price We Pay for Lum- 

 ber," "The Forest Supply 

 in Relation to the Needs 

 of Industry," "Research 

 and Boards," "Wood Using 

 Facts for Wood Using 

 Lore," "The Movement of 

 Wholesale and Retail Lum- 

 ber Prices in the Middle 

 West in Relation to the 

 Timber Supply," "The Re- 

 lation of Research in For- 

 est Products to Forest Ad- 

 ministration," "The Gov- 

 ernment and the Forest," 

 "Built-up Wood," etc. 



Mr. Butler will make his 

 headquarters with the As- 

 sociation in Washington, 

 but a great deal of his 

 time will be spent in field 

 activities so that he can 

 keep in close touch with forestry conditions in various 

 states and assist in efforts to secure better forestry laws, 

 to aid in organizing forestry activities in the states and to 

 attend meetings at which forestry is to be discussed. 

 There will undoubtedly be a widespread demand for Mr. 

 Butler's attendance at conventions and other gatherings 

 and for his advice and guidance in forestry development 

 of various kinds. His services are expected to add large- 

 ly to the effective work which the Association is now 

 doing and to make its accomplishments greater than ever. 



