MISC. PUBLICATION 249, U.S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



When the need for the practice of forestry was first recognized in 

 this country in the 1870's, there were no schools of forestry on this 

 side of the Atlantic. This situation prevailed until 1897 when Dr. 

 C. A. Schenck, a German forester, started giving private instruction in 

 connection with his work on the Vanderbilt estate at Biltmore, N.C. 

 The following year Cornell University established a professional school 

 of forestry. Then in 1900 the Yale Forest School was started, and, 

 in the years that followed, other universities and colleges added for- 

 estry to their curriculums. 



It is estimated that by 1912 there were approximately 500 men in 

 the United States with some technical training in forestry. These 

 were in addition to early- day forest rangers who began without a 

 technical background, but through their own experience in Federal 

 and State work had acquired considerable practical knowledge of cer- 

 tain phases of the subject. The pioneer foresters were zealous cru- 

 saders in the cause of conservation. Although the idea of conservation 

 is more widely accepted today, the practice of conservation is still far 

 from being generally applied. A crusading spirit in the public inter- 

 est still is strong in the forestry profession; it must continue so. 



Need for Education and Technical Training 



The importance of education now and in the future for a career in 

 forestry cannot be overestimated. As the number of foresters steadily 

 increases, competition becomes keener, and technical knowledge and 

 techniques become more complex, thorough education becomes more 

 and more necessary. The technical forester should have an education 

 comparable to that of the lawyer, civil engineer, or other well-trained 

 professional man. Such an education usually requires a minimum of 

 4 years of college work. A course of 5 or 6 years — 1 or 2 of which 

 are spent in postgraduate work — is desirable for those interested in 

 forest research. The large number of men who look for employment 

 in the lumber business or other forest-using industries will find college 

 training in the principles of forestry as valuable to their success as it 

 is to that of the men who plan to specialize in more scientific and 

 technical forestry work. 



College training is but a part of the preparation needed. It must 

 be supplemented by firsthand experience in forest or conservation 

 work. Many young men obtain part of this experience through sum- 

 mer school camps and some get it through fieldwork during summer 

 vacation periods in a Federal or State forest, a conservation organiza- 

 tion, or in the employ of a lumber company. Men who plan to spe- 

 cialize in lumbering find several years of work in logging camps and 

 mills valuable in learning the practical details of the business. 



Courses leading to degrees in forestry are offered in nearly 50 insti- 

 tutions in the U.S.A. Many other colleges and universities also in- 

 clude forestry in their curriculums, the instruction being given on a 

 nonprofessional basis as supplementary training in other degree 

 courses. Enrollment of undergraduates in the forestry schools before 

 World War II totaled more than 6,000. About 500 degrees were 

 then being granted annually. At present the number has more than 

 tripled; in the academic year 1964-65 about 1,700 bachelor's degrees 

 and 375 master's degrees in forestry were granted. 



