United States. Foresters are today charged with the solution of one of 

 our major economic problems, that of putting to the best use for hu- 

 man welfare the 630 million acres of land most suitable for forest pur- 

 poses. Complete and thorough training is now fundamental to a 

 career in the profession. 



When active work in forestry began in this country, there were no 

 schools of forestry on this side of the Atlantic. Prospective foresters 

 had to go to Europe to obtain technical training. Anticipating the 

 need for trained men, and in order to aid in the development of work 

 in the field, several progressive institutions established schools of for- 

 estry even before any considerable demand for graduates was assured. 



Private instruction in forestry was given at Biltmore, N. C, as early 

 as 1897 by Dr. C. A. Schenck in connection with his work on the Van- 

 derbilt estate. It was not until 1898, however, that an American edu- 

 cational institution gave definite recognition to the need for special 

 training and instruction by establishing a professional school of for- 

 estry. Cornell University led the w r ay. In 1900 the Yale Forest School 

 was started. Schools of forestry were established in the Universities of 

 Michigan, Minnesota, and Nebraska in 1903, and in other univer- 

 sities and colleges in the years that followed. 



The treatment of America's forests since the earliest settlement had 

 been in the main a matter of destructive exploitation, resulting in 

 large-scale depletion of the country's original forest resources. Ideals 

 and purposes of the new profession were necessarily in conflict with 

 many long-established forest-utilization customs and practices and con- 

 sequently encountered opposition. Gradually, however, the misunder- 

 standings are being cleared up and the prejudices overcome. Forestry's 

 field of usefulness in the United States has become more and more ap- 

 parent with the passing of the years. 



As early as 1912, it is estimated, there were approximately 500 men 

 in the United States with a greater or less degree of technical training 

 in forestry. These were in addition to early-day forest rangers who 

 began without a technical background, but through their own experi- 

 ence in Federal and State work had acquired considerable practical 

 knowledge of certain phases of the subject. The pioneer foresters were 

 zealous crusaders in the cause of conservation. Although the idea of 

 conservation is more widely accepted today, the practice of conserva- 

 tion is still far from being generally applied. A crusading spirit in the 

 public interest still is strong in the forestry profession; it must con- 

 tinue so. 



The importance of proper training now and in the future for a 

 career in forestry cannot be overestimated. As the number of forest- 

 ers steadily increases and competition becomes keener, thorough educa- 

 tion will become 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 post- 

 graduate work— is still better. 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 scien- 

 tific and technical forestry work. 



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

 be supplemented by first-hand experience in forest or conservation 



