advance the conservative use of forest 

 resources for both the present and 

 future needs of these industries, and 

 to stimulate and unite all efforts to 

 perpetuate the forests as a permanent 

 resource of the Nation" (Clepper 

 1975). 



it had notable indirect results. In his 

 opinion, ". . . it was the single 

 greatest stimulus to resource 

 preservation and management, 

 affecting Federal and State 

 governments and private interests as 

 well." 



Delegates to this American Forestry 

 Association Congress endorsed a 

 resolution calling for unification of all 

 forest work by the Federal 

 Government, including administration 

 of national forest reserves in the 

 Department of Agriculture. This 

 action had previously been advocated 

 by several other groups. Just 1 month 

 later, on February 1, 1905, Congress 

 established what later became the 

 USDA Forest Service as the Bureau 

 of Forestry in the Department of 

 Agriculture. This was a giant step 

 forward for the cause of forest 

 conservation and management in 

 America. 



In May 1908, President Theodore 

 Roosevelt called the first national 

 conference on natural resources, to 

 convene at the White House. It was 

 officially designated as the 

 Conference of Governors, and Henry 

 Clepper (1971), former executive vice 

 president of the Society of American 

 Foresters, notes that "Conservation 

 as a popular crusade can be said to 

 date from this 1908 meeting." 

 Delegates from the South included 

 Louisiana Governor Newton C. 

 Blanchard. 



While the conference may have failed 

 to produce immediate and direct 

 results, Clepper (1971) observed that 



Henry E. Hardtner, subsequently 

 hailed as "the father of forestry in 

 the South," helped organize the 

 Louisiana Forestry Association in 

 1909 and served as its first president. 

 Over the next two decades this 

 organization became a major 

 supporter of Louisiana's forestry 

 program and helped secure 

 appointment of a nonpolitical 

 professional, R. D. Forbes, as State 

 Forester in 1917. Unfortunately, after 

 a noteworthy start the Association 

 ceased to operate in the 1930's and 

 was not reactivated until 1947. 



The Georgia Forestry Association 

 was organized in 1907 at Athens, 

 primarily to plan a State forestry 

 program and to seek establishment of 

 a school of forestry at the University 

 of Georgia. Forestry instruction was 

 first listed in the University catalog 

 of 1906-07, but the teaching staff 

 was limited and the resources 

 meager. Nevertheless, this was the 

 genesis of the university's George 

 Foster Peabody School of Forestry. 

 Shortly thereafter, the association 

 went into a decline, only to be 

 reorganized at Macon in 1922. It was 

 successful in getting the general 

 assembly to establish the State 

 forestry department in 1925. The 

 Georgia Forestry Association was 

 also an important force in establishing 



