southern pulp and paper 

 industry was the use of the 

 sulfate process in 1 909 at 

 Roanoke Rapids, NC, by 

 Roanoke Rapids Paper 

 Manufacturing Company 

 (later Albemarle) (Oden 

 1973, p. 15). 



Today, there are 91 

 pulpmills and papermills in 

 the South, using millions of 

 cords of wood annually. 

 They are dependent upon 

 the conservation efforts of 

 industry, government, and 

 private landowners for this 

 raw material. Under the 

 management guidance of 

 thousands of foresters 

 trained in the professional 

 forestry curriculums of 

 American universities, this 

 challenge is being met. 



Early Conservation Efforts 

 by Industry 



The first stirring of forestry 

 practices on industrial lands 

 in the South dealt primarily 

 with fire control in an effort 

 to protect the forests and 

 young growth on cut-over 

 lands from the ravages of 

 wildfires. 



On a southwide basis, 

 perhaps no man stands out 

 in all the literature more 

 strongly than Austin Cary, 

 who played the role of 

 roving consultant to the 

 States and industry as an 



extension specialist for the 

 USDA Forest Service. Listed 

 among the dozens of 

 companies that utilized his 

 services or teachings are 

 Alger-Sullivan Lumber 

 Company, Allison Lumber 

 Company, Brooks-Scanlon 

 Corporation, Crossett 

 Lumber Company, Great 

 Southern Lumber Company, 

 and W.T. Smith Lumber 

 Company. Most of these 

 lands continue under the 

 management of the 

 foremost pulp and paper 

 companies in the South. 



Two of the earliest industrial 

 foresters in the South were 

 Walter J. Damtoft, who was 

 employed by Champion 

 Paper and Fibre Company 

 in 1920, and Inman (Cap) 

 F. Eldredge, who joined 

 Superior Pine Products 

 Company in 1926. William 

 M. Oettmeier succeeded 

 Eldredge 6 years later and 

 ultimately became general 

 manager and president of 

 Superior Pine, while bringing 

 the 170,000 acres it owned 

 in southeastern Georgia 

 from a devastated cut-over 

 forest to one of the prime 

 managed forests in the 

 South. This property was 

 later leased to and placed 

 under the management of 

 St. Regis Paper Company. 



Practically every State in 

 the South recognizes an 

 early leader in forest 



