conservation efforts. 

 Perhaps the first recognized 

 conservationist in the South 

 was Henry E. Hardtner, 

 organizer of the Urania 

 Lumber Company in 1 898 

 at a location north of 

 Alexandria, LA. Widely 

 acclaimed as the father of 

 forestry in the South, he 

 was one of the few early 

 lumbermen who believed 

 that second-growth timber, 

 if given adequate fire 

 protection, might actually 

 provide a continuing supply 

 of raw material for a sawmill, 

 rather than supporting the 

 prevalent practice of moving 

 on when the virgin growth 

 was depleted. 



In Oklahoma and Arkansas, 

 one of the first families to 

 emerge in forest 

 management was the 

 Dierks. By 1 920, they owned 

 about 400,000 acres of 

 land and, in 1924, hired 

 William L Hall as a 

 consultant in forest 

 management. His 

 recommendations included 

 selective cutting and the 

 hiring of a full-time 

 professional forester. In 

 1927, Glen R. Durrell, with 

 a B.S.F. out of Iowa State 

 University, was hired, and 

 industrial management was 

 on its way. Today, these 

 lands are a valuable backup 

 for the Weyerhaeuser 

 operations in the two States. 



Hardtner's work attracted 

 the attention of the Great 

 Southern Lumber Company 

 of Bogalusa, LA, and 

 ultimately furnished the 

 background for the widely 

 acclaimed reforestation 

 efforts of that company 

 under the direction of 

 William H. Sullivan. Starting 

 with the seeding of 800 

 acres of cut-over land with 

 loblolly seed in 1920, Great 

 Southern, during the next 9 

 years, planted over 23,000 

 acres of cut-over land and 

 created the body of 

 knowledge used by 

 numerous other companies 

 in their early regeneration 

 activities. 



W. Goodrich Jones has 

 been called the father of 

 forestry in Texas. Jones 

 was hired by B.E. Fernow, 

 chief of the USDA Forest 

 Service, to make an 

 extensive exploration of 

 Texas timberlands. His 

 report provided the basis 

 for recommendations that a 

 State Department of 

 Forestry be formed. Jones 

 took the initiative to provide 

 grassroots support by 

 arranging a meeting at 

 which the Texas Forestry 

 Association was formed 

 and Goodrich Jones elected 

 president. 



In Alabama around 1901, 

 the Alger Sullivan Lumber 



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