At the Creation: The National Forest Commission of 1896-97

Authors

Gerald W. Williams
Char Miller, Pomona CollegeFollow

Document Type

Article

Department

Environmental Analysis (Pomona)

Publication Date

2005

Keywords

forestry, National Forest Commission, Organic Act, U.S. Forest Service

Abstract

Among the central forces in the creation of the legislation necessary to establish federal forestry was the National Forest Commission. Its members included some of the leading conservationists of the 1890s, including Charles Sprague Sargent and Gifford Pinchot; John Muir was an unofficial member. Its final report advocated the establishment of a national forest system and served as the basis for the so-called Organic Act, which cleared the way for active management on federal forests and grasslands. Unlike the other articles, this one contains several excerpted documents interspersed with exposition.

Rights Information

© 2005 Forest History Society

Terms of Use & License Information

Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Recommended Citation

Williams, Gerald W. and Miller, Char. “At the Creation: The National Forest Commission of 1896-97,” Forest History Today, Spring/Fall 2005, 32-41.