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Home , Bernhard Fernow, Gifford Pinchot

G]Ik'FO P][NCHOT

GiffordPinchot's comervation principles 111 evolvedthroughout hislife. Born into a lure- A Life ' Progress beringand mercantile family, hewas trained intraditional European methods offorest management,a perspective central tohis "Friday,July 1, 1898was a red-letter offer was a shrewd career move. workas first chief of the USDAForest Ser- dayfor me," wrote in In retrospect,it turned out to have vice.When, asPennsylvania's governor, he his autobiography,Breaking New beena strokeof genius.Driven and Ground."On that dayI becamechief ambitious,Pinchot proved a skillful protectedold-growth and later urged of the little old ForestryDivision" leaderwho was able to generatecon- FranklinDelano Roosevelt tobuy .p private (Pinchot1998, p. 136).Always the op- siderablesupport within Congress and timberlands,hebroke ranks with many for- timist,he "was highly enthusiastic and amongthe Americanpeople. Sugges- esters.Always controversial, heacted as the deeplypleased" with his new job in the tiveof hisdeft handling of thenation's ForestService's conscience until his death in Departmentof Agriculture,in good politicianswas the rapid expansion of 1946. measurebecause the secretary of Agri- theagcncy's budget and staff: in 1898, culture,James Wilson, had given the with 11members, the division's budget youngman a freehand. "I couldap- By Char Miller and point my own assistants,"Pinchot V.Alaric Sample scribbledin hisdiary after interviewing for the position,"do what kind of work I chose,and not fearany inter- ference from him." Yet even as Pinchot cherished the opportunityto runthe Divi- sion"to suit myself," he recognized that the works prospectswere "somethingless than brilliant" (Pin- chot 1998,p. 135-36). Congress thenwas so skeptical about the agency'spurpose it had de- manded that it account for its continued existence;this de- mand was one of the reasons that Pinchot'spredecessor, -' the eminent Bern- hard E. Fernow, had de- cidedto resignin spring 1898. The public also was indifferent to the ForestryDivision's fate, sorarely had its activities cometo people'satten- tion. There was, in short,ample reason for Pinchot, who would become the division's '• fourth chief,to ques- tionwhether accepting : SecretaryWilson's job wasa mere$28,520; one yearlater, industry.From his father, Cyril C.D. tain that the "elaborate" method of with 61 employees,the appropriation Pinchot,James Pinchot had learned Germanforestry would wilt "underthe wasincreased to $48,520;by 1901 howto profitfrom the family's timber pioneerconditions in America,"he both setsof figureshad swelled fur- holdings.To maximizetheir gains, the soughtin subsequentyears to con- ther--179employees worked within a Pinchotshad dearcut forests,collected structa form of forestrythat would budgetof $185,440.These numbers thelogs into rafts, and shipped them in flourishin the"ingenious land of the alsoreflected changes in the agency's springdown rain-swollenrivers to Yankee"(Pinchot 1998, p. 134). rank: in 1901 it was transformed into marketin the portsof Trentonand theBureau of Forestry,and four years Philadelphia.Once the rafts were sold, Home Front laterit waselevated yet again, becom- the financial returns would be rein- The pursuitof democraticequity ing the USDA ForestService, with vestedin other timber stands,and the would become central to Pinchot's ide- Pinchotas its first chief. By 1905there cyclewould be repeated. ologicalconcerns. As he frequently de- werefew in Washingtonor thebody Theenvironmental consequences of clared:"For whosebenefit shall [nat- politicunfamiliar with theForest Ser- thisform of lumberingwere consider- ural resources]be conserved•for the viceor itsgregarious leader. able,yet it wasnot until the latter part benefitof themany, or forthe use and Yet,as Pinchot acknowledged, "suc- of the19th century that James Pinchot profitof thefew?" Yet after he returned cessdoes not alwaysmake friends." recognizedthe connection between his to the United Statesin 1890, he was From the start, "therewas contention family'seconomic behavior and an notabove pulling family strings to gain galore,"and as "our work became ecosystemdevoid of passenger pigeons, hisfirst job asforester on GeorgeW. knownit raisedup friendsat leastas deer,and bear, of free-flowingstreams Vanderbilt's lavish North Carolina es- fastas foes, in Congressand out" (Pin- andleafy verdure. The practiceof for- tate,Biltmore; his parents were good chot1998, p. 160-61).Fortunately, he estry,he believed,would restorethis friends of Frederick Law Olmsted, enjoyedthe thrust and parry of politi- cutoverlandscape, and just before Gif- Vanderbilt'slandscape architect, and it cal life and understood that controver- ford entered Yale in 1885, James wasthrough him that Pinchot came to sieswere integral to the development stronglyadvised his son to takeup the Vanderbilt'snotice. Although not ex- of publicopinion. Capturing a mass profession. actlya posterboy for socialreform, audience, he well knew, was essential Collegewas more social than acade- Vanderbiltnonetheless gave Pinchot a to successin democraticpolitics. This mic for Gifford,however; it wasonly remarkableopportunity to practiceMs wasan insight that governed the whole afterhis graduation in 1889that Pin- craft,an experiencethat wouldlead ofhis long career in publicservice, one chotbegan his serious education as a Pinchotto proclaimBiltmore "the cra- reasonwhy in fact he was,and re- forester.That fall, he traveledto Eu- dleof forestry." mains,such a controversialfigure. rope,met severaleminent European That mayhave been true, but it was ,including Sir William underthe auspices of thefederal gov- Family Matters Schlich and Sir , and ernmentthat the forestry profession re- Born in 1865 to Jamesand Mary then enrolled at L•cole Nationale allycame of age;few contemporaries EnoPinchot, Gifford grew up in one Foresti?reat Nancy, .There, wouldhave predicted this flowering, of the elite mercantile families of New throughhis studies in silviculture,and however,given the relativelydreary YorkCity. His maternalgrandfather, on his extendedexplorations of the stateof governmentalforestry in the , had amasseda fortune French national system,he late19th century. Founded in 1880m throughurban land development, but gainedhis "first concrete understand- reaction to worries that the nation's the Pinchots' life of leisure did not rest ingof theforest as a crop."He readily naturalresources were rapidly being solelyon Eno'slargesse. James Pinchot absorbedthis guiding principle, plus liquidated,and that there was no clear- hadmade a substantialnest egg in the forestry'semphasis on efficiency,ratio- inghousefor informationon the boomingNew York City economyof nal planning,and scientificmanage- Americanforested estate, the tiny Bu- the 1850s. A distributor of domestic ment. That nature could be controlled reauof Forestrygathered statistics and andcommercial furnishings, Pinchot throughhuman stricture would in answeredcitizens' queries about har- flourishedin a marketthat expanded time feedeasily into the Progressive vestingprivate woodlots. It did not rapidlyin thatindustrializing age, so ethos with which Pinchot would be so formulatepolicy governing the vast muchso that by the 1870s,when in closelyassociated in the United States. forestson public lands, in partbecause his mid-40s, he wasable to retire. But with the importantexception it waslocated in the Departmentof GiffordPinchot's future occupation of democraticSwitzerland, for whose Agriculture,and the publiclyowned asa publicservant was not typicalof foresters Pinchot felt an immediate forestsfell underthe purviewof the thismonied environment. But James affinity,most European methods of Departmentof the Interior.The bu- Pinchot was determined that his first forestryseemed too emblematic of the reaudid not advocate regulation of the sonnot continuethe family'stradi- monarchicalstates in whichthey were lands for another reason--its third tionalpursuit of commercialsuccess, practiced.Convinced that such a chief, Bernhard E. Fernow,a German- in goodmeasure because of hisevolv- rigidlyhierarchical profession would bornforester, not only doubted the ef- ing reactionsto theAmerican lumber nevertake root in republicansoil, cer- ficacyof widescalefederal manage-

28 January1999 ment,but even questioned the value of consultingforester in NewYork City. managethe landscapes and the uses ro suchmicrolevel experimenrs as Pin- It wasonly after 1898, when he had re- whichthey were put, and to addressa chot was conductingat Biltmore placedFernow at theDivision of For- broadarray of attendantsocial prob- (Miller 1992). estry,that he wasable to testhis ideas lems, receivedgreat impetuswhen Pinchot also had his moments of about his profession'splace in the TheodoreRoosevelt became president doubt. The lands around the Vander- Americanpolity and, in the process, in 1901. He grantedlegitimacy to, bilt estatehad beenbadly burned or expandbeyond the European concep- throughhis political support of, a host heavilylogged, and his first task as a tionof forestrythat he had studied. of legislativeinitiatives designed to ex- foresterwas simply to replantand re- Politicallysophisticated, heearly on pandfederal control over public lands storethe landscape(Pinchot 1893). joinedwith otherlike-minded federal andforests, waterways and irrigation Wherehe could,he beganto cut tim- scientistsand governmentexperts, projects;one of his decisionsthat berto demonstratethe efficacy of his such as FrederickNewell and wJ firmly rootedconservation in public profession.Convinced after several McGee,to establishsupport for the policywas the establishmentof the yearsthat he had shown forestry's prof- conservation of natural resources on ForestService. What distinguished this itability,he left to openan officeas a publiclands. This collective attempt to newagency from its predecessors,the

Theodore•Roo•eve• (center) and ,t ohnHuir (fourth •rom right) •net theYosemite' to a•mpand discus c•nservation polici s, Both men were i•lp ant influenceson inchot'slife (airhob h Ftuir'sideas to ayare considereddirectly contrary to those of Pinehot),and Pinchot made sure •o includethis photographin the orig al editi•. o• Breakm•New Gr•un•f. Divisionof Forestryand the Bureau of long dominatedby corporateoli- to make"the people strong and well, Forestry,was that the nation's forest re- garchies(Klyza 1996; Miller 1998). able and wise" and to build a nation serveswere now moved to theDepart- He becameincreasingly concerned "withequal opportunity for all and ment of Agriculture,uniting the aboutthe problem of equityfollowing specialprivilege for none"(Pinchot woods with their stewards. Pinchot President Roosevelt's decision to leave 1998,p. 510). hadbeen instrumental in securing this the White House in 1908. Worried Taft did not share Pinchot's belief•n bureaucratictransfer, and once it was thatRoosevelt's hand-picked successor, an activist government; unlike his pre- completed,he threwhimself into his , was not a decessorin the White House, he was a workwith undisguised zeal, giving the staunchconservationist, hekept a dose strict constructionist on matters of the president'sconservation agenda a eyeon thenew president's political ac- executive branch's constitutional au- tremendous boost. tions. It was not long beforethey thority.Taft moreover disliked what he His mission received additional im- dashedover their differing interpreta- perceivedas Pinchot's zealousness as petuswhen the Supreme Court sanc- tionsof theappropriate role the execu- manifestin hisrepeated squabbles w•th tioned the assertion of the executive tivebranch played in theconservation the secretary of theInterior, Richard A. branch'sregulatory power over the of the nation'sresource base (Penick Ballinger.These degenerated into a de- newlynamed national forests, through 1968). bilitatingseries of bureaucraticturf a pairof decisionsrendered in response Pinchot was convinced that Taft wars,the most significant of whichre- to ForestService directives governing sidedwith "everypredatory interest volved around the lease of federal coal grazing,lumbering, mining, and occu- seekingto gobbleup naturalresources lands in Alaska, in what became pancyof the landsunder its control. or otherwiseoppress the people." He knownas the Ballinger-Pinchot affair That theseinitiatives had generated hadbecome the "accompliceand the In 1910Taft had had enough and d•s- considerablepublicity and sparked refugeof landgrabben, water-power missed Pinchot for insubordination theirfair share of legalchallenges and grabbers,grabbers of timberand oil-- Duringhis 12 years in , regionalanimosity--Pinchot was a all theswarm of big andlittle thieves from 1898 to 1910, Gifford Pinchot's much-hated man in the American andnear-thieves" who sought to steal perspectiveshad evolved considerably West-•onlyreinforced his perception resourcesthat "should have been con- His wasno longerthe scientificlan- thathe was acting to expandeconomic servedin thepublic interest." This in- guagenor the technical perspective of opportunityand democratic possibili- terestmust remainparamount, Pin- theyoung forester fresh from his Euro- tiesin communitieshe thoughttoo- chotconduded: that was the only way peantraining. In itsstead had emerged that of an American conservatiomst, one fully weddedto the Progressive world view in which the state would A HappySolution d a VexedProblem helpset the contours of modernsociety Thisview permeates Breaking New Groum( whosenarration ends in 1910. But Pinchotcontinued a very acuve publiccareer for another 36 years,dur- ing whichtime he foundedthe Na- tional Conservation Association and servedtwo tumultuous terms as gover- norof ,experiences that deeplyinfluenced his perspectives on the conservationistideal. So comph- cated did this evolution become that occasionallyhe wouldfind himselfat oddswith thevery profession he had done so much to establish. His work throughthe National Conservation Association reflects some of the shifts in his attitudes. Born of the controversythat wouldend with his

PresidentTaft's 1910firing of Pinchot as chief of the Forest Service culmi- nateda long-standingdispute between the two over the role of the executive branch in conservation of natural

resources.

January1999 dismissal as chief of the Forest Ser- State'selectoral system. Once in office, picesof theNational Conservation As- vice-in 1909 Pinchot had started the heattacked his opponents through his sociation,he lambastedtheir increas- organizationasa wayfor "public-spir-stout defense of workers'rights to or- inglytight link to thelumber industry, ited citizens" to voice their concern over ganize;the governoralso demanded because it led them to scuttle the the Taft administration'sdrift away legislationto guaranteeequal pay for agency'sconservation agenda. He reg- from Rooseveltian conservationism-- equalwork for womenand to elimi- ularlylobbied congressional leaders to the association enabled him to remain natesweatshops and child labor;in bury agency-inspiredlegislation of engagedin thefight over congressional stark contrast to hispredecessors, he whichhe disapproved.One of these legislationconcerning natural resources. called out troops to interveneon behalf wasa 1926grazing bill that then-Chief That it alsokept him in thepublic eye of strikingcoal miners. WilliamB. Greeleyhad proposed, and wasnot incidental. The organization ac- TheDepression only intensified his that Pinchot attacked because it was complishedboth ends through its regu- political radicalization.He set up "obviouslywritten from the pointof lar releaseof pressbulletins analyzing emergencywork relief camps through- viewof protectingthe special interests the contents of bills then before Con- out the state, funded the construction ofa specialgroup instead of protecting gress,its vigilant vote-tracking, and its of hundreds of miles of roads, and the interestsof the generalpublic" "constantwatch on senatorsand repre- signedlegislation to buildmore state (Pinchot1926). sentatives"(McGeary 1960, p. 202). It parksand scenic areas. Many of these His criticismof theforestry profes- alsoestablished close working relation- projectsantedated some of Franklin sion intensifiedin the early 1930s. shipswith leadingnewspaper editors. Roosevelt'sNew Deal initiatives, such "[T]horoughlydisgusted" that the So- Of theassociations lobbying activities, as the Civilian ConservationCorps, cietyof AmericanForesters, which he perhapsits most successful action was and marked Pinchot as one of the na- hadfounded in 1900,ignored the dev- also its most contentious: determined tion's most liberal elected officials. astationof the nation'sforests, the now that the federalgovernment should His fellowforesters thought him a 65-year-oldforester, along with fellow maintaincontrol over water power sites radical,one sign of which was the loos- critics,rebuked SAF for itspolicy fail- on nationallands, and thereby ensure eningof hisonce-firm embrace of the uresand "spiritualdecay" (Pinchot its abilityto "preventexcessive or un- utilitarianprinciples of forestrymost 1932,1933). This critical commentary warrantedprofits by private enterprise," closelyassociated with his name. A for- caught the eye of President-elect theassociation drafted legislation, lob- est,he acknowledged in 1920, is "a liv- FranklinRoosevelt, who suggested Ned the requisitecongressional sub- ingsociety of livingbeings, with many Pinchot craft a memorandum for a committees,and encouragedmedia of the qualitiesof societiesof men" newnational forest policy. With the snoopinginto suspected corruption of (Pinchot1920).This ecological image aid of fellow critics Robert Marshall the legislativeprocess. This energetic compelledhim to reassessthe forester's andRaphael Zon, he did, predicting a campaignwould enable the association, job. He proudlyreported, for instance, gloomyfuture for Americanforests andits president,Gifford Pinchot, to thatthe Pennsylvania Forest Commis- and the peoplewho dependedon claim a measureof successwhen, in sion that he once had headed had them.To reversethis deplorable situa- 1920, Congresspassed the Federal stoppedthe sale of the"last large body tionrequired a forceful new approach WaterPower Act (McGeary1960, p. of hardwoodsin thepossession of the to themanagement of privately owned 204; Pinkett 1970). state," and had done so becausethe timberlands.Arguing that "private for- Extendingthe rangeof theexecu- "State'smoney should be usedto pro- estryin America,as a solution,is no tivebranch's regulatory authority, help- tectand not destroythe State Forests." longereven a hope,"Pinchot believed ingbreak open the scandal that torpe- He hopedthat this sylvan space would it wastime to shelvehis Progressive doedthe Harding administration (Pin- have a remarkableimpact on the faithin theefficacy of regulationand chot and the National Conservation human psyche,making "for better admitthat only "large scale public ac- Association'ssecretary, Harry Slattery, manhoodand womanhood by inspir- quisitionof private forest lands" would werein thethick of theTeapot Dome inghigher thoughts and cleaner ideas solveAmerica's woes (Nixon 1972, p. revelations),and thwartingHenry aboutlife. The spiritual value of loving 129-32) Ford'sbid for the famedwater power themand being with themis beyond Championingthe causeof world developmentat MuscleShoals, Al- counting"(Pinchot 1920). Gifford peacebecame yet anothercrucial ele- abama,kept Pinchot in thelimelight. Pinchotwas reasserting a reverence for ment of what Pinchot called "new con- More crucial,these battles deepened naturethat many yearsbefore had servationism." Well aware that a sec- his anxietyabout private enterprise's compelledhim to slip out of camp ond world war would result from the dominance of the commonweal. His with hisfriend to spenda industrializednations' hunger for nat- twoterms as governor of Pennsylvaniastar-filled night marvelingat the uralresources, in 1940 he appealed for did nothingto lessenhis worries. In grandeurof theGrand Canyon. the creation of a -like the 1920she foundhimself arrayed His evolvingconception of conser- agencyto regulateresource exploita- againstan interlocking combination of vation causedconsternation among tion, protectthreatened species, and businessinterests and politicalma- formerForest Service colleagues. Be- securean enduringprosperity for all chinesthat governedthe Keystone ginningin 1919,and through the aus- people(Pinchot 1940).

Journalof Forestry Politician-Idealist equityand economic rights went hand Pinchot's career reminds us of some in hand.All of whichis another way of importantmilestones for the conserva- sayingthat his energetic effort to reach tion movement.We areapproaching, anever more complex understanding of for instance,the centenary of manyof the tangledrelationship between hu- theearly ideas, events, and institutions manityand the natural world represents that we associatewith him, among thestruggle many 19th- and 20th-cen- them the establishment of the Yale tury Americanshave undergoneto Schoolof Forestry(1900) and its exper- maintaina healthyplanet. One hun- imentstation at thePinehot family es- dredyears after Gifford Pinchot entered tate in Milford, Pennsylvania,the publicservice therefore seems a perfect foundingof the Societyof American timeto recallhis impassioned embrace Don't miss Foresters(1900), andthe creation of the of conservation's central ideals. Forest Service (1905). These accom- plishments,impressive unto themselves, Literature Cited out on a great are all the more so when one realizes KLYZA,C.M. 1996.Who controls public' lands? Mining, thatthe very idea of reservingmillions j3restry,and grazing polides, 1870-1990. Chapel Hill resource. UniversityofNorth Carolina Press. of acresof landin perpetuityfor conser- McGE^RY,N. ] 960.Gi•rd Pinehot:Forester-politictan vationpurposes was a radicalproposal Princeton,NJ: Princeton University Press. in theearly years of thiscentury. MILI.ER,C. 1992.Wooden politics: and Defendingthe continuedexistence thequest for a nationalforest policy, ]876-1898 In Theorigim of ke nationalSrests,ed.Harold K. Steen, of thenational forests was just as cru- 287-300.Durham, NC: ForestHistory Society. cial.While chief, Pinehot had provided ß1998. Tapping the Rockies: Resource exploita- gonv•i• in TraverseCity, the insightand leadershipto ensure tion and conservationin the IntermountainWest In thatthey were retained in publicown- ReopeningtheAmerican West, ed. Hal K. Rothman, Michigan. 168-82.Tucson: University of ArizonaPress. ership,"for the greatestgood of the NIxos, E.R. 1972. FranklinD. Rooseveltand conserva- It'sa uniquecollection ofpapers greatestnumber for the longesttime" tion, 1911-1945. Vol. 1. New York:Arno Press. (Pinchot1998, p. 505). And he was PENICK,J.L. 1968ß Progressive politics and conservatmn byleading forestry experts- amongthe firstto recognizethat for TheBallinger-Pinchot aj•ir. Chicago: University of ChicagoPress. presentedingeneral and the"greatest good" to remainthe gov- PINCHOW,G. 1893. Biltmore Forest. Chicago: R.R. Don- technical sessions. erningfocus on the nationalforests, nelly& Sons. politicalvigilance was essential; toward ß1920. Addressto FairmountPark Art Associa- theend of hislife, he thought it neces- tion,January 15. Giftbrd Pinchor papers, Library of Congress,Washington, DC. $65 members saryperiodically to actas the "public ß1926. Letter to William B. Greeley, March 16 conscience"of the agencyhe had ($75nonmembers) GiffordPinchot papers, Library of Congress, Wash- helpedestablish, confronting it when- ington,DC. plus$10 each shipping everhe felt it seemedto advancespecial --. 1932.Letter toRaphael Zon, December 5.Gifford Pinchorpapers, Library ofCongress, Washington, DC & handling interestsover those of thegeneral pub- --. 1933.Letter to , June 6. Gifford Pin- lic,or strayed from its original mission. chorpapers, Library of Congress, Washington, DC The evolution ofPinchot's conserva- E• Mail order to: ß1940. Conservation asa permanent foundation tionistbeliefs has proved a harbinger, forpeace. Nature 70:183-85. Societyof AmericanForesters moreover,of someof the ideasand tac- ß1998. Breaking new ground Washington, DC Island Pressß SalesDepartment ticsthat characterize late 20th-century PINKETT,H. 1970. Gi•rd Pin&ot,private andpubhc 5400 Grosvenor Lane environmental activism. His assertion •rester.Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois that international accordscould restrain Press. Bethesda,MD 20814-2198 resourceexploitation and environmen- d'• Faxorder with credit card tal destruction are reflected most re- information to centlyin the 1992 United Nations CharMiller (e-mail:Fmiller@trimty (301) 897-3690. Conference on Environment and De- edu) is projOssorand chair, History velopmentin Rio deJaneiro and in the Department,75inity Universit3 San • Phone order with credit subsequentSantiago Declaration on in- Antonio, TX 78212-7200,' V. Alarzc card information to ternational criteria and indicators for Sampleis executive director, Pinchot In- (301)897-8720, ext. 106. sustainableforest management. Long stitutej•br Conservation,•shington, beforethe environmental justice move- DC. Thisarticle was adapted from the • Onlineordering at ment called attention to the links be- authors'introductory essay dOr Breaking www.safnet.org/market/store/htm tweenpolitics, class, and the environ- NewGround and is reprinted here wzth ment,Pinchot had argued that political thekind permission oflsland Press.

32 January1999