The history of forestry in the United States followed the same path as forestry in Europe—land clearing, repeated burning, overcutting, and overgrazing—until a bill was passed by Congress in 1891 authorizing the president to set apart from the public domain reserves of forested land. In 1905 an act of Congress, with strong encouragement from President Theodore Roosevelt, transferred the Bureau of Forestry from the Department of the Interior to the Department of Agriculture. Gifford Pinchot, who had been chief of the bureau, was made chief of the newly named Forest Service. Pinchot developed the U.S. Forest Service into a federal agency that today is recognized worldwide for its research, education, and land and forest management expertise. On the state level the Morrill Act of 1862 provided for federal–state cooperative programs in which the federal government granted first land, then money, to the states for the establishment of technical agricultural colleges. The Weeks Act of 1911 authorized the federal government to assist the states in protecting forests from fire, and the Clark-McNary Act of 1924 extended the provisions of the Weeks Act to include cooperation in forest extension, planting, and assistance to forest owners. During the Great Depression of the 1930s the interests of forestry were served most imaginatively and thoroughly by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), which planted trees, fought forest fires, and improved access to woodlands across the United States. The CCC, rooted in the system of public works initiated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, continued until 1942, acquainting many people with forestry as a major government activity.

The complete mobilization of resources for the U.S. involvement in World Wars I and II and the pent-up demand for consumer goods made heavy demands on forest resources and industries. As a result, forestry on a national basis entered a period of the most rapid advance since the turn of the century. This time the advance was stimulated by the need for forest products and by the conviction on the part of the major timber companies that they must protect their raw material supply. To protect the forests from growing pressure from single-interest groups, Congress passed the Multiple Use–Sustained Yield Act of 1960. This act directed that the national forests be managed under principles of multiple use so as to produce a sustained yield of products and services. The Bureau of Outdoor Recreation was established shortly thereafter in the Department of the Interior. The Land and Water Conservation Fund, established in 1964, launched a comprehensive program for planning and developing outdoor recreation facilities. State forestry programs had their beginnings in the United States during colonial times, but it was the Weeks and Clark–McNary laws that provided the impetus to develop recognized state forestry departments. The Smith–Lever Act of 1914 allotted funds through the state agricultural colleges for extension work in forestry. Initial programs emphasized tree planting and demonstrations, but today all aspects of forestry and natural and related resources are included.

Industrial forestry began around 1912 when Finch, Pruyn, and Company started a forestry program on its Adirondack holding in New York. Trees to be cut were marked by foresters, and the cutting budget was projected on a sustained-yield basis. A rapid expansion of company forestry programs in the northeastern United States began in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Following World War II, paper companies expanded rapidly throughout the South and West and to a lesser extent in the Northeast. Pulp and paper companies were quick to recognize the benefits to be realized from research financed by the Forest Service and by universities in such fields as dendrology, tree physiology, entomology, genetics, and tree improvement. A few companies established their own experimental forests and research teams.

The cause of forestry in the United States also has been advanced by citizens’ organizations. These vary from lay and youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts and garden clubs, to environmental nongovernmental organizations and to the nation’s most prestigious scientific societies. The American Association for the Advancement of Science stimulated Congress in 1876 to embark on a sustained federal forestry program. The National Academy of Sciences 1896 report on forest reserves began its long involvement in forest conservation. The Society of American Foresters, founded in 1900, together with its sister societies in Canada and Mexico, represents the profession of forestry in North America.

Gymnosperms

The gymnosperms are of very ancient lineage and include the earliest trees on the evolutionary scale. The seeds of gymnosperms are borne in cones, where they develop naked or exposed on the upper surface of the cone scales. The wood of these trees has a simple structure. Many species are extinct and are known only as fossils. The ginkgo, or maidenhair tree, is the sole survivor of an entire order of gymnosperms, the Ginkgoales. Among the gymnosperms, the most important and numerous forest trees are the conifers, also known as softwoods. This group includes the well-known pines, spruces, firs, cedars, junipers, hemlocks, and sequoias. These species are so dominant that forests of gymnosperm trees are typically called coniferous forests. Except for the ginkgo, larches, and bald cypress, all gymnosperms are evergreen.