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by Elers Koch (Author), Char Miller (Editor), John N. MacLean (Foreword by)
Elers Koch, a key figure in the early days of the U.S. Forest Service, was among the first American-trained silviculturists, a pioneering forest manager, and a master firefighter. By horse and on foot, he helped establish the boundaries of most of our national forests in the West, designed new fire-control strategies and equipment, and served during the formative years of the agency. Forty Years a Forester, Koch's entertaining and illuminating memoir, reveals one remarkable man's contributions to the incipient science of forest management and his role in building the human relationships and policies that helped make the U.S. Forest Service, prior to World War II, the most respected bureau in the federal government.
This new, fully annotated edition of Koch's memoir offers an unparalleled look at the Forest Service's formative ambitions to regulate the national forests and grasslands and reminds us of the principled commitment that Koch and his peers exemplified as they built the national forest system and nurtured the essential conservation ethic that continues to guide our use of the public lands.
Author Biography
Elers Koch (1880-1954) grew up on the Montana frontier in the late 1800s. After earning a master's degree in forestry from Yale University in 1903, he joined the USDA Bureau of Forestry. In addition to being a major innovator in forest management, Koch was a skilled mountaineer, an outspoken wilderness advocate, and a successful novelist. Char Miller is the W. M. Keck Professor of Environmental Analysis at Pomona College and is a fellow of the Forest History Society. John Maclean is a prize-winning author of five books on wildland fire, including The Esperanza Fire: Arson, Murder, and the Agony of Engine 57.
