The Greatest Good: 100 Years Of Forestry In America

The Greatest Good is a compelling photographic history of forestry in the United States. This new edition, which inaugurates the centennial year of the USDA Forest Service, celebrates 100 years of professional forestry in America.

Chapter One reveals how crucial wood was to the livelihood of nineteenth-century Americans, and chronicles the advent of the belief that forestry was the key to producing timber without destroying the forests. Chapter Two explores the growth of the profession, including the creation of the Forest Service, and identifies the controversies that often erupted over new practices and controls. Chapter Three highlights the intensified demand for wood for housing after World War II and the subsequent emergence of environmental consciousness that brought new challenges to the profession. Finally, Chapter Four examines the birth of sustainable forestry and documents how the scientific and technological advances of the past 25 years have enabled foresters to extend the nation s wood supply and restore the land.

Through photograph and word, The Greatest Good illustrates the many contributions that foresters and forestry have made to our society.