Bernard Fernow

Bernhard E. Fernow
Bernhard Fernow
Born	January 7, 1851 Inowrocław, Province of Posen, Prussia
Died	February 6, 1923 Toronto
Residence	Ithaca, New York; Toronto
Citizenship	United States
Nationality	Prussian
Fields	Forestry
Institutions	U.S. Division of Forestry (USDA), Cornell University, University of Toronto
Alma mater	University of Königsberg; Prussian Forest Academy at Münden[1]

Bernhard Eduard Fernow (January 7, 1851 – February 6, 1923) was the Chief of the Division of Forestry of the United States from 1886 – 1898, preceding Gifford Pinchot in that position, and laying much of the groundwork for the establishment of the United States Forest Service in 1905. Called "the Father of American Forestry"^[2] Fernow's philosophy toward forest management may be traced to Cotta's preface to Anweisung zum Waldbau (Instruction in Silviculture)^[3] or Linnaeus' "economy of nature".

Fernow was born in Hohensalza (Inowrocław) in Prussian Poland. After studying at the University of Königsberg and the Forest Academy at Münden, he immigrated to the United States.

As Chief Forester, Fernow's main policy goals were the establishment of a national forest system and introduction of scientific forest management. He produced many scientific reports while working toward the creation of national forests to protect watersheds. They were established in 1891 but placed under the control of the Department of Interior's General Land Office. He then labored in vain for their transfer from the GLO to his office in the Department of Agriculture.

After twelve years as Chief Forester, in 1898, Fernow resigned out of frustration to become the first dean of the New York State College of Forestry at Cornell University. The program was the first four-year forestry school in the United States. When the college forest ran afoul of its rich neighbors in the Adirondacks, New York governor Benjamin Barker Odell, Jr. vetoed an appropriation for the college's operating funds in 1903, effectively closing the school. In 1907, Fernow became the founding Dean of the University of Toronto's Faculty of Forestry, Canada's first university school devoted to forest science. He served as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Forestry, which he had started at Cornell in 1902, until his death in 1923.^[4] His reputation and legacy have suffered because of the success and self-promotional efforts of Gifford Pinchot and others at Fernow's expense.

External links

• University of Toronto Faculty of Forestry
• Journal of Forestry

References

1. ^ The Senate of the University of Toronto. 1923. Dr. B.E. Fernow -- An appreciation of his Services J Forest 21:311-315.
2. ^ Williams, G.W. 2006. The Forest Service: Fighting for Public Lands. Greenwood Press. Westport, Connecticut. 459 p.
3. ^ Forestry Quarterly. Vol. 1, No. 1, October 1902. pp 3-5.
4. ^ Hosmer, R.S. 1923. Dr. Fernow's life work. J Forest 21:320-323.

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