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Texas A&M Forest Service

Agency overview
Formed	March 31, 1915 (1915-03-31)
Preceding agencies	Texas Forest Service Department of Forestry
Jurisdiction	Texas
Headquarters	200 Technology Way, Suite 1281 College Station, TX 77845-3424
Employees	486
Parent agency	The Texas A&M University System
Website	https://tfsweb.tamu.edu

Texas A&M Forest Service (also known as Texas Forest Service or TFS) is a government agency for the U.S. state of Texas. In 1915, TFS was chartered by the 34th Texas Legislature and signed into law by Gov. James E. Ferguson to “assume direction of all forest interests and all matters pertaining to forestry within the jurisdiction of the state.” The 73rd Texas Legislature expanded TFS responsibility in 1993 to include “coordination of the response to each major or potentially major wildland fire in the state.” TFS is one of seven state agencies administered through The Texas A&M University System.

History

Pre-1915

William Goodrich Jones, considered the "Father of Forestry in Texas", played a major role in the history of Texas forests which directly gave rise to the Texas Forestry Association and the Department of Forestry (now Texas A&M Forest Service). The expansion of railroads in the 19th century and the degradation of virgin pine timber stands motivated Jones to write:

“ Like the buffaloes, the timber is going fast: what escapes the big mill is caught by the little mill, and what the little mill does not get, the tie cutters and rail splitters have soon chopped down. ”

In 1914, the Texas Forestry Association was created, with Jones presiding as president until 1921, to encourage statewide forest conservation. Texas lumber barons John Henry Kirby and John Lewis Thompson were supporters of the conservation initiative, with Kirby becoming known as the "Prince of Pines" by co-founding the Southern Pine Association. Following the lead of J. Sterling Morton with the creation of a tree planting holiday in Nebraska, Jones, along with many Texans and nationwide popularity, advocated for Texas Arbor Day as a state-recognized holiday. In 1889, the state legislature and Gov. Lawrence S. Ross designated February 22 (George Washington's birthday) as Texas Arbor Day. However, since 2013 Texas Arbor Day is celebrated on the first Friday of November for better survival of newly planted trees.

Several attempts to persuade the Texas State House and Senate failed to establish a forestry agency over objections for another state commission board. Instead, with support from the William B. Bizzell and Edwin J. Kyle, provisions for a state forestry agency as a department within the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas was proposed. On March 31, 1915, Texas became the thirty-fifth state in the nation to establish a forestry agency and the first state in the nation to establish the state forestry agency as part of a land-grant university, with the board of regents acting as the commission. Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska and North Dakota also administer their state's forestry agency through a land-grant university.

Early Years (1915-1929)

John Herold Foster was appointed by the Texas A&M Board of Directors as the first State Forester of Texas of the newly created Department of Forestry. The State Forester held concurrent duties as chief of the Division of Forestry in the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station and Professor of Forestry at A&M College. Foster was educated at Yale and spent his early forestry career with the US Forest Service, becoming familiar with the 1911 Weeks Act that provided matching federal funds to state authorities for fire protection. Foster received $2,500 through this provision and hired six seasonal fire patrolmen in 1916. Originally, patrolmen were stationed in Lufkin, Livingston, Longview, Linden, Jasper, and Tenaha with instructions to educate the public about the importance of fire prevention and forestry practices.

Foster would describe the early achievements in forestry to the Lumbermen's Association of Texas as such:

“ establishment of tree nurseries... where trees are best adapted has been one of the most forward steps taken in Texas insofar as forestry is concerned," "an educational campaign to prevent disastrous forest fires... [with] patrolmen to work in the interest of fire prevention," and "a survey of forestry conditions in East Texas counties to determine the amount of available timber, annual consumption of timber and other forest products, examination of effects of fires and so on. ”

The 1917 Texas Legislature Senate Finance Committee initially eliminated the budget for the Forestry Department; however, public outcry and newspaper editorials convinced the legislature to reconsider, ultimately sparing the two-year-old agency. Public concern over the depletion of natural resources was prevailing.

Even so, during World War I the U.S. government placed an order for 2 billion board feet of lumber, the largest at the time. Accordingly, Foster recruited Texas "sawmill men and woodsmen" to the 'Forest Battalions' - Tenth and Twentieth Engineer Forest Regiments - for service in France to "get out of the forests lumber and other timber products for the use of the American, British, and French armies." Luther Jones (son of W. Goodrich Jones) enlisted with these regiments. Twenty-thousand Americans eventually served in French forests to meet the wartime demands, producing 200 million board feet of lumber, half a million cords of wood fuel, and millions more of railroad ties, barbed wire stakes, and duckboards. After the war, 46 oak trees were planted at Texas A&M for each student that was killed during the war. These trees are planted around Simpson Drill Field.

Eric O. Siecke became the second state forester of Texas in 1918. Under his leadership, state appropriations increased and several projects were initiated that expanded the agencies capacity, including the establishment of the Forest Fire Control Department, Forest Management Department, Research Department, and Forest Products Department. Much of the expansion can be attributed to national public concern over depleted forest resources and forest products. Jones and Siecke presented a pamphlet - Forestry and the Texas Citizen - to the 1919 Texas Legislature Appropriations Committee that warned of forest resources becoming depleted to the point that mills would close and in Texas becoming a net importer of timber, rather than an exporter, unless cut over land was reforested. To this end, a Forestry Commission was created by Gov. William P. Hobby in 1920 with Siecke serving to make East Texas "forestry conscious." The commission sought to encourage reforestation through favorable forestland taxation, public education, and emphasized water and soil conservation from forestland.

The Legislature appropriated $20,000 in 1923 that allowed TFS to acquire land for three state forests to demonstrate proper forest management. Originally, each state forest focused on a different pine species with which to demonstrate forest management for timber production.

His statement about TFS policy in the 1924 continues to this day:

“ Public ownership should be minimized and private ownership and initiative should be encouraged in the great task relating to the renewal and proper management of forests. ”

The TFA joined the TFS to publish the first forestry newsletter in the nation; Texas Forest News; with the purpose "to create an interest in forestry with in the state, to bring up forestry points of interest from time to time, and to keep our readers informed of the progress of forestry in Texas."

and eventually established nurseries to provide landowners with appropriate seedlings for reforestation.

In 1922 the Division of Forestry Protection was created to combat wildfire.

Frequent inter-agency partners

Among its responsibilities are to manage state owned timberlands, serve as the lead agency in dealing with wildfires throughout the state, and maintain a registry of famous trees throughout the state.

In addition to fighting wildfires, Texas A&M Forest Service (TFS) is routinely called upon under the State Emergency Management Plan to assist during all-hazard emergencies such as natural and man-made disasters and domestic situations; most recently Hurricane Harvey.

As such, TFS employs the nationally recognized Incident Command System (ICS) which ensures effective and efficient incident management.

TFS maintains a workforce of highly trained and experienced personnel and works with other responding state agencies, most notably Texas Department of Emergency Management and Texas Military Forces to increase the effectiveness of response through shared training.

State Forests and Arboretums

Several arboretums have been created by the Forest Service. The Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum is located in Cherokee County, Texas. The Olive Scott Perry Arboretum is located in Hardin County, Texas

Further reading

• Billings, Ronald F. (2014). A Century of Forestry. The Donning Company Publishers.
• Chapman, David Lane. (1981). An administrative history of the Texas Forest Service, 1915-1975 (Thesis). Texas A&M University.

See Also

• American Forestry Association
• Society of American Foresters
• National Association of State Foresters

External links

• Texas A&M Forest Service
• Texas Forestry Association
• Southern Group of State Foresters
• Texas A&M University
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension
• The Official Website of the State of Texas