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1937
A large amount of activity occurred on the Davy Crockett National Forest
this year. (1) The first sale of National Forest timber came from the
Forest. It consisted of poor risk, sanitation trees and thinning from
crowded groups. Total volume sold was 4,055 MBF for $26, 605, or $ 6. 56/MBF.
District Ranger Don Young prepared the sale. Sales such as these provided
jobs and left 25 percent of the sale income in local counties for schools
and roads. (2) There were an estimated 20,000 head of cattle on the open
ranges of the Forest. (3) District Ranger Young began recreation on the
National Forests in Texas when he used CCC labor to develop Ratcliff Lake.
This area, double Lake on the Sam Houston National Forest, and Boykin
Springs on the Angelina National Forest were completed in 1938. A plaque
at the Ratcliff Lake Recreation Area honors Don Young for his
contributions to Texas forestry.
Foresters V. B. David and J. W. Cruikshank of the Southern Forest
Experiment Station made a survey of the post oak belt of East Texas, aided
by Chris Nelson of the Texas Forest Service.
Champion Paper and Fiber Company started operating a bleached sulphate
paper mill at Pasadena in Harris County. Under the guidance of Forester
Walter Damtoft, Champion began putting together a timberland base in East
Texas. Damtoft, whose residence was in Northern Carolina, had been hired
by Champion in 1911 as the first industrial forester in the south., In
Texas, Forester Pete Downey was involved in land acquisition as well as
having the responsibility of providing pulpwood for the Pasadena mill.
Through continued purchases, several name changes and mergers, the
Present-day Champion International Corporation evolved. Foresters who have
been associated with Champion in Texas included Nathan Canterbury, Bob
McDermid, Frank Crow, D. B. Waller, Lud King, Irwin Grillot, Earnest
Golden, Ralph David, Bill Hammock and Don Taylor.
1938
Don Young, Texas Forest Service, organized and conducted the first
forestry workshop of vocational agricultural teachers, County Agricultural
Agents and other agricultural workers, The workshop was held on the Siecke
State Forest. Four hours of college credit was earned from the Texas A&M
College's Department of Agricultural Education.
The Soil Conservation Service used loblolly pine seedlings produced in the
SCS nursery in Minden, Louisiana, to control water erosion on what is now
the Caddo/Lyndon B. Johnson National Grasslands. Later plantings included
drought resistant strains from the Bastrop area. These early plantings in
areas beyond the normal range of pines not only curbed erosion but
survived to maturity and to proliferate their species as far west as Wise
County.
Southland Paper Mills began to acquire land to support its planned
newsprint mill at Lufkin. The mill produced the first roll of newsprint
made from southern yellow pine in 1940. Harvey Sprott was the first company
forester starting in 1938. He was followed in 1946 by Barney Glade and
later by C.S. Coffman, G.W. Valentine, and Brady Wadsworth. In 1977
Southland was acquired by St. Regis Paper Company, which in 1983 managed
561,000 acres of East Texas timberland with a staff of 33 foresters.
1939
The Southern Pine Lumber Company requested the USDA Forest Service to
inventory its holding to determine feasibility for a sustained yield
operation. The survey was made by E. J. (Bull) Schleatter, USFS; B. Koontz
TFS; and Kenneth Nelson, Southern Pine Lumber Company. Recommendations for
m this survey resulted in the initiation of the single tree selection
system of harvesting on some Southern Pine Lumber Company holdings.
The Texas Legislature authorized soil conservation districts as a
subdivision of state government. Don Young and S. L. Frost assisted the
SCDs with pine timber in East Texas and Lost Pine areas in preparing the
forestry portions of their programs and plans . Some districts, notably
Marion-Cass and Nacogdoches-Rusk, were active in promoting pine
plantations in the 1940s. Albert Smith and Ed Wilbur were among the early
SCS foresters involved.
A 2,200 acre tract of the Sam Houston national Forest was designated as
the San Jacinto Experimental Forest. Research had already been initiated
with the establishment in 1938 of 32 plots in a methods-of-cutting study recommended by Henry Malsberger of the Southern Pulpwood Conservation
Association. Later research in cooperation with the SCS included a
comparison of selection cutting with the " D- thinning" method. The area
was disestablished as an experimental forest in 1970 and immediately
became a rallying point for preservationist groups opposed to national
forest management activities. This area, later referred to as "4-Notch,"
was severely infested with southen pine beetles in 1983-1984.
The Southern Forest Experiment Station estimated that there were 29.6
billion board feet of pine and hardwood sawtimber in East Texas.
The first known control effort of a large southern pine beetle infestation
took place northeast of Evadale in virgin loblolly owned by Kirby Lumber
Company. Forest entomologist Paul Siggers, Southern Forest Experiment
Station, and B. Koontz, TFS, were responsible for the control action
consisting of cutting all pines on a swath one-half mile wide around the
infested area. The action was successful.
The Texas Forestry Association celebrated its 25th anniversary. W.
Goodrich Jones presented a paper called " Forestry."
1940
The Texas Forest Service developed a forest tree nursery at Indian Mound
near Alto, presumably to replace the one on the Siecke State Forest. Much
of the labor came from ta nearby CCC camp. [Possibly also local skilled
labor from the WPA.] Chris Nelson was responsible for its operation.
Paul Schoen of the Texas Forest Service spearheaded an effort to establish
community forests. The first was established at Luling, Caldwell County on
50 acres given to the city. Four others were established, three at Lufkin,
Port Arthur and Texarkana.
State Forester W. E. White directed the construction of a forest products
laboratory in Lufkin. This was a first for a State forestry agency and the
laboratory remains outstanding in its field today. The 1957 use of sawmill
residues by papermills was one result of this laboratory's work.
1941
The Texas Forest Service pioneered the use of aircraft for forest fire
detection. Foresters Bill Hartman and Bruce Stewart were involved. The
planes were rented and equipped with two-way radios. A 65 hp Piper
aircraft was purchased in October 1943 and stationed at Lufkin.
1942
The USDA Forest Service began to use tree measured volumes in timber
sales. Prior to this all timber sales were based on volumes determined by
scaling or weighing the cut products. In this new system developed by
Forester Dick Millar, each tree is measured standing and the volume
computer from volume tables adapted to the stand. The procedure was
speeded-up in 1947 by a statistically based sampling method developed by
research mensurationist Lou Grosenbaugh of the Southern Forest Experiment
Station.
As part of the wartime effort to move timber to market from non-industrial
ownerships, but with good forestry practices, there was a national effort
called Timber Production War Project, commonly designated as
"Tee-Pee-Wee-Pee." Results were meager. Don Young of the Texas Forest
Service headed the program in Texas.
William E. White was appointed Texas' third State Forester, the first to
be promoted from the ranks.
1943
Several large non-industrial forest ownerships have had a significant role
in the practice of professional forestry in Texas. Among these were the
Foster Estate, Gibbs Brothers and the Wirt Davis Estate. The first to hire
a full-time professional was the Foster Estate which employed W. H. "
Bill" Kellogg in 1943. Thomas Randle with Gibbs Brothers and Charles
Franklin with Wirt Davis were employed in 1948. These foresters had an
active role in Texas forestry in general, as well as placing their
employer's lands under excellent forest management. 1984 acreage of these
tracts was: Foster Estate, 49,000 acres; Gibbs Brothers, 57,000 acres; and
Wirt Davis Estate, 65,000 acres.
1944
Under leadership of D. A. (Andy) Anderson of the Texas Forest Service the
American Tree Farm System was organized in Texas under the joint
sponsorship of the Texas Forest Service, Texas Forestry Association and
the East Texas Chamber of Commerce. The national sponsor of the Tree Farm
System was the American Forest products Industry Inc. and the early
regional sponsor was the Southern Pine Association. 64 tree farms on
845,000 acres were certified at the inauguration of the program. Don Young
served as one of the early secretaries of the Texas Tree Farm Committee.
Because of wartime conditions, there was no periodic survey of Texas
forest resources in the 1940s.
German prisoners of war were used to salvage broken and down timber caused
by January ice storm. The USDA Forest Service acted to form a Texas Timber
Salvage Program headed by Regional Forester Joseph C. Kircher. POWs worked
on a daily quota basis. Guarded by military personnel, the woods work was
supervised by USDA Forest Service foresters on national forest land and by
industry foresters on private land. Al Miller of the Forest Service was in
charge of the program.
The Stephen F. Austin Experimental Forest was established by a 1944 Act of
Congress (PL 78-539), brought about through the efforts of Nacogdoches
lumberman Lacy H. Hunt, Congressman Nat Patton, Senator Tom Connally and
others. The law specifically provided that the land be used in cooperation
with Stephen F. Austin State College (now University). Gustiav Gregory and
Hubert L. Person comprised the scientist staff. The first officer in charge
was Person, 1945-1953. He as followed by George K. Stephenson, 1953-1961;
Lowell K. halls, 1961-1981; and James Dickson, 1981-present. Early
research was directed at methods -of- cuttting, regeneration, site
preparation, etc. Later research became more timber/wildlife habitat
related. Since the early 1960s the program includes wildlife habitat as
the major research function, i.e., how best to grow food and cover for
deer, squirrels, turkey, quail and non-game species on the pine/hardwood
forests of the South.
International Paper Company employed Forester Chris Nelson to work with
pulp dealers promoting better cutting procedures. In 1946 Marvin Angle and
Darwin Fender were added to the staff. In 1947 Angle negotiated the
purchase of 530 acres in Liberty County for the company.
International continued to acquire forest land through mergers, purchases,
etc. Large tracts such as Long Bell Lumber Company, Frost Lumber
Company lands became part of 435,000 acres in Texas presently owned by IP and managed by a staff
of 35 professional foresters, IP operates a forest tree nursery at
Jacksonville, a forest seed center near Nacogdoches and a second
generation seed orchard near Woodville, In 1984, IP mills in Texas
included a paper mill in Texarkana, Sawmills in Henderson and New Boston,
and a pole treating plant in Navasota. Its plywood plant in Nacogdoches
was destroyed by fire in 1984; it was rebuilt as an oriented strandboard
plant.
Four industry operators attempted to have Cooperative Sustained yield
units established on the Texas National Forests. In subsequent years other
firms became interested. By 1950 the effort was abandoned. However, in
1953 the citizens of Trinity, Texas, inquired about a sustained yield unit
for the Trinity mill of Southland Paper Mills, Inc. The Chief of the
Forest Service in 1955 denied the application.
1945
The Texas Forestry Association and the Texas Forest Service sponsored by
the East Texas Chamber of Commerce made a survey of the forest resources
of Texas. This publication, Texas Forest Facts, written by Sherman Frost,
concluded that the forests of East Texas should be managed as a crop.
Phil Goodrum of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service came to the Southern
Forest Experiment station research center in Nacogdoches. Dan Lay soon
joined Goodrum as the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's counterpart.
Both were professional wildlife biologists. |
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