The History of the Minnesota Society of American Foresters

The Society of American Foresters was founded on November 30, 1900 by Gifford Pinchot, chief forester of the Bureau of Forestry, Department of Agriculture, in his offices in Washington, D.C., along with fellow Bureau employees and foresters, Henry S. Graves, Overton W. Price, Edward T. Allen, William L Hall, Ralph S. Hosmer and Thomas H. Sherrard.  At this early date almost every professionally trained forester in the United States was in the employ of the Federal Government.  As informal meetings were held and the proceedings of these meetings were published, others around the nation were soon to join the Society.  In May of 1905, Horace B. Ayres, of Aitkin, Minnesota became an SAF member, the first Minnesota resident to be listed as a member of the Society.

The first Section established by the Society of American Foresters was the Missoula Section, in 1912.  The St. Paul Section was established in 1913, the second Section to be recognized.  William T. Cox, State Forester, and SAF member since Mar. 1, 1906 was the first Chair of the St. Paul Section.  John P. Wentling, School of Forestry, U of M, a member since July 23, 1908, became the first Secretary/Treasurer.  During these early years, the professional forestry community was concentrated in the School of Forestry, which had been established in 1912 at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul campus.  Few professional foresters were employed by government agencies, and fewer still were employed by private industry. 

By 1923 this situation changed when the Lake States Forest Experiment Station was established on the St. Paul campus. The membership of the St. Paul Section increased two-fold, but even more important to Minnesota's place in the history of the Society, Rapheal Zon was appointed the director of the Station.  Zon brought with him the publication duties of the Journal of Forestry, of which he was the editor.  Since then Minnesota has retained a very active role in the national affairs of the Society.

St. Paul retained its central influence for the Society membership, however as more agencies and colleges were establishing forestry programs throughout the state, and adjacent states, the name of the Section was changed from the St. Paul Section to the Minnesota Section in 1924.  In the late 1930s Section meetings began to be held in out-state areas in an effort to attract the interest of the many new members now being employed throughout the state as the Civilian Conservation Corps and other New Deal programs had increased the number of professional forestry programs throughout Minnesota and the nation. 

At a Section meeting held in International Fall, Minnesota in 1938 the by-laws of the section were amended to allow for the establishment of sub-sections that later became the Chapters.  In 1939 the Northwest Subsection (now Headwaters Chapter) and the Northeast Subsection (now Lake Superior Chapter) were established.  The Southern Subsection (now Southern Chapter) was added later.  In 1946 chapters were also formed in Iowa and North Dakota, which had been included with the Minnesota Section.  This led to the third name change from the Minnesota Section to the Upper Mississippi Valley Section of the Society in 1947. 

With the establishment of the Student Chapters organizational changes were completed until 1980 when the individual states were given the option of creating their individual societies. In 1980 the Minnesota Society of American Foresters was established with four chapters, the Lake Superior, Southern, Headwaters and Student chapters.

Minnesota has retained its role as a leader in the Society of American Foresters.  To find out more about the history of the Minnesota SAF contact your Society or Chapter History Committee Chair.