Western Illinois University

A Foundation for Sustainable Rural Community Development

Gifford Pinchot

Country Life Commission Member

Gifford Pinchot, America's first professionally trained forester, rose to national prominence as a conservationist and political progressive under the patronage of President Theodore Roosevelt, who named him to the Country Life Commission. Equally noteworthy was his election twice as Republican governor of Pennsylvania (1923-1927, 1931-1935). As a politician, he fought for wise use of natural resources and for fuller justice for the average citizen. He also led the way in establishing national and state forest reserves. His struggle for reform made him a center of continual controversy, particularly with leaders in his own party,

Pinchot, born to wealth on August 11, 1865, at his family's summer home in Connecticut, chose to work for the betterment of society. After studying at Yale, he furthered his education at a French forestry school, where he learned the value of scientific and selective rather than uncontrolled harvesting of forests. His voice for conservation comes out clearly in the Report of the Country Life Commission (text).

In 1898, Pinchot was appointed chief of the Division of Forestry (later renamed the Bureau) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in recognition of his advanced training in forestry and his close friendship with Roosevelt. In 1905, the bureau was given control of the national forest reserves and was renamed the Forest Service. Roosevelt, a fellow Republican whom Pinchot greatly admired, allowed him considerable independence. Pinchot imparted to his staff a spirit of diligence and a sense of mission based on wise use of forest resources.

Roosevelt and Pinchot apparently attached the term "conservation" to the movement for the preservation and wise use of all natural resources. They observed the reckless exploitation of these resources for private profit and implemented scientific management of resources to assure supplies to meet future needs. Under Pinchot, the Forest Service added millions of acres to the national forests, controlled their use, and regulated their harvest. As Pennsylvania governor, he established a large network of state forests.

Roosevelt's Republican successor, President William Howard Taft, lacked enthusiasm for government land ownership. This led to the firing of Pinchot as head of the Forest Service and was a factor in the formation of the Progressive Party with Roosevelt as its presidential candidate. Pinchot supported the new party; after Roosevelt's defeat, he strove in vain to keep the party together.

In his remaining years, the ex-governor gave advice to the president, wrote a book about his life as a forester, and devised a fishing kit to be used in lifeboats during World War II. On October 4, 1946, he died of leukemia at age 81. The Pinchot mansion, Grey Towers, in Milford, PA, was given to the U.S. Forest Service to serve as a museum and training center for foresters (Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission).

Works by Gifford Pinchot

  • 1893. Biltmore Forest. Chicago : R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.
  • 1898. The Adirondack Spruce; A Study of the Forest in Ne-Ha-Sa-Ne Park. American environmental studies. New York: The Critic Co.
  • 1909. Pinchot, G. “Conservation of Natural Resources.” The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 33, no. 3.
  • 1910. The Fight for Conservation. New York: Doubleday, Page and Co.
  • 1947. Breaking New Ground. New York: New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
  • 2001. Steen, Harold K. (ed.). The Conservation Diaries of Gifford Pinchot. Durham, N.C.: Forest History Society.

Recommended Resources

Other Commission Members