Recent evolution in the practice of forestry can be linked to changes in the public's perception of sustainability and to developments in science, communications, and global markets. In response, when hiring graduates of professional forestry programs, forestry employers have changed the set of skills and competencies sought. A nationwide survey of forestry employers, educators, and recent graduates, conducted to assess how we...

Two state forests and one county forest have completed pilot programs testing verification of sustainable forest management by outside organizations. Among other goals, each agency wanted to assure citizens that their forests were well managed and to create models for nonindustrial private forestlands. All three agencies' performance was certified, and areas marked for improvement had already by targeted by staff. The certifed...

Gifford Pinchot's conservation principles evolved throughout his life. Born into a lumbering and mercantile family, he was trained in traditional European methods of forest management, a perspective central to his work as first chief of the USDA Forest Service. When, as Pennsylvania's governor, he protected old-growth forests and later urged Franklin Delano Roosevelt to buy up private timberlands, he broke ranks with many fore...