Steven W. Koehn
Director/State Forester
Maryland Forest Service
April 20, 2012
Maryland’s First State Forester:
A Man of Influence
Welcome and Thank You for Coming
As Maryland’s 10th State Forester, I’d like to welcome you all to
today’s celebration of the life and time’s of our first State
Forester, as well as recognize the generosity of the Besley &
Rodgers family corporation for working with the state to allow the
Department to acquire the lands which will now serve as a
Demonstration Forest and living legacy to Frederick Wilson Besley.
I can’t think of a more fitting way to honor Fred Besley. A
Demonstration Forest, by it very nature, is a place to practice the
best forestry of the day and then use it as an outdoor classroom to
teach both practitioners and landowners alike the benefits of a
responsibility managed forest.
Called to be a Disciple of Forest Stewardship
Having just received 1,917 acres as a gift from the Garrett
brothers, with the stipulation that it be scientifically managed by
the State as a working forest, the Maryland General Assembly created
the State Board of Forestry and the Governor, in need of a forester
to run it, asked Gifford Pinchot if he knew of anyone who was up for
the challenge. As fate would have it, Gifford did, a young man of
upstanding character, well educated being a recent Yale graduate and
exceeding hardworking given his current work assignment of planting
trees on the high and dry prairies of Nebraska in the best tradition
of J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day. As so, Fred Besley
got the call and the opportunity of a lifetime to build, first a
vision and then an agency, from the ground up, to restore, manage
and protect Maryland’s tree and forest resources for the benefit of
the citizens of Maryland.
Major Milestones of the Journey
1906 – Creation of the Garrett State Forest and the beginning
of Maryland’s Public Land System
The creation of the public system of lands with the gift by John and
Robert Garrett of 1,917 acres in Garrett County to the State. These
lands are now part of Potomac-Garrett State Forest. A State Forest
(SF) is managed for multiple purposes, including water quality
protection, wildlife enhancement, timber, scenic or natural beauty
and low-intensity recreation. The Maryland Forest Service now
manages most of the state’s designated forests (211,000), including
Potomac-Garrett, Savage River, Chesapeake & Pocomoke River, and
Green Ridge State Forests.
1906 – Creation of the State Board of Forestry
It was also at this time that the Maryland General Assembly created
the State Board of Forestry, which marked the beginning of the State
owning land in order to protect it.
1906 – First Forest Wardens Commissioned
The first Maryland Forest Wardens were commissioned to enforce all
forest laws, to protect the State forest reserves, and to make an
annual report on forest conditions in their immediate neighborhood.
Forest Warden’s duties included immediate response to any forest
fire he saw or that was reported to him and employment of the means
necessary to extinguish said fire. By 1935, 650 Wardens had been
commissioned.
1908 – Formation of the Association of Eastern Foresters
(predecessor to NAASF)
The Association of Eastern Foresters officially formed in January,
including the State Foresters and instructors of forestry schools
from the states of Delaware, Maryland, New York, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and all of New England. The association’s constitution
was ratified on January 12, 1911 in Washington, DC
1912 – First Parkland
State appropriations were used to buy Patapsco Valley State Park
($50,000) and Fort Frederick ($8,500) in 1912.
1914 – Maryland’s Roadside Tree Law Passed by the General
Assembly
The Roadside Tree Law called for the planting of trees along
roadsides and gave the department the authority to plant, care and
protect trees in the public right of way. The law provides for the
protection of trees in public road rights-of-way and authorizes that
Forest Wardens provide oversight and enforcement.
1914 – Creation of the State Forest Tree Nursery
Nursery operations at the State Forest Tree Nursery originated in
College Park, where trees were produced for roadside planting. The
first State Forest Tree Nursery was located along Paint Branch and
Rt. 1 at College Park, Maryland. Sunnyside Tree Nursery opened
around 1928-1929, also at College Park. The State also managed a
tree Nursery at the Beltsville Experimental Tree Nursery. The
Nursery later expanded operations to grow seedlings for conservation
purposes including wildlife habitat, watershed and soil protection,
roadside beautification, and forest products.
1915 – First Fire Lookout Tower
The fire lookout tower was erected in Garrett County near Bittinger.
By 1935, a network of thirty-two lookout towers had been established
across the state to aid in the detection of forest fires. The Fire
Tower located in Powellville, Maryland is the tallest free standing
fire tower east of the Mississippi River as determined by the
National Fire Tower Association.
1916 – First Forest Survey of Maryland Published
Traveling in a rented horse-drawn buggy, Frederick W. Besley,
Maryland’s first State Forester, conducted and published the first
comprehensive survey of a state’s forests in the Nation for the
years 1907-1914. At that time, Maryland was less than 20% forested.
Today Maryland is 39% forested.
1919 - Cooperative Assistance to Private Forest Landowners
After much national debate, it was decided that state forestry
agencies, rather than the federal government, should have the legal
responsibility for cooperative assistance and regulatory programs
for private lands.
1920 – Formation of the (National) Association of State
Foresters
On November 20, 1920, forestry officials from 13 states
(Connecticut, Illinois, Iowa, Idaho, Maine, Maryland, North
Carolina, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and
Virginia) met in Atlantic City, NJ, to work out a program of support
for a nationwide Association that could represent the interests of
the States in forestry matters. Gifford Pinchot, Chief of the
Pennsylvania Department of Forestry, recognized the need, and
invited all State Foresters and several representatives of the US
Forest Service to meet with him in the State Senate Chamber at
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on December 8 and 9, 1920. It was at that
meeting, the Association of State Foresters, predecessor to NASF,
was formed.
1925 – First “Noted Tree List” Compiled (predecessor to
today’s Big Tree Champion List)
Fred Besley compiled the first “noted tree” list by conducting the
first Big Tree Contest in 1925 where over 450 trees were nominated.
Besley developed the methodology for what eventually became the Big
Tree Champion program which was adopted nationally by the American
Forestry Association in 1940. To evaluate the relative size of a
tree, the girth in inches and the height and crown spread in feet
are added together to arrive at a number of points for each tree.
This number is then used for comparison of tree sizes in each
species. This system of measuring gives the trunk, the most
important part of the tree, much better weight by giving the girth
in inches. The formula is: Total Points = Circumference (inches) +
Height (feet) + 25% of the average Crown Spread (feet).
1926 – State Forester Besley was Elected President of the
National Association of State Foresters at its annual meeting
that was held that year in Maryland.
1941 –Maryland’s State Tree and Tree Species
The Wye Oak (named after the nearby hamlet of Wye Mills in Talbot
County) was officially designated Maryland's state tree in 1941 and
white oak (Quercus alba) was established as the state tree species
the same year. Fred Besley first measured the Wye Oak in 1909 and it
was included in the “Big Tree Hall of Fame" in American Forests
magazine in 1919. The Wye Oak stood as the national champion White
oak until June 5, 2002.
A Steady Hand Through Times of Change
Maryland State Board of Forestry: 1906-1923
Maryland State Department of Forestry (under the Regents of the
University of Maryland): 1923-1941
Maryland Board of Natural Resources, 1941-1943
Maryland Board of Natural Resources, Forest Conservancy Districts
Program, 1943-69
Maryland Department of Forests and Parks: 1941-1969
A Man of Influence
There can be little doubt that, as one of the first three state
foresters in the nation, the example of what Fred Besley did in
Maryland extends far beyond its borders and was imitated by many
other states.
This influence continued even after his retirement in 1942 when
he taught at West Virginia University (substituting for his son
Lowell Besley who was off to war) and helped write West Virginia's
first state forestry legislation.
His Big Tree Champions Program, which he helped establish, was
imitated by many states and his tree measurement system was adopted
nationally in 1956.
As active member of NASF over many decades, and as its president
in 1926, he had an opportunity to make Maryland's accomplishments
well known throughout the US and contributed to our national
reputation for good forest management practices.
As a very active member of the graduating class of 1904 at the
Yale Forestry School he had the opportunity over many decades to
influence his classmates who were in positions of responsibility at
both the state and national level. His frequent writings in the
"Yale Forest News" bear witness to this.
Many key leaders in forestry of the day were his friends. As
member of the Executive Council of the Society of American
Foresters, President of the Alumni Association of the Yale Forestry
School and in other professional roles he had influence over fellow
foresters at both the state and federal levels.
As your sitting State Forester and Past President of both the
Northeast Area Association of State Foresters and the National
Association of State Foresters, I can certainly testify to the
stellar image that Maryland forestry has at the national level,
initiated by Fred Besley and continued by those who followed him.
State Forester Lineage
Frederick W. Besley 1906 - 1942
Joseph F. Kaylor 1942 - 1947
Henry C. Buckingham 1947 – 1968
Adna R. “Pete” Bond 1968 – 1977
Donald E. MacLauchlan 1978 – 1979
Tunis Lyon 1979 – 1983
James B. Roberts 1983 – 1991
John W. Riley 1991 – 1995
James E. Mallow 1995 – 2001
Steven W. Koehn 2001 - Present
