Maryland Forest Service
The Maryland Forest Service in 1996 marked the 90th anniversary of forestry in Maryland, United States and the birth of what is known as the Department of Natural Resources Forest Service. Although the service has been known by many names over nine decades, its mission has been consistent: "To conserve and enhance the quality, quantity, productivity and biological diversity of the forest and tree resources of Maryland."
When the first colonists arrived in Maryland in the early 1600s, forests covered most of the State. Very little vegetation grew under the age old trees.
One of the settlers wrote this description of the area: "Fine groves of trees appear, not choked with briers or bushes and undergrowth, but growing at intervals as if planted by the hand of man, so that you can drive a four horse carriage, wherever you choose, through the midst of the trees".
In the late 19th century, the nation grew concerned about the abuse of its forest resources, and their protection and management became a politically popular issue.
Gifford Pinchot, the "father of American forestry" and one of Theodore Roosevelt's chief advisors, promoted the concept of wise use and sustained yield of forests.
In the year 1900, Pinchot selected sixty-one young men to participate in forestry training and sent them out in groups around the country to collect forest data for twenty-five dollars a month. One of these young men was Fred W. Besley, who six years later would become Maryland's first State Forester and establish one of the first state forestry agencies in the nation.
Begun in 1906, Besley's thirty-six year tenure as State Forester helped place Maryland as one of the Nation's leaders in forest conservation. His appointment coincided with the birth of the state forest system in Maryland that was established by the donation of 2,000 acres (8 km2) of forest land by the Garrett brothers. Robert Garrett, who was a Baltimore investment banker and philanthropist, would later say of Swallow Falls, "My brother and I agreed to donate a State Forest if Maryland would take care of it."
As state forester, Besley enforced the nation’s first Roadside Tree Law. Intended to beautify Maryland’s highways by encouraging utilities and the State Roads Commission to plant and maintain roadside trees, this 1914 law served as a model across the nation. Later, in the 1930s, Besley had to stave off attempts by the University of Maryland to hire his assistant foresters as professors. Despite his disdain for politics, Besley proved very skillful at keeping his agency afloat in a constantly changing and shifting political arena.
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