John Aston Warder

AMERICAN FORESTS was founded in 1875 by physician/horticulturist John Aston Warder during a meeting with a small group of like-minded citizens at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Chicago. Originally called the American Forestry Association, the group had as its goal the "protection of the existing forests of the country from unnecessary waste." Forest historian Henry Clepper called the birth of AMERICAN FORESTS, which turned 125 on September 10, 2000, "a turning point in history. It inaugurated the conservation movement." At the time there were no national or state forests, no American forestry schools or professional foresters, and little policy overseeing our most vital natural resource.

Trail Riders of the Wilderness

Since then, AMERICAN FORESTS has worked with millions of citizens, hundreds of members of congress, and numerous celebrities, including Jay "Ding" Darling, cartoonists Ed Dodd and Patrick McDonnell, Mrs. Henry Ford, Maurice Goddard, Anson Goodyear, Don Henley, Lady Bird Johnson, Graham Nash, Lowell Thomas, and Henry Wallace. Our presidents have included: James Wilson, a Secretary of Agriculture; philanthropist and conservationist Charles Lathrop Pack; New Hampshire Governor Robert Perkins Bass; and J. Sterling Morton, the Secretary of Agriculture who founded Arbor Day.

Dixie Crusaders

AMERICAN FORESTS instituted one of the first ecotourism programs, Trail Riders of the Wilderness, which existed from 1933 to 1986. The first horseback excursions, in 1933, traveled to Montana: Flathead National Forest (six days/$43.75) and Lewis and Clark National Forest (six days/$54.75). We also were involved in early efforts to combat forest fires through our Dixie Crusaders (young foresters who traveled around the South from 1928 to 1931 carrying the message of fire prevention) and a series of memorial tree plantings after World War I. In 1925 we established tree plantings to honor the mothers of the nation. We even donated the first living national Christmas tree, a Norway spruce, during the administration of President Calvin Coolidge.

SEE ALSO: American Forests Timeline