An administrative history of the Texas Forest Service, 1915-1975

Abstract

The Texas Forest Service (TFS), known as the Department of Forestry until 1926, was created by an act of the Texas Legislature in 1915 and has compiled an impressive record of fire protection and resource management that has been of inestimable service in conserving the forest resources of Texas. The establishment of this important agency did not take place in a vacuum. Instead, it was a child of a few determined men of vision, pragmatic lumber barons, and the catalytic times of the progressive era in Texas. Without the perseverance of its principal founder, W. Goodrich Jones of Temple, the creation of such an agency undoubtedly would have been delayed until the 1930's. After a struggle lasting over a quarter of a century, Jones teamed with progressive lumberman J. Lewis Thompson of Houston, State Representative Richard F. Burges of El Paso, and United States Forest Service Chief of State Cooperation J. Girvin Peters to pass the legislation creating the Service. The Texas Forest Service is unique in that it is under the direction of the Board of Regents of The Texas A&M University System, one of only four such state agencies in the nation to be so organized. From this position, the TFS has been able to remain aloof from the debilitating influences of the political spoils system. With the development of the organization came the important work of serving the interests of the people of Texas in forestry. Fire prevention and control, perhaps the most widely recognized activity of this agency, was initiated in 1916 with a handful of men on horseback patrolling over 7,000,000 acres of the heavily forested East Texas region. However, the TFS also pioneered innovative educational programs and techniques to promote good forestry practices. Over the years nurseries were created to produce seedlings for reforestation, state forests were acquired, and programs of systematic forest research were initiated. To a large extent this study focuses on the activities of five men who served as Directors of the TFS between 1916 and 1975: John F. Foster, Eric 0. Siecke, William E. White, Alfred D. Folweiler, and Paul R. Kramer. Their actions would greatly color the personality of the Service. In addition, the study details various aspects of conflict and cooperation between the forest products industry and the Texas Forest Service.