The 17,500 acres Clemson Experimental Forest is a natural resource laboratory with productive forest, abundant wildlife and recreation opportunities. It began more than 68 years ago as a land reclamation project under the Agriculture Adjustment Administration. The lands acquired in the 1930's were so badly depleted from row crop agriculture and severe erosion that they were largely abandoned. The objectives of the Clemson Land-Use Project included revitalizing the sub-marginal lands through reforestation, pasture development, erosion and stream pollution control and recreation development. In reality, a major objective of the land-use projects was to put people to work through implementing the revitalization efforts. It is unlikely that the planners envisioned the true potential of their efforts that we enjoy today. The Forest that surrounds the Clemson University campus is used for teaching, research and demonstration projects that are applicable to Piedmont forest from throughout the Southeast. Funding for management and operations of the forest are self-generated primarily through proceeds from timber sales. The Forest is managed on a sustained yield basis, is a certified Tree Farm and is a licensee under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program.

This poster, through a series of pictures and captions, will illustrate the history of the Clemson Experimental Forest and describe the transition of the landscape from depleted farmland to productive forests.